Conference wahoo::fishing

       Guy at the bait shop was tryin to sell me some last week. He
    said they're good for about 2 weeks after the fish are stocked.
    He also said they've been banned in Calif. don't know if he was
    just blowing wind or what.
                                            Denny

     I'd put chumming right up there with snagging and dynamite as sporting
    ways to fish. When I start chumming, I start shaving without a mirror.
    It's probably just as easy to follow a hatchery truck.
    
    --The Bandit

    Ditto!!! #2
    

    
    Well, I'ved tried power bait with no luck whatsoever.  As far as I'm
    concerned that puts it right up there with all the other bait..
    
    NBD to me.
    
    Ray

    A piece of power bait on 1 hook to catch 1 fish is sociable.
    but to dump/chum is dumb, but if you can afford to chum w/that
    stuff, i guess it's just POWER against, that BAIT.
    
    	I'D invest my money, in metal,plastic or rubber, before
    	i wasted my money on chum,  thats my personal thought 
                                         then again what do i know.
    
    	this isn't an open shot for you Gary.

    
    I have to agree with the last few replies, in that the power baits
    take the sport out of it. Although I must admit I've used it and
    yes, it works. Chumming with it is NO class...reminds me of the
    some northern invaders I saw near Berlin, NH last year, these guys
    were doing just short of drag-netting.
    
    RE -1 
    
    >>>I'D invest my money, in metal, plastic or rubber
    
    I should introduce you to my old girlfriend. :-)
    
    Tight ones Gents!
    
    T Theo

    Re .6    T Theo, Just curios, what where these "Northern Invaders"
    doing that was short of drag-netting? I'm picturing these guys from
    Canada (couldn't be Mass) hanging over the side of the boat with
    huge hoop nets trolling around the pond. Am I close? :-)

    I am not sure power baits are some type of magic, or worth the cash
    they want. I'll bet a marshmallow and salmon egg combo works just as
    well. You just have to be where the fish are. Yes I have used Power
    Nuggets, and yes I caught fish with them, but from past experience
    I think I would do just as well with eggs and marshmallows. The trick
    is to get the bait off the bottom and use light line.


    Re: Chummin

    Hey someone wants to chum that's their business. For some species its
    common practice ie: catfish, carp, shark and tuna as some examples.
    If its within the law whats the problem? BTW I don't chum, just don't
    see a problem with it, nor would I expect them to do better. The fish
    still need to pick their bait out of all that chum if it even attracts
    the fish.
     
    Rich

    Rich,

    Hate to bum you out, but yes these guys *were* from MA...not that
    that has anything to do with their style or lack there of. 
    
    I was drifting about in my canoe on ~15 acre pond in W.Milan, NH.
    Nice quiet day, flat water, risers everywhere and these guys show up.
    Three boats out/down riggers...75+HP outboards..fish finders...etc.
    Real sportsmen...If I wanted to elbow up to tourists I would have 
    gone to Winnie. Easy, I know what you're thinkin'...

    >>You just have to be where the fish are. Yes I have used Power
    >>Nuggets, and yes I caught fish with them, but from past experience
    >>I think I would do just as well with eggs and marshmallows. The trick
    >>is to get the bait off the bottom and use light line.

    Here here!!
    
    RE Re: Chummin

    >> For some species its common practice ie: catfish, carp, shark and
    >> tuna as some examples. If its within the law whats the problem? 

    I chum for the second of the two freshwater species here...no problem.
    Although I wouldn't eat the hornpout, as the habitats for both species in
    this area is toxic. I *definitley* woudln't eat something prehistoric
    looking like carp. Saltwater is an entirely different subject. We should
    probably take this off line as we've already strayed from the topics title. 

    Hey relax...no flames here! :-)                              

    Tim     

    
    
    
              Chum- The act of hanging ones head over the side of 
              a boat and letting everyone see what you had for lunch.
    
    
                       Now THAT IS chumming!!
    
              Power bait looks like another scam to me.Kinda like 
              those cheese flavored marshmallows,good for desert
              when you get bored around noontime,but the fish don't
              care for them.Save your 4 dollars a bottle (or give it to me)
              and buy a bag of mallows and some meal worms might cost
              you 3 bucks and lasts alot longer.
    
