Many years ago i went to Lake Okeechobee and hired a guide (glenn hunter) lakeland florida area.

We caught a lot of really big bass and was told they put out chum in the areas where we fished.

I only found this out the following year when i went back i couldnt get in with my previous guide so i hired a different guide. After fishing all day with shiners and never catching a bass i asked him about the guide i used the previous year.

Ill never forget what he said.

Oh well they bait the sites with chum and i dont do that.

Well crap, why on earth would i ever hire that guy again.

Either way does anyone know a legitimate guide who uses chum that will take me shiner fishing for a couple of days?

dont really care which lake in florida so long as it produces lots of big bass!!!

I'm not sure you were being told the truth.

 

I have never heard of such a thing before now. I've lived in Florida my entire life and know a number of guides and never heard this before.

 

Guides use live shiners because they are trying to increase the likelihood or chances of their customer catching a large bass. They all do it.

 

Now to repeat what you said minus some things...

 

"After fishing all day with shiners and never catching a bass........

Oh well they bait the sites with chum and i dont do that."

 

To me it sounds like your particular guide was making excuses for why you did not catch a bass. I call BS on his claim or excuse.

 

I'd say the fish just were not biting on your day, or the fish were not in the area that you were fishing on that day.

 

Chumming for bass is not a usual thing to do. It can be done, but it takes time for it to work. Someone has to chum the water with something that draws in smaller fish to feed on it, and then the bass move in to feed on the smaller fish feeding on the chum.

 

Its not like you go out with a guide and he starts tossing dog food or cat food overboard and the bass just start biting. It could take hours for the chum to begin to show results.

 

I personally have never heard of any bass guides chumming for bass. Usually its wild shiners and go to places known for big bass.

 

I tend to think you may have been on the receiving end of some excuses and BS. But that is just my opinion of course and could be completely wrong! Would not be the first time.

 

You can save a ton of money if you simply do your homework on where the biggest bass are being caught in Florida, and go get your own shiners and do it yourself.

 

Florida has plenty of old fish camps that will help you out. Some even offer guides as well, but just rent a boat and take some wild shiners and go catch a trophy bass on your own. Far more rewarding in my opinion.

 

You can do a search on Florida's documented trophy catches 8 pounds and larger and where they were caught here:

 

https://license.gooutdoorsflorida.com/Angler/SearchCatches?id=1

 

And be aware that right now the number 1 big bass producer in the state Rodman reservoir is on its 4 year draw down so the water is now just in the river channel so all the big bass are congregated into the channel like monkeys in a barrel and having to fight each other for food so catching a lunker is easier right now in that location.

 

TrophyCatch Florida

April 29, 2023 ·

Your TrophyCatch Data Tells Us...

We've made it to the #1 spot for which Florida lakes have the most TrophyCatch Club Wins? Ranking in the #1 spot is Rodman Reservoir with a total of 1,168 Club Wins! Rodman Reservoir is sometimes called Lake Ocklawaha & is found in Putnam & Marion Counties in north central Florida. This manmade reservoir covers 9,500 acres and is famous for producing Five (including the very first) TrophyCatch Hall of Fame bass (13 lbs. 14 oz.) by Bob Williams from New Jersey in February 2013.

 

You don't need a paid guide to the big ones! Just the right info...

I have never heard of chumming for bass like using a chum bag or chum block like they do in saltwater but I could be wrong. I will tell you many shiner guides fish the same good area over & over as long it still produces. The repetitive nature of feeding bass lots of shiners keeps them hanging around. So in a way you could consider it chumming with shiners.  

It works well! Cut a big ole kids whiffle ball bat top off. Fill up with shad and fling it. Then fish with shad 

 

Ive also seen chumming for trout work immediately, I didn’t believe it til I saw it in person 

the guide i hired way back then was an old guiding outfit all of which are long dead by now and thiey did indeed use chum, the filled burlap bags full of im not sure what and kept putting them out regularly to make a better experience for there customers. The local bait shop that sold him the shiners told me as well.

takes work but your clients are very successful and never know!

if i lived within 2 miles of the boat ramp like he did at lakeport on ockechobee i would have done it too. I have my own boat and fished for a couple of days without a guide and then my backup plan was this guy, wow what a difference.

