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Simply put, the best chumming device
on the market. Just fasten this cage on a heavy boat
rod, or tie it to some heavy mono wrapped around a bleach
bottle. Then fill it with chum and toss it overboard. The
heavy cage goes straight down, while the water pressure keeps
the chum in the basket. When it hits bottom give it a tug
and the chum is released. The chum then gets caught in the
coral and rocks under you, while some drifts on the bottom
downcurrent, bringing the fish directly under your boat.
Because the cage is brought up after each use, there is no
chance (unlike
mesh chum bags suspended from your boat) of losing a fish
because he got tangled up in the line going to the chum bag.
I have used these for over 30 years grouper and snapper fishing
in
Florida & the Bahamas ,
with excellent results. Our standard model (usually good
for depths up to 200') is hand made with .041 gauge welded
galvanized wire, a stainless bridle with swivel, and molded
lead base. An extra heavy model is also available for deep
water (over 200'). **chumming
fact** the
next time you snip up some sardines with your scissors,
and toss them off your boat remember this: a one knot current
travels at 100 feet per minute. Chopped up chum sinks at
a rate of about 10 feet per minute.
Example: fishing in forty feet of water,
with a one knot current, your chum won't get to the bottom
until it's 400 feet behind your boat. Deep drop cages get the
chum directly under your boat.
Capt. Charlie Walker
Approx. cage dimensions: 6"h X 4.75w
Click for price
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fish
catching tips
1.Chip
up frozen chum into golf ball sized pieces if fresh
is unavailable. 2.Stop
the cage before it gets all the way to the bottom. This will
enable you to bring smaller snappers, triggers, etc., off the
bottom. You can then target them with light tackle, and still
use heavier tackle for bottom dwelling grouper.
3.Anchor
your boat up tide from wrecks when using the cages. The chum
will draw the fish out away from the wrecks, where you will
have far less cut offs. 4.Empty
bleach bottles will collapse after you wind the cage up
a few times. To prevent this get a can of aerosol foam
at any hardware store, and fill the empty bottle about
2/3 full. Don't fill them all
the way up, (or put the cap on before it cures) as the foam
expands as it cures, and will blow the bottle up. The
cages will also work well attached to a stout boat rod. |
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CHUM FACTS
1) For
every knot of current, water moves 100' per minute.
2) Chopped
up chum (depending on whether it's fresh or frozen) sinks at
an average rate of 15' per minute.
3) Example:
if you are fishing in 90' of water with only a 1 knot current,
that hand full of chum you toss over won't hit bottom until
it's 600 feet behind your boat.
4) DEEP
DROP CAGES sink at a rate of over 20 feet
per second . Your chum ends up directly under your
boat.where it belongs.
HOW TO USE A DEEP DROP CAGE
1. Attach
the cage to some heavy mono wrapped around a bleach bottle,
then fill cage with desired amount of chum.
2. With
the open end of the cage pointing up, toss it over. Water
pressure keeps the chum in the cage, so its very important
to make sure it gets to the bottom with out stopping. The
cage will land on the bottom with the leaded end down. At
that point simply give the line a tug and the chum will be
released.
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Why weighted
cages work best
The purpose of chumming is to bring fish
up-current to you. One way is to use mesh chum bags with weights
attached to them. For
this method to work on grouper, snapper, and other bottom fish,
the bag must remain down, so the chum can gradually defrost
and draw the fish to you. The downside here is that you have
a line suspended from your boat that hooked fish can get tangled
up in, and ultimately lost.
DEEP DROP CAGES are brought
up immediately after each use, so there is no chance of losing fish
because they got tangled up in the line attached to the chum
bag
Another way of chumming is to simply toss
chopped up chum overboard. This works great for surface feeding
fish, but has severe shortcomings for fish that feed in other
parts of the water column.
You can control exactly where in the water
column to release your chum with a DEEP DROP CAGE. |