    
    
                                          The Keg

    Hey Keg, that type of chummin reminds me of Maine last year
    if you know what I mean, that is if you remember!
    
    Rich

>>    Three boats out/down riggers...75+HP outboards..fish finders...etc.
>>    Real sportsmen...If I wanted to elbow up to tourists I would have 
>>    gone to Winnie. Easy, I know what you're thinkin'...
    
    
      So, are you saying that using down-riggers, fish-finders, and 75hp
    outboards is in the same catagory as chumming??? I hope not.
    
    -Ron-

re: .11

	On an small pond, boats that large are annoying. Especially if
	your looking for a little peace and quiet.. Although I wouldn't
	put them in the same category as someone chumming for trout!

	The trout chummers could save themselves a lot of time and money
	by going to the supermarket and buying trout...

			Robert.

    This is kind of an interesting response.  Back in note 1306 I asked
    what was fair in fishing and got use anything you want as long as its
    legal.  Most respondents stated that tools are tools, they don't
    guarentee catching fish (ie fish scents) just are to be considered
    addtional tools.  Now out on the great Wachusetts Resevoir there is a
    off shore fishing only requirement.  This reseviour is huge and if you
    believe that only 10% of any water mass holds 80-90% of the fish, the
    odds of catching anything are huge.  Since Salmon and Trout are
    generally deep water and close to the surface and shallows only in the
    spring, why not use powerbait and chum to bring them into your space. 
    Lets face it chumming about a 100 yard area on a lake thats miles and
    miles long doesn't guarentee you squat!  I have tried these power baits
    and caught ZIP on them in the couple of times I went out.  So whats
    wrong with seeding the area with them if its going to make your shot a
    % better?
    
    The killer is I don't for one second believe this is going to do squat
    because of the size of Wachusetts and the limited area you have to
    fish.  But at the same time, I don't condemn my brother for trying
    something that might improve his chances of catching a salmon or trout. 
    If I condemn him for that then all you big time advocates of bass boats,
    fish finders, scents, deep trolling multiple rigs, live bait, polarized
    sun glasses, etc etc, better keep silent cause those things are just 
    as cheating as chumming as far as I'm concerned.   You can chum all you
    want it don't mean the fish are going to come to that area and even if
    they do, it don't mean they are going to hit your line.  So lighten up
    you guys.  

    Re.13
      BINGO!!  I agree.  Why is it all right to use every electronic gimic 
    known to man but unsporting to chum? 
    
    Jeff

    	Because once all these high tech items have been paid for the
    fisherman has no money left for buying large quantities of bait for
    using as chum so they say that chunmming is wrong. 8*)
    
    Just kidding.
    
    Barry
    

    	Why is it illegal to CHUM????  STATE LAW!!!!!!!  So, before you use
    a tactic from one area in another place, better RTFM!!!!  Otherwise, it
    COULD be expensive.

    
    Ron,
    
    Nope...I'm not saying anything negative about fishing "tools" as they
    are. I don't recall his name, but the reply following yours was dead on
    in that a 15 acre pond can hardly accomodate all that horse power.
    Clean air beats the smell of 2 stroke oil.
                                                     
    I got my limit that day without a problem. In fact I kicked back after
    the second fish because I didn't want to pack it in in an hour. I was 
    using one line, no weight and a Muddler Minnow. These guys could done
    as well casting from shore and probably should have. On top of that they
    were outlaws, because as Arlo Guthrie would have said, "The meanest,
    ugliest, father raper of them all" took well over his limit...they all did.
    
    I'm no granola cruncher, but when I drive four+ hours to get away from
    it all, the last thing I want to meet up with is a bunch of Yahoos
    invading my space witout consideration. (not to mention the empty Bud
    can they left on the hood of my truck)
    
    But I digress...
    
    T THeo

    re .16	Ok, Colorado its against the law. We got one nailed down.
    how about the other 49 states. I don't believe it is illegal in Mass.
    I don't have an abstract handy. 

    	We had a question about liver and corn being illegal in mass, but
    I don't recall ever seeing it in the abstract. Anyone know better?
    The only bait that I am aware of being illegal is smelt this time of
    year.