Whos a good guide on rodman? shiner fishing

Shiner guys will chum their spots to attract shiners so they can be cast-netted. 
We used to fish around the “shiner poles” , PVC pipes they’d mark their spots with and sometimes it would be productive.

I’m born and raised here in Florida and can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone chum for bass in 72 years. 
 

I just did a search online and picked some likely good guides for ya...

 

https://www.floridatrophybass.com/

 

https://rodmanreservoirfishing.com/

 

https://bassonline.com/fishing-guides/florida/capt-kenneth-walker/

 

https://ioutdoor.com/fishing/florida/palatka/rodman-reservoir/

 

https://boogersguideservice.com/

Capt Sean Rush owns Rodman Reservoir. He is the best guide in all of Florida based on numbers of submissions to the Trophy Bass program. He only guides shiner fisherman no artificials. He is extremely booked up so plan well ahead.

Don’t forget, Rodman is in the middle of a drawdown right now.

As was said, chum for bait. 
I’ve never seen or heard of it being done anywhere in the state for Bass. 
 

Do a search on here as I’ve listed guides many times that I’ve personally fished with in tournaments as a co angler but mostly on The Lake. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

I’ve seen the shiner guys throwing chicken feed to prep the water before launching the cast net. (Orange-Lochloosa) On the St. John’s river when the shrimp run was happening, on the piers, people would toss out bait balls to chum for shrimp.. 

 

Same river with chicken feed for mullet..

I’ve seen the shiner guys catch  bass when they cast net for shiners.  I fish the shiner poles myself. I just keep a wild eyed storm rigged and laying on deck and work each side of the markers when I come across them. They get moved around, so it’s when I see one.

I’ve haven’t heard of anybody chumming for bass, but they do chum for shiners and people will fish the markers. I fish the St. John’s and since the lack of eel grass around where I live has made the shiner guys move elsewhere. 
Like @F14A-B

said they do chum for shrimp here on the St John’s . I use hog finisher from the feed store. 
 

I don’t directly chum for bass. For one thing, it would take a long time to draw fish in.

I chum bream and shiners a lot though. If you get them holding in an area, the bass will come too. 

On 1/2/2026 at 1:41 PM, TnRiver46 said:

It works well! Cut a big ole kids whiffle ball bat top off. Fill up with shad and fling it. Then fish with shad 

 

Ive also seen chumming for trout work immediately, I didn’t believe it til I saw it in person 

Chumming for Trout is common on the famous White River and it does work immediately, mostly using corn for stocker size Rainbows .

Years ago I saw guys chumming with grain and a sling shot, to stimulate bait fish in an area. He would do it for a few days before a big trip. The bass will show up to feed on bait fish.

Also on some central Florida lakes with a lot of cypress trees, a guy totd me to look for the trees with Osprey nests. These birds are sloppy eaters and scraps go in the water drawing bait fish under. There are always a few big bass looking for an easy meal on these bait fish. It made sense to me.

On 1/2/2026 at 2:41 PM, TnRiver46 said:

It works well! Cut a big ole kids whiffle ball bat top off. Fill up with shad and fling it. Then fish with shad 

 

Ive also seen chumming for trout work immediately, I didn’t believe it til I saw it in person 

If you are ever on a brook trout stream and come across a tree branch hanging over the water with a bunch of bug shucks on it, you can scrape your oar across the shucks and knock them in the water, as they descend down river, you will see many of Brookies feeding on them... it's always the small dumb ones though... lol

I miss Florida fishing. Lived there since I was 3 years old. Had a teacher in the 4th grade get me into fishing, back in 1973, gave me an old Zebco and started fishing at a little pond down the street from my house in Naples. My first bass I caught was 4 lbs and been hooked on bass fishing ever since. That all being said, never heard of chumming for bass before, sharks yes bass no. Live in South Carolina now, sure do miss Florida bass fishing. Anyway good luck and have a blessed day.