Is Bluefish chumming a lost art?

[bulletbob]

Just wondering... It was a mainstay technique night and day decade after decade. Party boats as well as private.. Nowadays I read almost nothing about it, its all jigs, poppers, maybe some trolling when the fish are scattered... Just wondering is all....bob

[Tombro]

I have fond memories of boarding a Belmar head boat in the 70s that chummed blues. We mostly did day trips, and they always anchored at the Shrewsbury rocks. Later on, when I started fishing from my own boats in the mid 80s we anchored and chummed for gator blues there.
How about the charter fleet that anchored and chummed bonito and albacore on the lumps off Deal, Long Branch? I did that on my boats, too.

[fishunt]

I miss those night bluefishing trips. I know few boats still do weekend night trips. Not what is use to be :mad:

[Papasown]

The head boats out of Barnegat Light did that in the 1960's and we would go on the day boat and feed the neighborhood with gorilla bluefish. Not my choice for dinner, but our neighbors in Surf City always wanted the meat......Great times. Papa
I DID have a charmed childhood......

[Detour66]

It appears to be a lost art. But you would think with the price of fuel it would make sense to anchor up and chum instead of driving around in search mode looking for fish!

[bulletbob]

One thing I do remember as well... Sometimes even during mid day, if you fished with a jig they wouldn't hit it, at least not real well... They wanted those hunks of meat drifting down in the slick, and not the speedy metal jigs....It would probably work as well today as it did in the 70's... Today everyone wants to "run and gun".... bob

[shrimpman steve]

I loved chumming blues on the cock robin. Day, night didn’t matter. Loved it. Let’s remember that the fleet was built on blue fishing

[AndyS]

Getting sore arms from reeling in gator blues is all but a memory also.

[Dclark2]

Days past I remember my father paying $ 6.00 a can that was about 3 - 4 gal at most for ground bunker. That was at MILLy's killies down by the old spy inn.

DAYS and TIMES remember that can't be forgotten........

[bulletbob]

Getting sore arms from reeling in gator blues is all but a memory also.

I remember one trip where I had brand new 20 lb Ande line on a heavy duty spinner and heavy solid glass rod... Those big blues were so powerful they would snap that tough Ande line or they kept pulling the Improved Clinch Knots out.. Finally a mate made a knot for me that looked like a clinch knot on top of a clinch knot, not certain what it was... Then all i had to worry about was the damn blues breaking the line... I finally figured out what had happened.. The water was dead calm, no wind, no drift at all in mid summer, and the Blues would run under the boat not away from it at times. I think it was the boats keel that was breaking the line. I was very young then, maybe 20 and had a lot to learn about fighting big tough fish... I thought that type of fishing would be there to enjoy forever ... alas......bob

[Gerry Zagorski]

I loved chumming blues on the cock robin. Day, night didn’t matter. Loved it. Let’s remember that the fleet was built on blue fishing

Cut my saltwater teeth fishing for night blues chumming on that boat too...

[Ol Pedro]

Not many night Bluefish boats left. The Cock Robin and Sea Devil are gone. We only see one or two other party boats at Night when there used to be ten or twelve out there weekend nights.Night Bluefishing hasn't been the same since Sandy. I miss those nights when the decks ran red and we cut fish for hours. We still chum at night when we fish for them. I make chum laddels every season and hope for the Bluefishing to come back. Night Linging/Seabass has filled the gap but we are ready when they show up.

[bulletbob]

Not many night Bluefish boats left. The Cock Robin and Sea Devil are gone. We only see one or two other party boats at Night when there used to be ten or twelve out there weekend nights.Night Bluefishing hasn't been the same since Sandy. I miss those nights when the decks ran red and we cut fish for hours. We still chum at night when we fish for them. I make chum laddels every season and hope for the Bluefishing to come back. Night Linging/Seabass has filled the gap but we are ready when they show up.

