Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

 Old timers swear by the use of anise oil extract on clams to attract
haddock. it works. (I've used it.) Unfortunately, it also pulls in barkers
like a magnet, so you can only use it when the dogfish are not around...

    I've used Berkley strike salt water formula while flounder fishing.  It
    seems to work ok, it sure does attract the Skates.  I stopped using it
    because of the skates, there just isn't enough flounder around anymore
    to compete with the skates (one of the ugly fish in the ocean).  One
    thing that ap[pears to work is fish with a spreader, put a clam on one
    hook and a worm on the other.  The flounder always hit the work and I
    believe the clam scent is an attractor.
    
    Gordon (wish there was a place to catch a meals worth of flounder in
    newburyport area)
    

      
    
    If you want to be successful at catching flounder a chum pot is a must.
    Here's a formula that works to put in the pot.
    I do this on a coleman stove - OUTSIDE     In a large pot, boil up a 
    bucket or two of crushed mussels, dump in a large can of corn and 
    enough instant rice to absorb the liquid. Stir up the concoction and
    let cool. Now laddle this mess into plastic containers with lids. I use
    a size container that will fit into the chum pot. Place these into the
    freezer. Next time you go fishin bring a few of these with you, place
    one in the chum pot (it will slide right out of the plastic) and lower
    the pot to the bottom. Give it a pull once in a while to stir it up and
    release some of the mixture. It works for me, even when the people next
    to me don't catch a thing. I agree with the Berkley and skates, it's
    the pits.

    How about for offshore deeeeeeeeeeep sea fishing like for cod, pollock,
    haddock etc. Any out there that can help catch these fish etc.
    
    
    Frank

Would a garbage disposal work well in making chum? I have a 3/4 hp
self-reversing garbage disposal that I could use for this, but I 
am not sure that it could handle a herring, etc without bogging
down. 

Anyone know if it might work or not?

	Steve

Steve,

    I've put the bones, guts, and SKIN from filleted bass down the dispose-all
a couple of times and have ALWAYS had to fish the skin back out. The garbage
disposal can't chop up the tough skin; it just beats it into a supple white
piece of ........skin!

---

Joe Whittemore - From where the Westfield
                      Meets the Westfield
                         By the Westfield
                            In Huntington (MA)

                      [email protected]  
                 [ jdw%[email protected] ]

I wonder if that experience with bass skin applies to previously
frozen herring? Once frozen, the entire herring seems to turn to 
mush ...even the skin. 

I would be satisfied if I could come up with a motorized unit that 
could at least make chum from frozen herring and mackeral.

	Steve

    Ah yes the good old chum-o-matic, much dreamed about by many
    tuna fisherman........
    
    I saw a unit at a commerial shown that basically had vertical trough
    with a set of cicular blades at the bottom that you just drop
    in the herring and cranked the handle and out popped the nice
    1" herring slices. Was a bit pricy at $650.
    
    I thinkt the disposal would make a very fine chum suitable
    for flounder or shark but not the chunks that you want for
    tuna.
    
    Bruce

    	How about a little in the garage work on your wifes Cuisinart?
    
    They cut up everything else, I don't see why they wouldn't do whole
    fish....  Remember Dan Akroyd with the Bass-O-Matic???
    
    					B.C.

re .5
Steve,
	It's difficult to help, or even comment, without knowing what you're
truing to  acomplish.  If you're our to make chum at home and freeze it in
5 gal buckets a hand crank meat grinder may work.  It may also work on the
stern of the boat eliminating 1 step.  These methods would produce a slick
using macks etc, but chunks may be needed in addition as Bruce points out.
Heck, it may be as simple as taking along a couple of friends prone to sea
sikness.

	Rick

Hi Rick,

I have used the meat grinder method before and it does work on the
stern of the boat. It is just that it is a somewhat smelley, rotten
job that the bass-a-matic approach might make faster and easier.

I happened to pick up a in sink garbage disposal at my favorite
emporium (the dump) and thought that this might be a good winter
project to gear up for the fishing season. But I won't put the
effort into this project if it doesn't have a chance of working.

Joe's note about his experience with the bass remains was interesting.
But I am still not sure if a garbage disposal would be able to
handle 50 herring one after another without some kind of problem.

My lack of experience with a garbage disposal in the first place
makes me question this application. Would I have to flush out the
remains of each fish with water? That may dilute the chum too
much. I would rather make concentrated chum at home and dilute
it on the boat. But again, previosly frozen herring is so mushy
maybe I wouldn't have to go so heavy on the water to flush.

Rick, does that put things in perspective for you?

Bruce, I am not up to tuna fishing yet, so the chunk method isn't
important at this time. 

	Steve

    I dont write in this conference too much, but here's a point worth
    looking into, a) garbage disposal is used to make mush!! the reason 
    is the food goes down your drain system, it makes sense doesnt it,
    
    if your in for a project figure out what you can do with the disposal
    like taking it apart and modifying the blade?? i dont know what the
    blade looks like, because i dont have one? if it's a 4 blade system
    bend a few blade's up/down and remove a few?? 
    then even a single or double blade might do it, 
    
    sound interesting?  Ronni

    another thing would be to widen the area where it chops?
    like a 4 inch tube camparde to a 6" tube??
    dont forget these we're made to make mush, so thats what
    your gonna get, IF you dont make it to do something different.
    
