The making of "The Zombie Chum Awakening part 2"

Day of Chum Fishing & Videoing

The footage for The Zombie Chum Awakening 2 was captured on two different days: October 6 & 13. Ninety percent of the footage is from October 13, which was fitting as that was Friday the 13th. This day was particularly special as I got to spend it with two buddies Neal & Arnold. It was Arnold’s first time Salmon fishing so I was excited to see him get into his first Salmon.

We arrived early and shortly after first light we were getting into them! Double headers were a common theme for most of the day. I put up double digits of Chum and killed two does. This day was so successful that I ended up trying new jigs and techniques that I typically wouldn’t try. Another big bonus was catching my personal best Chum doe! She was 34 inches long, didn’t get a weight but would guess high teens (lbs). Most of the does I catch are 28-32 inches long, so this was a special one!

Photos – Fishing Chum Salmon on Stave River

4 Chum & Roe

4 Chum Salmon Does and bag full of roe

Arnold

Arnold with Chum Salmon Doe

Neal

Neal with a chum salmon buck

Jesse Female Chum 2

Jesse with Chum Salmon Doe on Stave River

Jesse Male Chum 3

Jesse with Chum Salmon Buck

Jesse Male Chum 2

Jesse with Chum Salmon Buck on Stave River

Chum Jig 1

Jig in Chum Salmon mouth

Chum Roe Skeins

Chum Salmon Roe

Chum before brine

Cut up Chum Salmon

Chum in Brine

Smoke Salmon brine

Chum drying

Chum Salmon drying out

Smoked Chum in ziploc

Smoked Chum Salmon in ziploc

How to Fish for Chum Salmon in the Stave River

Every year the Stave River has a large return of Chum Salmon. These salmon usually start showing up early October and run until early November. Chum are very aggressive and willing biters so this is a great river for introductory Salmon anglers. The most successful setup to catch these Chum is float fishing a purple/pink jig (optional: tip jig with a prawn). Additionally, the Stave water levels are dam controlled so you don’t have to worry about this river blowing out, it’s fishable in almost any weather conditions.

The Stave River Map

Stave River westside (upper)

The upper portion of the westside is faster moving water as it’s closer to the dam. There is more room here for fly fishermen.

Stave River westside entrance

This is the most popular fishing spot on the river with easy accessibility and a long stretch of river to choose from. Here is where you can easily walk down to the river from the road.

Stave River westside - The Rock

This section is in the lower portion of the westside and it’s just down river from the entrance point. There is a big rock near the shore so you can’t miss it.

Stave River Eastside

This is not as accessible as the west side as you’ll need to walk in. Based on the water levels the path can change as it might be submerged. The East side of the river doesn’t not have as much fishable water as the westside (especially true when the water is higher).

Stave River Toilet Bowl

This is a round pool at the top of the east side of the river. The nickname “toilet bowl” comes from it’s shape, and when the water is high the bowl flows into some side channels on the east side of the river.

Ruskin Dam & Fishing Boundary

The fishing boundary is immediately below the dam. There is a triangle sign next to the floating buoys in the river to indicate the boundary.

Ruskin Spawning Channel - No Fishing

There is a small channel of water parallel to the east side of the river. There is NO FISHING allowed in this channel as it’s a safe space for fish to spawn.

“The Zombie Chum Awakening” part 1

The first video of The Zombie Chum Awakening was done in October of 2016. It was a fun gag video and had a great response, so I figured I’d bring it back this year. Who knows maybe this will be an ongoing series…

If you want to see the original journal from this first part and fishing trip, click here: The Zombie Chum Awakening.