When I lived in NJ, I remember looking out over the ocean at night and those lit up party boats seemed to stretch across the whole ocean.. PP/Brielle/Belmar/maybe a boat or two from AH, and who knows how many boats from NY... that was before blues were a market fish... Now they are on ice everywhere, and for stupid prices that I guess people are actually paying...

[Billfish715]

Chumming takes whole scale commitment by the fleet. It has to be done day after day by lots of boats for an extended amount of time. The blues will find the chum and so will any other baitfish swimming by. Of course sandeels help a lot and chunks floating in the slicks day after day keep lots of fish interested.

Finally, you need the blues to be around. Maybe the blues that have been missing in action for years are making a comeback.

[Grateful Dad]

I've been on countless trips on dozens of boats chumming for blues, day and night. The one thing in common, everywhere, is that the chum ladle was always a cat food/tuna fish can screwed onto a stick of some sort. Let them run with your bunker chunk, count to five, slam the reel into gear, and it's game on!

[FRybacki]

The Norma k and Big Jamaica out of Point Pleasant still chum night Bluefish. The night bite hasent started yet but they are jigging and top water during the day and are getting some nice Blues from 5-8 lbs. Nobody chums during the day anymore. There is a boat out of Belmar I think the Golden Eagle that chums at night.

[Billfish715]

Don’t forget to put a washer between the screw and the can. Old wooden rod butts were the best. They fit into any rod holder.

[Duffman]

Don’t forget to put a washer between the screw and the can. Old wooden rod butts were the best. They fit into any rod holder.

Lmao. That’s old school for sure!!!! 55 gallon drums just in front of the starboard and port cabin doors. Tossing chum all nite long

[Skolmann]

A few boats still chum bluefish during late summer out at places Locke the Shark River Reef.

Still one of my favorite feelings of slowly paying out line, having the spool accelerate, engage the reel, have the line come tight and the rod bend (sometimes almost ripping it out of your hands)

[Ol Pedro]

A few boats still chum bluefish during late summer out at places Locke the Shark River Reef.

Still one of my favorite feelings of slowly paying out line, having the spool accelerate, engage the reel, have the line come tight and the rod bend (sometimes almost ripping it out of your hands)

Tuna practice. Nothing like the rush when you get picked up.

[Tombro]

Still one of my favorite feelings of slowly paying out line, having the spool accelerate, engage the reel, have the line come tight and the rod bend (sometimes almost ripping it out of your hands)

This! My first experience with blues was on a family friend’s Chris Craft flybridge out of Sea Bright. We went to a mysterious place called the Acid Grounds. I remember vividly the bow in your slack line suddenly coming taut from a huge gator. Circa 1966; I was 11.

[CODCHALY]

My favorite memories was chumming Winter Flounder in Leonardo on FREDDY C
Night Blue Fishing seven nights a week
Working Deck along side my Buddy Pete

If I do fish any more, it's on the IRON. U can't keep as many as I can catch, and that really puts a damper on even going. I RIDE Motorcycles for FUN nowadays. In fact I'm well known for BUYING FISH at AHEARNS.

[Billfish715]

3406, 6/0, 7/0 Mustad straight shank bronze hooks with a 4in. #6 or #7 brown wire haywired to a swivel and then tied to the MONO. That’s right, mono.Add a bunker back, and a few split shots or a rubbercore sinker to get it down in the slick. 30 pushes or so, reel in and repeat. Coolers? No coolers. A wet burlap bag usually kept those gators firm for an hour or so before they turned soft.

[Ol Pedro]

My favorite memories was chumming Winter Flounder in Leonardo on FREDDY C
Night Blue Fishing seven nights a week
Working Deck along side my Buddy Pete

If I do fish any more, it's on the IRON. U can't keep as many as I can catch, and that really puts a damper on even going. I RIDE Motorcycles for FUN nowadays. In fact I'm well known for BUYING FISH at AHEARNS.
I miss you Chaz and the old Gambler. The 3/4 nights, 40-60 fares, throwing 20 gallons of chum, swinging gators on 50lb, cutting for hours, heading back out to dump 12 totes of racks at the 1 mile marker, scrub the boat, home by 8am, then start over at 5:30pm.