    Rich

    T Theo,
    
      I wasn't aware that it was such a small pond you were talking
    about. Personally, I use nothing more than a flasher/depth-finder.
    And, in such a small pond, I would tend to shy away from even using
    that. It really sounds like they were outlaws, though. It a shame 
    that they were so obnoxious and offensive. There are always idiots
    around who have no consideration for others.
    
      As for the chumming and downrigger/outrigger/electronics situation
    goes, I feel there is a big difference. Chumming is supposed to attract
    the fish, and get them in a feeding frenzy (a guess only, since I have
    never done this). The use of electronics and downriggers doesn't do
    much in this way. The fisherman still needs to use skill and luck to 
    catch something. Using all that gear doesn't guarantee that you will
    catch fish.
    
    -Ron-

    I'm not sure if chumming should be illegal or not.  I've never chummed
    for anything other than sharks in Florida.  But this reminds me of a
    fish story ;-)
    
    Back in about 1966, my grandparents used to own a house on Barnegat Bay
    in Love Ladies, NJ.  (Funny name for a town now that I look back) 
    Well, across the bay in Barnegat Light, "they" decided they were going
    to put in this gian peer or marina or something like that.  I can't
    remember exactly what it was but I remember they were driving lots of
    pilings.  The way "they" put in pilings "at least then" was to dig a
    big hole in the sand by boring into the sand with a high pressure hose.
    Then they'd slide the piling down as far as they could and pound it in
    some more while sand poured in to fill in around the piling.
    
    As you can imagine, the part where they used water pressure to make a
    hole in the sand would churn up clams, oysters, crabs, worms, bugs,
    sea weed, guano, you name it!  Flounder and Weakfish ( and others)
    came from all over the place to pig out on all the bait.  I don't
    ever remember having as much fun fishing for flounder and weakies.
    Not only was all this chum legal, IT WAS FREE!!!!
    
    /brett
     

    
    Re .18  Another State checks in......
    
      Its absolutely, positively and totally illegal to even look like your 
    doing anything like "chumming" or any other form of pre-baiting on
    inland waters in the State of Maine....so keep those kniblets and kibbles 
    to home boys..;7).
    
    ...its also illegal to dump anything into any body of water for the 
    purpose of creating a artificial structure to fish around/over/near....no
    Xmas tree tinsel littering up yer deep divers round here.
    
      Geeze.....what with all the C&R sentiment starting to cook up in this
    file the CK&E (Catch, kill and eat) crowd may have to establish a
    seperate notefile named "BAitfish", "Eatem" or some such to keep from 
    getting slagged when innocently asking which is better for early season 
    stockies....Cheeseballs or nibblets and what type of seine works best to 
    clean out a stream real quick, so forth so on....
    
      There seems to have been a tremendous change in attitude around C&R by 
    you "bassassins"....I like it....some of you are even popping up in the 
    totally yuppy elitist Flyfishing notefile...plenty of C&R/NOBARB fodder
    over there as well..
    
      Time to go fishing.....tight lines.
    
         Ed
    

    I guess we're just a bunch of sensitive 90's guys...
    
    
    
    ...oh quick, gimme a Pepto!
    
    Ed

       Getting back to the Power Bait,  I've used it several times and
    have had varying levels of success.  I don't feel I'm cheating.
    Many times I've had better luck with lures.  I just see Power Bait
    as another weapon in the arsenal (tackle box).  I've found that
    the orange Power bait has been the most effective for me. The price
    is getting ridiculous considering the "staying" power of the stuff.
    It doesn't seem to last very long when fishing a stream with a decent
    current.
    
        I've also heard that its been banned in a few states.
    
    
    
    
    
                                                    Chip Roy
    

    Ok you guys we went out sunday and by the way it is not illegal in MA
    to chum.  My brother used his little sacks of salmon eggs and power
    bait and caught zippo.  I on the other hand using shiners caught a 22"
    Brown trout.  Then for the rest of the day we caught zip.  so I don't
    think chumming with power bait or salmon eggs really did anything!
    
