attracting bait fish

[tabb]

What can I use to chum up some bait fish for the cast net? I don't do well just blind casting in the flats. Does anyone have trick to get them drawn in for a shot with the cast net?

[bman]

Ive seen guys using canned cat food... Buy the least expensive stuff you can find.
but I can always catch a mess of pins with a #6 hook and a bit of squid, gulp or shrimp.

[silverking]

Cheap canned mackerel, some sand and menhaden oil.

Fill 1/3 of a bucket with beach sand and add a can of mack and a good splash of oil. Add just enough sea water to moisten and stir thoroughly. Position the boat over grass beds or the edge of a drop-off like the St. Marks sandbar and scoop of balls of the mix. Throw some sand balls overboard several times and you'll soon have pinfish or pilchards collecting within cast net range.

[Bullet]

We have good success by mixing a can of jack mackeral and a container of oat meal. The oat meal holds the mackeral together. We will anchor over grass in 3 to 4 feet of water, then toss some of the chum mixture out. It seems to work better if you anchor, let the boat get stable, throw 3 or 4 handfuls of chum out, then wait about 5 minutes before you throw the cast net initially. Once you start throwing, just continue to chum throwing the cast net 3 or 4 seconds after throwing chum. You can get cans of jack mackeral for a buck each @ any Dollar General.

[Salty Gator]

My friends that fish Charlotte harbor only like pilchards. They use menhaden milk and tropical fish food that they get in 40# sacs. No birds and it doesn't sink. It works well but not as easy to find as cat food and jack mackerel.