[Pennsy Guy]

I miss you Chaz and the old Gambler. The 3/4 nights, 40-60 fares, throwing 20 gallons of chum, swinging gators on 50lb, cutting for hours, heading back out to dump 12 totes of racks at the 1 mile marker, scrub the boat, home by 8am, then start over at 5:30pm.

That brings back fond memories--you taught me a lot about blue fishing back then...remember that 100 fare trip, ran out of burlap bags & tots. Most boats were 1/2 night but the old Gambler was still 3/4 nite and we'd wave good-bye to the departing. Capt. Rich Dolsky, after the keeper limit was started, muttering about living in a Gestapo State. Started using circle hooks crimped onto coated braided wire leaders. Those circles made it so easy to unhook, 99% of the time, hooked in the corner of the mouth and mostly on the right side.

[Ol Pedro]

That brings back fond memories--you taught me a lot about blue fishing back then...remember that 100 fare trip, ran out of burlap bags & tots. Most boats were 1/2 night but the old Gambler was still 3/4 nite and we'd wave good-bye to the departing. Capt. Rich Dolsky, after the keeper limit was started, muttering about living in a Gestapo State. Started using circle hooks crimped onto coated braided wire leaders. Those circles made it so easy to unhook, 99% of the time, hooked in the corner of the mouth and mostly on the right side.

Chuck, we both taught each other. Yes that 100 and an 84 fare night that must have been the biggest slaughter we ever had.Rich's son was out last weekend. Same voice and looks like his Dad. You with the wire and me with the 80lb mono and those Mustad Duratin circles. What about the little glowsticks. Had to be green. We translated that experience gained Bluefishing to our Tuna games. Now I just see you on Tuna trips. I miss you, Chaz, John Mullen, and Rich(Heavy D) Dulsky.

[AndyS]

Sometimes if you didn't feel like using bait you could always throw my favorite lure .......THE BINGLE BANANA !!:D

[Billfish715]

Sometimes if you didn't feel like using bait you could always throw my favorite lure .......THE BINGLE BANANA !!:D

Young guys on this board are scratching their heads thinking you are nuts. They have no idea about " Bananas" other than they are bad luck. They need a picture for everything or else it didn't happen. Bingle was the original out of Brooklyn. Spider (by Vic Galgano Middletown) had the same product under a different name. They were still bananas. They could be jigged, trolled or cast and retrieved. I just thought I'd share.

[bulletbob]

Young guys on this board are scratching their heads thinking you are nuts. They have no idea about " Bananas" other than they are bad luck. They need a picture for everything or else it didn't happen. Bingle was the original out of Brooklyn. Spider (by Vic Galgano Middletown) had the same product under a different name. They were still bananas. They could be jigged, trolled or cast and retrieved. I just thought I'd share.

I wonder if they would still be effective?... I mean they are supposed to mimic a big sandeel.. right?... be interesting to try, but any of these I have seen in the last 20 years are filthy, degraded, cracked, rotting sitting at the bottom of an ancient rusty tackle box at a dirty garage sale for $2...

[Gumada]

I wonder if they would still be effective?... I mean they are supposed to mimic a big sandeel.. right?... be interesting to try, but any of these I have seen in the last 20 years are filthy, degraded, cracked, rotting sitting at the bottom of an ancient rusty tackle box at a dirty garage sale for $2...

Stop looking in my tackle box ! So judgemental ....��

[CODCHALY]

Put six of them on an UMRELLA RIG, hand rod to Dad, get Your ASS kicked for kicking His. Man, this is one COOL Thread !!!

[courbeco]

One or two pieces of bunker back and the rest went into the chum grinder......