    I'ld say modify, the disposal and go from there....
    
    						Ronni

 Two problems I can see-

 1) No doubt the unit you acquired expects 120 V AC. Unless you have
a generator on your boat, you'll need some way to convert the unit to run 
on 12V DC. This could be an interesting problem in and of itself. You'll
also need to deal with the fact that a garbage disposal tends to use alot
of current, this translates into a short battery life.

 2) Herring scales will likely tend to clog the exit hole on the disposal.

 Seems to me that perhaps another tack is called for.

 The Doctah

    
    An interesting plumbing problem...
    
    You could in fact use a garbage dispoal on the boat.  You probably
    would have to run it off of the generator, not a battery.
    
    The power of the disposal is probably a factor.  Think of the duty
    cycle.  Choppin up after dinner scraps is a lot different from crammin 
    fish bodies in the quanity to produce a slick.
    
    Don't forget the water....It takes a lot of water to make it work.
    
    SALT water may end the project rather quikly
                                                

Hi Steve,
	I got the perspective.  I have seen this application in a boat.
Happened to be a 36' Viking used for "local" tuna fishing.  I say local
because it was gas with 300 gal cap so I wouldn't go much past the Dump.
The boat was two slips away from me last year, and I'll try to get in touch
once the boats are back in the water for mor info.  In this application it
was deck mounted in the cockpit between the chair and the transom.  The boat
also had a generator so I would assume it ran on AC, the boat also had a SW
washdown pump so I'll assume that was the water source.
	Interesting, the more I think about it, you may get past the "skin"
problem by feeding totally frozen bait for it ti digest at its own rate.
The chum should rapidly thaw in small pieces in the warm water.
	Now, how to do this at home for "take out" ... you got me ???

	Rick 

Steve,

    You can make the exit port as large as you want - maybe use a series
of 'chokes' as in shotguns to control the chunk size that is expelled but
I'd strongly advise AGAINST ANY attempt to modify the blades. These blades
travel at an incredible speed and if one were to break free it might cause
some serious injury - also, due to the high speed rotation, these units are
VERY sensitive to BALANCE - remove a blade and your unit should shake
apart in a few minutes........

    All dispose-alls that I've seen require a constant flush with water
when in use. Salt water WILL cause you the same problems with corrosion as
it does to all the other nice metal fittings and gear on your boat. The
prevention/maintenance would be the same also; flush well with fresh water
after use........

---

Joe Whittemore - From where the Westfield
                      Meets the Westfield
                         By the Westfield
                            In Huntington (MA)

                      [email protected]  
                 [ jdw%[email protected] ]

If I have to use a lot of water to flush out the disposal
unit, then this doesn't sound like a good use for it.

The biggest problem I had with the standard grinder was 
that the funnel going into the blades was small and it is
difficult to keep constant pressure on the fish in the chute 
to force it through.

If I added a long chute with a plunger and motorized
the unit it would do the job better and faster. With a 
DC motor and a power supply I could run it at home and 
on the boat. 

I already have the DC motor and power supply.

	Steve	

	

    
    Get a salad master?

    re: -.1
    
    Funny, I was thinking that a food processor would be a closer fit...no
    dilution of chum with water to keep the thing running.  It would,
    however, be more limited in throughput...and may not be available at
    the dump.  Bet you could get one at a yard sale pretty cheap though...
    
    jim

    How about a meat slicer?  Take your bait, freeze it in suitable
    container, perhaps a half gallon milk carton, run it through the
    slicer, stuff it into ziplocks, and re-freeze.  You could even spike
    the water it's originally frozen in with anisette, or some suitable
    fish attractant.
    
    Moe

 You guy's are sick! A food processor!! HAHAHAHAH

 I'm suprised nobodies mentioned the BASS-O-MATIC @!!

 I belive if you have 3 or 4 guy's in your party go 
out the night before and get pretty tanked up, you'll
have all the chum you need the next day, no fancy 
machines needed just a 6ft swell and someone to crack
open a cold one at 7:30am

 - Dave

    	Yo Sully!  Go back and read .9......  Thankyou...
    
    					B.C.

    An old meat grinder. You took these things and clamped them onto
    the wood counter/table/bench. Its was used in the old days.
    Used hand cranking to make it work. Was used to make hamburger
    but came with several front thingies that allowed for chuncking..
    
    Look in old flea markets. Can buy them for a song. ANy one got 
    a mom older than me knows what I am talking about.
    You nmight have to cut the fish into smaller chunks, but it works.
    
    boomer
    

    Hey I'm only 32 and I know what your talking about.  I do like the idea
    of having one of the grinders on the boat I'll have to try that once. 
    by the way those meat grinders can usually be found in those annoying
    catalogs that we all hate but read anyway, usually found in the sunday
    iserts or I've seen them in little town hardware stores also.