Chumming for bonefish is a way to catch them on cloudy, windy, or rainy days when you cannot sight fish, by drifting broken shrimp on the current to draw fish to your bait. For this How 2 Tuesday I explain a tactic I leaned on as a guide when a front blew in and seeing fish was off the table. You find a known bonefish spot with good current, break up shrimp and trickle it out, and present a hooked piece just down-current. Bonefish have an incredible nose, so the scent pulls them in. I cover the rig, the timing, and why I let the rod set the hook on its own.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You go to a known bonefish spot with a little more depth and good current, break shrimp into half-inch pieces, and trickle a handful out at a time so it sinks and drifts on the current. Then you cast a hooked piece of shrimp with a couple of split shots just down-current of the chum, set the rod in the holder with a proper drag, and wait. The scent draws the bonefish in, they pick up the bait, and the rod loads and sets the hook on its own.
When you cannot see the fish. Clouds, a Key West whiteout, rain, high tide, or hard wind all kill sight fishing, and chumming is the trick up your sleeve to still make something happen. I much prefer sight fishing, but I prefer chumming to going back to the dock empty-handed. Often a front blows in, you have not caught anything, and a fifteen-to-twenty-minute chum while you eat a sandwich can add a bonefish or two, or even a permit.
A standard seven-foot bonefish rod, medium to medium-heavy, with ten to fifteen pound braid and a light leader. Step your hook up from a 2/0 to about a 3/0 plain-shank offset J hook, because chumming can draw a permit or a big bonefish and you may pile several pieces of shrimp on the hook. Add split shot so the bait sits on the bottom, and bring several dozen shrimp. If you buy extra, you can keep them alive overnight like Jeff Maggio showed.
Sparingly. If you dump every shrimp in the well at once, you will draw small snappers, sharks, and everything else before the bonefish, which are not the most aggressive fish out there. Throw just a handful when you arrive, then break up another piece every five or ten minutes to keep a little fresh scent going. The right amount and frequency is what separates the guides who are great at this from the ones who are not.
Because the rod, what Keys guides call Rodney, is the best fisherman on the boat since it never sets the hook accidentally. You set the drag so a bonefish or any fish can pull line and load the rod, which sets the hook on its own. You leave it in the holder and do not touch it until you see the rod bend over and the drag screaming. Then you pick it up and you are tight. It could be a bonefish, a permit, a bonnet shark, or a box fish.
The booger rig is a workaround for tournaments where throwing loose chum is not allowed. Since chumming means putting chum in the water and fishing means it is attached to your line, anglers thread fifteen or twenty little pieces of shrimp onto the hook and up the line so they are technically fishing, not chumming. It puts a lot of scent right at your bait, draws bonefish to it, and a lot of really big bonefish have been caught on it.
I started out doing nothing but sight casting, and it is my favorite way to fish. But it is fishing and weather, so clouds, whiteouts, rain, and wind take seeing fish off the table, and as a guide you still have people who traveled a long way to fish. I used to lose tournaments to guides who could chum. I explain how I came around to it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Chumming starts with going to a place bonefish actually use, found on charts like Stu Apte's old maps, with good current that washes the scent down to the fish. The best guides position slightly as the tide moves so the bonefish only have to step a couple feet off their path to your bait, not a hundred yards. I get into how to read it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I step the hook up to a 3/0 because chumming can pull a permit or a big bonefish, and I let Rodney, the rod holder, set the hook on a proper drag. For tournaments where loose chum is banned, the booger rig threads pieces up the line so you are fishing, not chumming, and it catches giants. I cover both in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I am no chumming expert and I would always rather sight fish, but I would much rather chum than not fish at all. Set up a quick chum while you eat lunch and you might add a bonefish, a permit, or a great spot to come back to.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
bonefish · chumming · Florida Keys · Islamorada · Stu Apte · booger rig · permit · bonnet shark · Jeff Maggio · Rodney rod holder · sight fishing · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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