[Tuna Tales]

One of my 1st bluefish chum trips was with Capt Ron Sr. of The Fishermen. Late 1980s. Chumming 17 Fathoms or the Mud Bouy (3 pm to 9 pm).

Most times I quit fishing early since it was that good.

Good times.

Joe T.

[baseballman]

So many good memories growing up with my Dad and my uncle on Night Blues trips on the Dauntless and Norma K. I remember the grounds looking like a floating city with dozens of lit up boats out there chumming. You'd come home absolutely exhausted after tangling with absolute bruiser fish and then have to suffer through a couple nights in a row of eating bluefish b/c you couldnt give them all away. This was well before my obsession with fishing youtube and the recipes I have now that make it more enjoyable.

Party boat fishing, at large, ain't what it used to be...nor is the bluefish population. On the trips that do use bait & chum, bluefish is almost a by-catch to hoardes of chub mackerel and other pelagics they catch. I think it's easier for the small fleet of bluefish boats left to fish closer to home and use jigs...the fish are smaller but it's more reliable day in & day out. You can also pivot to other desirable bycatch like sea bass vs. being 15-25 miles offshore.

But I will say, I much prefer the striped bass and sea bass fishery we have today, any day, over the blues. Just wished the regs worked harder for the recreational business and let these party boat mates/captains make their living.

[Billfish715]

So many good memories growing up with my Dad and my uncle on Night Blues trips on the Dauntless and Norma K. I remember the grounds looking like a floating city with dozens of lit up boats out there chumming.

You could park in SeaGirt or SpringLake or Belmar along the boardwalk at night and just look at all of the lights just a short way offshore. This went on in the spring and fall and into early winter. The “hills” like Angie’s, the Annex, Klondike attracted all sorts of fish. Ling, whiting, mackerel, blues, weakfish, stripers, fluke, flounder, small tuna, little tunny, cod and exotics.

Those fish are gone from those areas and those areas have been dragged over and the bottom structure changed. Also gone are all of the party boats from Point, Brielle, Belmar, Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, Keyport, Perth Amboy, Hoboken. Park at the boardwalk these night and maybe you’ll see a cruise ship or freighter.

How about those old party boats? Which of your favorites are no longer fishing.

[NJ219bands]

You could park in SeaGirt or SpringLake or Belmar along the boardwalk at night and just look at all of the lights just a short way offshore. This went on in the spring and fall and into early winter. The “hills” like Angie’s, the Annex, Klondike attracted all sorts of fish. Ling, whiting, mackerel, blues, weakfish, stripers, fluke, flounder, small tuna, little tunny, cod and exotics.

Those fish are gone from those areas and those areas have been dragged over and the bottom structure changed. Also gone are all of the party boats from Point, Brielle, Belmar, Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, Keyport, Perth Amboy, Hoboken. Park at the boardwalk these night and maybe you’ll see a cruise ship or freighter.

How about those old party boats? Which of your favorites are no longer fishing.
Holiday, Shamrock, Piper, Sea Devil and Ideal.

[reelgood]

Big Marie S II out of belmar….first keeper fluke on the boat got you a pin….free hot dog around 1030am on a half day trip…..never went further north than the red church never fished in more than 30 feet of water….this was the in the mid to late 80s…got me hooked on fishing for life

[Billfish715]

Yes, a great start to a lifelong pastime. to add to those memories, I read every word and list of pool winners in Bob Duffy’s or Henry Schaffer’s columns as a kid. I knew all of the bait shops, rowboat liveries, party boats, tackle stores and where the fish were biting. Today? Ha! You’d be a spot burner. Today, unless a captain posts his catch on a message board, you have to still search other websites for up to date news from last week.

Who speaks out with passion about fishing issues anymore like Al Ristori? You may not have liked some of his reports but at least you had a broader knowledge of fishing. Go to a local jetty or back bay dock and ask someone what the limit is on snappers or if you need a saltwater registration. The majority of people wouldn’t even know what you were talking about. It’s why tackle stores are a necessity.

