Chum salmon – willing to slam most any fly like a speeding freight train, capable of stripping every single inch of backing off your reel and send you leaping for the boat in a single bound, faster than the speediest large arbor pick up and unable to accept the concept of QUIT… what more could an adventurous angler wish for?
These “Super salmon”, though slandered in the past with names like “Dogs”, have acquired quite a cult following in the few lower forty-eight rivers that are lucky enough to still have healthy runs of them. Up here in God’s country we have adopted a revered respect for these brawlers.
As any Alaska West guide will tell you there is no fun like Chum fun. The sheer epic numbers of these salmon and relentless action is the thrill. Chum baseball is a little game we play. A player casts till he retrieves three presentations with no landed fish. Each fish actually touched scores a point. It’s not uncommon for the score to be as high as a college basketball game. This “gonzo” game’s recent popularity growth is largely due to the rest periods the competitors enjoy between turns.
Games end with players taping up scarred knuckles, line burned fingers and fish bites, hitting the showers and wishing for a masseuse.
Chum Salmon Tackle
Rods
We recommend 7 weight to 9 weight quality rods with actions that are well suited for casting in windy conditions.
Reels
Durable reels with a medium to strong disc drag are necessary. Spool capacity should be at least 150 yards of 20 pound backing.
Lines
A floating line along with at least one sink tip is usually best. Sink tips should be 5 feet to 15 feet with a medium to fast sink rate.
Leaders
10 to 15 pound monofilament.