    By the way I had a brown follow in my pig and Jig in fact I swear it
    sort of chewed the pig tails for a second before turning tail.  My
    brother had another follow in his Rat-L-trap.  Anyone else have similar
    experiences?  or better yet caught a trout with non trout lures?
    
    Brian

    They catch steelhead all the time in Spring on crankbaits. I saw a nice
    one caught on a chartreuse Big O. Salmon will hit 'em in the fall (they
    killed salmon in Oswego on crank baits last fall.
     You might want to try a rapala fished slowly and erratically. Browns
    love big rapalas, which are the baits of choice for the monsters in
    Flaming Gorge. I assume you were fishing Wachusett - rte 70 side or rte
    140 side ?
    
    -- The Skoal Bandit

Brian,

Once, a couple of years ago, I had a trout chase a 6" purple worm with (I 
think) a little spinner propeller on the front - but I didn't get him. 

I've heard of trout hitting crankbaits too.

Ed

    	Trout will hit about anything any other predator fish will hit
    provided:

    1) It is within a size range that their normal food exists in

    2) It is somewhat of a color they are used to seeing

    3) THEY'RE CRAZY  :-)

    For trout, crankbaits, small spinnerbaits, black worms, jigs of about
    any type, etc. have caught fish for me.  The main difference between
    the trout and bass is, "YOU CAN MAKE A BASS ANGRY ENOUGH TO HIT!!!"

    Hmmmmmmm.....
    
    This may (or may not) deviate from the subject, but....
    
    All my life I thought the idea of fishing was to present bait/lure
    that looked as much like your target fish's favorite meal as possible.
    Then the fish just slurps it up.  For example a juicy worm on a hook.
    
    Lately, I've been mainly involved in fishing for salmon, which is
    loosely ralted to a trout.  Somepeople claim that the way to fish for
    salmon is to use herring and fish them to mimick the action of a live
    herring as much as possible.
    
    The other school (pun) of thought is to use all kinds of shiney
    flashers, glow-in-the-dark plugs, wobbly metal spoons and other
    odd lures.  The idea here is to irritate the hell out of them in an
    attempt to get them to hit out of frustration.
    
    In my experience, it's easier to catch salmon through the irritation
    routine than with the imitating_the_bait scenario.
    
    I've wondered if it were the same for trout......in which case you'd be
    better off irritating them with rattle-traps than luring them with
    bait.
    
    /brett
    
    p.s. "Power Bait" always sounded like a hoax to me......like some
    California yuppie fad like "Power Walking"; high lighted by 1990's
    popular da-glo colors.  If I hadn't read about people in this circle
    having success with it, I'd never have given a thought to trying it.  

    Skoal
    
    We were on the 70 side. 
    
    Brian

     A lot of guys fish the 70 side by the yellow house - especially when
    the smelt are in. I've had good luck further down toward Clinton past
    the high school walking in the trails from the gates. The bugs can be
    hellacious until you reach the reservoir, so bring your DEET. I used to
    use small countdown rapalas and a small black grub on a plain, offset
    jig head.
    
    -- The Skoal Bandit

    I've caught a couple stocked rainbows on rapalas .... sinkers in blue
    and chartreuse.  I don't think the colors look unnatural 10 feet down,
    just perhaps easier to see at that depth.  In my limited
    experience with trout, the profile/shape was more important than color.
    
    Rattletraps .... I'm not so sure.  Like Wayne says, It has to fit in
    the trout's mouth or at least look like it.
    
    -SSS-

    On this weekend's New England Rod and Reel a trout was caught on a
    rat-l-trap while bass fishing (on Mashpee in Mass).
    
    Last year I caught a nice rainbow while fishing for smallies with
    a 3" grub.
    
    I've caught more trout and salmon while trolling small Rapalas than any 
    other bait.
    
    donmac 

    Hey DonMac good to hear from you again.  Was beginning to wonder where
    you been.
    
    As far as the rat-L-Trap shape goes,,,As I was cleaning my brown trout
    for dinner (I do keep one or two to eat each year) I checked his
    stomach contents.  There was one huge shiner shaped and sized just like
    my rattle traps.  Thats what amazed me, I mean he had a huge shiner in
    his gut and hit my large shiner anyway.  So I guess the rattle traps
    shpe looks like a meal to those big boys
    
    Brian

>>    Hey DonMac good to hear from you again.  Was beginning to wonder where
>>    you been.
    