[Pauls1976]

Remember the Friday ads in the Star Ledger for charters and head boats?

When my Dad finally got me on a boat after a bad experience. Capt Ron Sr of the Fisherman took me all around the boat, showed me the safety gear and explained to me why it was safe. I have never looked back with fishing.

It is so different now, available species of fish, where you fish, migrations etc. 3-9 trips, Tiger Tailing the channels for Weakfish, chumming Blues, whiting in the winter, Mackeral in the spring, the list can go on. Klondike, Shrewsbury Rocks, The Farms, 17 Fathoms are all spots that were frequented.

Jigging during the last of day light hours through the chum slick was one of my all time favorite things to do.

[Capt Sal]

Yes, a great start to a lifelong pastime. to add to those memories, I read every word and list of pool winners in Bob Duffy’s or Henry Schaffer’s columns as a kid. I knew all of the bait shops, rowboat liveries, party boats, tackle stores and where the fish were biting. Today? Ha! You’d be a spot burner. Today, unless a captain posts his catch on a message board, you have to still search other websites for up to date news from last week.

Who speaks out with passion about fishing issues anymore like Al Ristori? You may not have liked some of his reports but at least you had a broader knowledge of fishing. Go to a local jetty or back bay dock and ask someone what the limit is on snappers or if you need a saltwater registration. The majority of people wouldn’t even know what you were talking about. It’s why tackle stores are a necessity.
I remember the"PINK" boat in Belmar LOL Dating myself.

[Duffman]

Remember the Friday ads in the Star Ledger for charters and head boats?

LIVED for that as a kid! Waited on fridays for my Dad to get home from work and brought the Ledger and Daily News home. Jerry Kenney
was a must read along with that fishing map the Daily printed.

I was too young to join in but the poker games on the Palace II were something to see!!! Those who know…..know. :D

[Togfather2530]

This is a cool thread and I have many memories of fishing for blues like this as a child. I hope with this whole thread makes everyone realize that the salt water fishery is going to hell and that man is taking its toll on the natural resources. Salt water fishing is nowhere near where it used to be and it’s actually a waste of money to make the trips anymore. I don’t really know what the answer is but I do now that we can’t have all the big bag limits and liberal regulations for recreational fisherman that everyone wants here. Maybe we can’t have the commercial quota where it’s at either but either way the fishing isn’t there. Maybe taking all the big breeder female fluke is why fluke fishing sucks this year . It takes years to take its toll. All those burlap bags of blues that probably got freezer burnt and not eaten is why we are looking at this now. The weak fish that used to be everywhere are no longer. My girlfriends dad told me they load the whole bottom of their little boat up with them and stop at bars on the way back to pa and try to give fish away and then end up throwing them in the dumpster. He told me I’m not gonna lie about it because he wasn’t proud of it. Stupidity. I just think it’s very sad the situation we’re in for generations going forward with this and many other things. I’m very glad I never had kids

[Togfather2530]

What I was really surprised about is that it took the powers to be this long to drop the regulations down the three fish for blues. I was really glad to see that.

[bulletbob]

What I was really surprised about is that it took the powers to be this long to drop the regulations down the three fish for blues. I was really glad to see that.

Sorry to say, that I too think the bag limit was needed.. The problem I have is we did NOT have this problem until the demand for fin fish, ANY fin fish went insane.. Blues were never much of a commercial species, until they WERE, and thats when the populations were decimated.. When people will pay $10 for a 3 pound Blue on ice with grey gills and white eyes, there will be plenty of commercial guys all too happy to supply them.... bob

[NoLimit]

My old fishing buddies used to chum a lot on night boats for blues - a mix of Schaefer and Calvert

[Papasown]

I feel you, Gumada, close the box. ................Papa