I am new to offshore fishing but I do a fair amount of bay fishing. I am curious to see what people use for chum and/or what they use chum for(kingfish,ling,shark,etc???). I was wondering if instead of paying for chum, I could take my left over bait from bay fishing(shrimp, mud minnows, mullet) and/or any small panfish(croaker,sand trout that were caught) and freeze them and use it for chum. Does chum have to be "fresh"???

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated

Chum is chum. Doesnt really matter what it is or if its fresh or not. Some of the best chum is a 5 gallon bucket full of those tiny shad you can cast net in a creek or by a boat ramp. Just scoop a little bit out every now and then. Any cut up fish will work, and yes your left over bait is perfect. Pogies work really good also.

I have used everything from old sardines, cut up fish and even cat food. When I lived in California I had an old freezer that I would grind up the fish guts and leftovers and throw it into a five gallon bucket. It would last for hours when I was fishing the Hunington Flats south of Los Angeles

Thanks for the info

So could a person head a couple miles from the jetties, drop anchor,start chumming, and expect fish to start showing up, similar to the fish that show up around the shrimp boats?

Yes and no, I would still look for some structure that would hold fish. But chum can attract bait fish and that in turn would attract larger fish.

Just remember not to put toomuch chum out or you will just feed the fish and they may not eat what you have to offer. Also there is also a chance that sharks will show up and scape the game fish away