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Chunking

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JerseyMike609

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I chunk late fall/early winter and again 3 weeks in spring when I'm targeting my 50lber (that I haven't landed yet). Find the most productive piece of water, the kind of piece that if your life depended on hooking a large, that's where you would be. I have a few spots depending on tide/weather. Don't get into the habit of fishing the comfortable spots.

 

Hold the rod. Keeps you more active and you can reel in a little every time you feel a dogfish or skate. They go away for a few minutes when you do that. Cast, reel in every few minutes, change bait, repeat. Once I find a bite or know of one, I'll also stay and fish into the slack. It's how I hooked but didn't land my first 50.

 

I do a fish finder with a barrel swivel as the finder so it twists and doesn't foul, 16" leader to start. If too much current I'll tie a high/low rig but with one loop to stop the fouling.

 

Works for me. Was taught this years ago by a sharpie

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Billy the Greek has a bunch of older vids up on Youtube I'm sure everyone has seen before.

 

He mentioned Fish Finder rigs and stated that you should tie the weight at the end and the bait further up the line ( 3 way swivel )  ...ultimately the opposite of the fish finder rig.

 

Otherwise apparently your bait will tumble and spin in the current with a fish finder rig.

 

 

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On 9/9/2019 at 9:32 AM, Gooch said:

 

 

I do a fish finder with a barrel swivel as the finder so it twists and doesn't foul, 16" leader to start. If too much current I'll tie a high/low rig but with one loop to stop the fouling.

 

Works for me. Was taught this years ago by a sharpie

Can you provide a picture of the rig?

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I use a barrel swivel instead of those plastic fish finder sleeves.

It does 2 things for me.

One- prevents fouling since the barrel swivel with the duo lock/sinker twists.

Two- keeps my rig/gear minimal. I don't fish as much as I used to since our kids were born 7 years ago. So I have really narrowed down my gear and what I carry to what's proven for me. I go chunking with just a soft cooler filled with bait, swivels, hooks, duo locks, sinkers, leader and pliers. All fits in a soft cooler over my shoulder. Same with my plug bag. I leave my house with just my shoulder bag and rod, nothing else. It also keeps down what I have to restock every season.

 

Ignore the corrosion, haven't used it since June. 3 weeks in the spring and a month in late fall are my chunking times in south jersey

IMG_2193.jpg

Edited by Gooch
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22 mins ago, Gooch said:

I use a barrel swivel instead of those plastic fish finder sleeves.

It does 2 things for me.

One- prevents fouling since the barrel swivel with the duo lock/sinker twists.

Two- keeps my rig/gear minimal. I don't fish as much as I used to since our kids were born 7 years ago. So I have really narrowed down my gear and what I carry to what's proven for me. I go chunking with just a soft cooler filled with bait, swivels, hooks, duo locks, sinkers, leader and pliers. All fits in a soft cooler over my shoulder. Same with my plug bag. I leave my house with just my shoulder bag and rod, nothing else. It also keeps down what I have to restock every season.

 

Ignore the corrosion, haven't used it since June. 3 weeks in the spring and a month in late fall are my chunking times in south jersey

IMG_2193.jpg

That’s a good idea!  Can’t stand the twisties 

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For every big fish taken on plugs, 10 are taken on bait:

- I treat chunking same as i do plugging. Full speed ahead looking for that 40lber

- Freshest bunker possible and dont let it touch the ice.

-10-12ft rod rated to 10oz (conventional rods outshine spinning )

- 6' leader, 10/0 octopus, fishfiner ( Cape Hatteras style rigs/ distance & no spinning)

- Hold rod/move 50 yards down(with current) if no hits in 20 mins 

-Heads catch big bass but dont be a " i only fish heads" guy

- Be mobile- I carry only a soft cooler with rigs/tools etc in pockets 

 

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10 hours ago, jsbergen said:

For every big fish taken on plugs, 10 are taken on bait:

- I treat chunking same as i do plugging. Full speed ahead looking for that 40lber

- Freshest bunker possible and dont let it touch the ice.

-10-12ft rod rated to 10oz (conventional rods outshine spinning )

- 6' leader, 10/0 octopus, fishfiner ( Cape Hatteras style rigs/ distance & no spinning)

- Hold rod/move 50 yards down(with current) if no hits in 20 mins 

-Heads catch big bass but dont be a " i only fish heads" guy

- Be mobile- I carry only a soft cooler with rigs/tools etc in pockets 

 

Very true advice here.

When I have a predictable chance of my 50lber or personal best I always chunk or live eel. I do the same, treating bait fishing like plugging, very mobile only fishing a spot15-30 minutes. If it's 30 minutes there is a lot of different structure around I'm putting the bait in.

Bunker advice is perfect. Unfortunately most bait shops drown their bunker and it goes bad fast that way. Get the freshest bunker and put in in a plastic bag never touching water or ice. It keeps the slime better. Seafood markets don't drown their fish, so I always wondered why bait shops think this is good.

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If I use a non-live liner type reel for chunking and a fish finder rig, should I leave the bail open or close it and loosen the drag a lot while waiting for a bite?

 

I know with a circle hook you just let the fish take the bait for a bit than start reeling.

 

Thanks.  I want to start chunking this fall, too.

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52 mins ago, yosco said:

Do any of u guys that put in time bait

fishing ever use chuncked eel ? Seems

like it would be an easy bait to use. Bass

only want them if they're swimming?

I see no reason why not.   We have guys catching them on hot dogs, so I would think anything with a scent would work.  

Marty

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1 hour ago, Sam3631 said:

If I use a non-live liner type reel for chunking and a fish finder rig, should I leave the bail open or close it and loosen the drag a lot while waiting for a bite?

 

I know with a circle hook you just let the fish take the bait for a bit than start reeling.

 

Thanks.  I want to start chunking this fall, too.

Loose drag, an open bail will be an irreparable mess in short order unless you fish rod in hand. If you fish rod in hand, you'll keep the rod upright when you close the bail, and let it drop a little to apply pressure to the circle, vs causing an abrupt stop. If you're at range with a rod with some bend in it, you can skip that bit.

 

I also used to have some clips that snapped around the rod blank, and could hold line from an open spool in a gate that would pop open on the take. I don't know if I could buy one now, but they worked.

Massachusetts EPO:

1-800-632-8075

 

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I used two rods for chunking.  One using the Fish Finder Rig with a single 3/0 or 5/0 bait-holder hook and a High-Low Rig with two 4/0 Octopus Hooks. 

Sinker depend of the wave n tide, mostly 4-5 oz pyramid sinker will do just fine.  Bait use mullet, squid, sand flea or crab that you can find on the beach.

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