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Spodding

Neil Rogers

Neil Rogers

Active Member
Hi All
When spodding would you always use a shock leader or would 30lb braid be ok on it's own.
Being new to this, just wondered what you find the best way for spodding bait out there.
And would you always use a glove too.

Any help or pointer would be great. :)
 
I do a lot of spodding when carping and my way of doing it is to use 8lb mono with a tapered Daiwa leader which from memory is 12lb to 40lb. With this set up i can cast miles, dont have to worry about a finger stall or glove and have never had a crack off as i find the mono behaves better than braid in a wind and less chance of a wrap round the butt ring etc. If you do decide to go the braid route make sure you dip the spool in the water before using it as this helps it to behave better and deffo wear a glove (leather) or a decent finger stall as i've seen some horrendous finger cuts due to braid.
 
I use braid with a shock leader, but I snapped the line clip off my spod rod reel yesterday so maybe not the nest set-up!!
 
I've used 30lb braid straight through for the last 2 years without problems. As a safety precaution I do use a leather finger stall purchased from the local chemist. I do believe however that most 'injuries' are a result of not having the drag tightened right down, allowing the spool to rotate just prior to release of the spod. (Cheese wire effect).

As for clipping up, I use the Jim Gibbinson Power Gum Clip. I use these not just on the spod but also on my main rods so they can be used if needed. You need a baiting needle or similar to unhook and rehook the gum but it avoids damaging your main line and is cushion of the force when hitting the clip. I also clip-up the spod on arrival at a venue remove the spool and drop it in the margins so it’s got a thorough soaking prior to use
 
The Jim Gibbinson Power Gum Clip sounds interesting, I tried googling but i couldn't really follow the explanations i found, how does it work?
 
The ‘Gibbo’ power gum casting clip is fairly easy to ‘install’. It's used instead of the reels line clip therefore removing the risk of line damage. It’s best fitted when refilling your spools with new line as this means it’s easy to position it well out of your maximum casting range.(i.e. 150m + is ideal)

Assuming you are about to reload your spools with 200m of line. Tie the end of your new line to the spool and wind on 25m. Take a 6” length of power gum and insert into the line clip half way leaving 3” of p.gum either side. Lay the two lengths of gum up the spool and, by hand, wind a few further coils of line over the p.gum to trap it and hold it in place. Continue to hand wind a few more coils ensuring that you trap some p.gum towards the top lip of the spool. Now take one tag end of p.gum, fold it back down the spool and again trap it with a few hand wound coils. Do the same for the second tag (You’ve now got a sort of ‘M’ shape). Trim the tag ends so they drop inside the spool limits. The p.gum is still slightly loose at this point so now is the best time to adjust as necessary. E.g. Check loop in the clip isn’t too tight . Now you can continue to load your line in the normal way. NOTE On my reels the gum loop tightens as more line is loaded so I generally start with a slightly looser clip before loading the last 150/175m of line.

So now you can clip up for spodding or on your main rods clip up to guarantee you hit the pre baited mark. (very useful if you’ve just spent an age preparing that PVA bag !!) A pole elastic marker on your mainline means that after you have caught a fish all you need to do is cast out anywhere, wind back to the elastic marker, clip up the spool, and your bang on the mark again with your next cast.

What ever you do don’t forget to un-clip after casting out or risk losing your rod & reel on the next take.

Steve
 
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I just place a peice of pole elastic in the clip before the line that then acts as a soft buffer for the mainline
 
Have used the powergum approach for years without a problem.

Slight variation in setting it up in that I strip the spool, put on a loop of powergum and use the tag ends to pull the gum down and fit it into the spool clip. Load the spool with line and leave the powergum loop permanently in the clip.
When you want to clip up, simply grip the tag ends to pull the gum from the clip, put the line under the gum loop and put the gum loop back in the clip. Mainline sits trapped under the powergum loop and never touches the clip and is therefore never damaged. Line is marked with pole elastic so that you can find your range every time.
 
I've been using 50lb Whiplash Crystal braid straight through for a couple of years now, its only 0.17mm in diamater and casts like a dream! Due to it's fine diameter i use a finger stall and lock the spool down for big chucks. I've found some reels have better line clips than others, the bad ones can be improved by simply stretching a micro pellet band over the clip - one of the match lads pellet banding tools makes this a doddle - and being flat in profile i think they offer even more protection than powergum if that is possible!
 
Hi all. I am new to spodding and dont want to hijack thread but i am a little confused.People say when spodding to make sure some of the shockleader is still left on the spool once the spod has been cast. Firstly,i have a big pit reel with 17lb,good quality mono on it. Secondly,what kind of shockleader would i tie and how long? Thirdly,how,once you have cast for example 70 yards could you possibly have some of the shockleader still wrapped on the spool if the leader is attached to the spod? Also i only have small spods and a 3lb tc rod, is that sufficient? P.s really sorry Neil if i have hijacked the thread mate.
 
Hi Hurgz

I think the info you've seen about the leader is a bit misleading. You need to have a long enough leader to have two or three turns of leader on the spool when the spod is in the casting position ie before you cast it out. Once you've cast it, it'll be out in the lake!

17lb line throughout will limit the range of casting the spod compared to a leader/lighter main line. If distance isn't an object, 17lb mainline would be fine. A small spod and 17lb line and a 3lb rod all sounds fine to me so long as the spod only weighs 3-4oz when loaded. A specialist spod rod (usually 4.5 - 5.5lb tc) is only needed for larger loaded spods or bigger distances. On the Korda video, they are suggesting that their small spods can be cast on normal carp rods.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Nocholas and thanks for the info.Are you saying that i need a lighter main line and a strong leader,if i wanna go out a good distance? could you please give me a couple of scenario/set ups so i understand better? cheers
 
Yep, that's right. My spod set up is a 25lb mono leader with 10lb braid mainline. Don't think it matters whether you use braid or mono for the leader although you might want to use a fingerstall if you are using braid or doing a lot of spodding. As others have said, do ensure that the clutch is tight as if it slips on the cast, you run the risk of slicing into your finger.

You could use a light nylon mainline rather than braid if you prefer as all it does is bring the spod back for teh next cast.

Happy spodding!
 
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