ASK THE EXPERTS
Gaz,
I have recently returned to carp fishing after about seven years and would really like to get to grips with all the updated techniques as my ‘classic methods’ seem a touch out of date and I receive a lot of stick from my fishing partners in the Army Carp Association. I have purchased a spod rod and a mid-range reel, but I am having difficulty getting my accuracy and feed styles to work. I have been fishing Yateley Sandhurst Lake and been thrashing it to a near froth but with little or no effect.
Any information and help you could give on this would be greatly appreciated and I'm sure, with your sound advice, I will soon have all the boys eating their words.
Many thanks,
Gareth ‘Goatface’ Stevens
Hampshire
Gareth,
No worries at all, and hopefully the following few simple points will sort you out in no time!
Firstly, you’ve done the most important thing and got yourself some decent spodding kit – job one sorted, apart from making sure your reel is loaded with a quality 20-30lb floating braid.
Spods; different tools for different jobs
The other two main points are technique, and bait. I’ll deal with the ‘how’ first. Casting a spod is very different to flicking a lead about, and unfortunately there is no real substitute for a bit of good old practice when it comes to actually getting used to casting 6-8oz of bait-filled rocket. The first thing I would suggest is to have a big ‘drop’ from tip to spod, about 6ft, when casting; having the spod level with your spigot is ideal. The extra drop helps massively when compressing the rod with the heavier load and, although it may feel odd at first, it will also help with accuracy once you’ve become adjusted to it. The next tip is to always use the line clip on your reel. Once you’ve found a spot and got your marker popped up, you need to get the range of your spod the same. I cast it out empty (just full of water) if possible, to avoid spreading bait about, drawing it back to a few feet beyond the marker. Nip the line under your line clip on the reel and the distance is now fixed. Upon casting with it full of bait, hit the cast slightly harder than required and when the spod is nearing the spot, hold the rod upright, pointing towards the sky. When it ‘hits’ the clip, let your rod take the impact and lower it quickly, this will make the spod ‘pat’ down quietly on the surface. If you don’t hit the clip the spod will crash in, making a massive disturbance and more than likely causing any carp in the area to vacate it! Using this technique and getting the spod to pat down quietly you can bait up over feeding fish and I’ve had numerous takes on prolific waters whilst actually spodding.
Next up is bait and baiting patterns, a massive area so I’ll have to be brief. I like to spread the spod about a little; most people strive to hit the marker float each time, but in an open water scenario I try to get an even spread, the size of maybe two or three brollies. This makes the spot less blatant and frightening, and gets the fish moving about thereby making them easier to hook, and also allows you to easily position two, or even three hookbaits on the same area, increasing the chances of multiple catches on waters like Sandy.
My spod mix ingredients. Simple, but mega-effective
Bait-wise, that is an entirely personal thing. I use maggots on Sandy in the winter but my normal spring/summer/autumn spod mix would consist of roughly the following:
1k of boilie, either whole, chopped, or crumbed
1 jar of Bait-Tech Super Seed Hemp (+ jar liquid)
Handful of Bait-Tech Tigers (+ jar liquid)
Half a handful of corn (+ can liquid)
A can of sardines (+ can liquid)
A healthy glug of liquid additive
Letting the boilie steep and wash out in the oil and attractor-rich liquids is a big edge
This is prepared 24 hours prior to leaving and left to steep so the boilie draws in all the liquids which would otherwise get wasted. That mix would get you bites anywhere with a small hookbait over the top, tipped with a tiny bit of plastic corn.
A lovely spod-caught Yateley Car Park common
Hope that helps.
Be lucky!
Gaz
