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[HOOK]

most of us fisherman go by the fact if the belly is white they should still be good. also take a look at the fish to see if it still has its scales or have they vanished into the flash already because that isnt a fresh one either even if its belly is white. some turn right away when they hit freshwater, some take awhile longer.

me personally i dont keep many chum, i will be keeping a few this year though because my father in law wants to smoke some  yum yum. My rule of thumb is if the belly is nice and white and they still have some scale shine to them they will be okay especially for the smoker.


I have to say one thing about chum meat though. their meat gets quite soft very quickly so make sure you dont let them sit without ice to long. this is the main reason i dont take many cause i always forget to bring a cooler. and you cant let them sitin the fridge a couple days either or the will start to get mushy. 

[CALI 2 B.C.]

Thanks for the response judging by the input my fish was borderline keeper the scales were intact and had a silverish shine should be fine.

[HOOK]

you could also give it a bit of a squeeze along its spine to check for firmness however this isnt a perfect science because chum & springs are very thick along the spine  i just go by colour so im not squeezing everything i catch LOL

[fishseeker]

most of us fisherman go by the fact if the belly is white they should still be good. also take a look at the fish to see if it still has its scales or have they vanished into the flash already because that isnt a fresh one either even if its belly is white. some turn right away when they hit freshwater, some take awhile longer.

me personally i dont keep many chum, i will be keeping a few this year though because my father in law wants to smoke some  yum yum. My rule of thumb is if the belly is nice and white and they still have some scale shine to them they will be okay especially for the smoker.


I have to say one thing about chum meat though. their meat gets quite soft very quickly so make sure you dont let them sit without ice to long. this is the main reason i dont take many cause i always forget to bring a cooler. and you cant let them sitin the fridge a couple days either or the will start to get mushy. 

Oh yes, good point.  The one I got last week went into ice within one hour of catching and it was excellent.  In my opinion chum are underrated as table fair but they have to be in good condition as stated in this post.

[typhoon]

How about this one? My buddy wanted one for smoking (for the first time) but we didn't keep this one.

[HOOK]

typhoon without seeing the entire belly its hard to say because it appears to have scales intact still below the lateral line. that fish probably would have been perfectly fine for the smoker  lets face it you arent going to catch many chrome chum (especially in the Stave) because they begin to colour as soon as they hit freshwater for the most part however i have seen bullet chrome ones in the Vedder, Harrison, Chehalis and Norrish rivers even into December

[Tex]

How about this one? My buddy wanted one for smoking (for the first time) but we didn't keep this one.

I don't think I would've kept it, but it probably would've been ok-ish.  It's hard to tell without handling the fish myself.  Only way to tell for sure is to try it! 


Tex

[dennisK]

How about this one? My buddy wanted one for smoking (for the first time) but we didn't keep this one.

white belly usually means keep it ..dark belly means bye - bye...in between belly (gray) colours is your discretion