    Thanks. I was out flat on my back with pneumonia for awhile...  On the 
    rebound now, managed to get out after work woth my neighbor last night 
    and catch a mess of brookies for supper. (ok, I'll fess up, he caught most
    of them)
    
    donmac

    Yes, trout can be caught on spinners (like on anything else) and
    in fact I know couple of guys who don't use anything else than
    spinners for trout. Usually the ones used are on the bigger side
    like Vibrax or Mepps in sizes 4 & 5. Other good type is the one
    with weighted head and blade behind it. Especially for deeper
    water.
    
    Before anyone gets upset I'll add that target is trout in size
    five pounds and upwards, not brookies. For the latter ones spinners
    are as effective as anything but size is naturally matched.
    
    Eki 

    Eki, I believe Steve was jokingly referring to a large bent wire 
    spinnerbait that is used on this side of the pond for bass fishing 
    - the overall effect is quite large, approximately 4" tall and 4" long 
    - maybe longer when a plastic trailer is added.  The smaller inline 
    spinners (mepps, vibrax, etc) are also commonly used over here for trout.   
    
    donmac

    I agree with one hook, I power bait. The rainbow and brown trout are
    pretty smart. Dumping a bunch of power bait, is out of question with
    me though. Sport is Sport. Give me the hardware, 4 lb test line or
    lower and then we got a real challange.....
    
    The Colorado Okie.....

    I have never seen the pellets, but the "play-do" type stuff
    in the jar has, for me, been almost unbelievable. I use 3 or 4
    split shots about 6 inches above the hook and drop it down into
    some fast moving water. During the last couple of days I have
    put in about 2 1/2 hours of fishing...er catching, and have
    produced 4 Rainbows and 1 Brown. I also still have just about a
    half a jar left. As far as chumming goes, I have never done this 
    myself, but if you want to throw your $$$ into the water to fatten
    up the fish I will eventually catch, go for it!!! 
    
    
                                       Jeff (Captain)
                                       Team Starcraft

 I have never caught a damn thing with powerbait, and I used it a fair bit.

 I don't know what I'm doing wrong. This was the worst year for trout for
me anyway...

 The Doctah

>    half a jar left. As far as chumming goes, I have never done this 
>    myself, but if you want to throw your $$$ into the water to fatten
>    up the fish I will eventually catch, go for it!!! 


        I have been using the 'Power Bait Trout Eggs' with good results this
    season. I'll put one to three on a number ten bait keeper hook and cast
    quite far upstream of where I suspect trout to be holding and watch the
    line for a pick-up durring the dead drift. I've also used the play-dough
    on a trebble hook along with a knight-crawler with some success. As these
    baits use scent as an attractor I'd question there effectivness when
    trolled but have not put this to the test. I have molded the play-dough
    stuff onto the trebbles of luers (MEPPS type) with NO success.

        As far as 'fattening them up' is concerned - I wonder if Power Bait
    has any nutritional value or might in fact be toxic to the fish!?! Not
    a word about this on the labels.

	Also - and here's one for discussion - is 'Power Bait' an artificial?
    Could (not SHOULD) I use the 'Power Bait Trout Eggs' on an artificials
    only (catch & kill) streatch of water?

    When I mentioned to troll with it, I didn't mean just drag it through
    the water. I have had very good luck trolling worms, flatlining or
    on the downrigger and I will use the Power Bait in the same manner.
    I put it on an Eagle Claw hook. Not sure but I think it's called a
    two-way spinner. I usually buy the #8 size. It's a hook then a half
    a dozen or so red beads, topped off with a small spinner. Simple but
    effective. I call it "flash and a meal". 
                                                           
                                         Jeff (Captain)
                                         Team Starcraft
              ----------------------------------------------

    Seems somewhere I recently saw a powerbait lure, shaped like a
    rappala. It said it would last about 6 hours ??? I guess it just
    disintergrates after awhile...Anyone else seen these ?
    
    Marty