Guide to Bait Rockets & Spodding

The bait rocket or ‘spod’ has become a familiar tool in the specimen anglers’ armoury, providing a great platform from which to apply beds of bait at distance. With so many types and sizes available, how do you choose the right one, and how do you use them? In this piece, Julian Grattidge gives an insight into successful spodding.

I think I’m right in saying that a friend of a friend, Tony Baskeyfield, whom I’ve fished with on Birch Grove, is the person who first devised the bait rocket back in the early eighties, and since his initial designs appeared in Carp Fisher magazine, tackle manufactures world wide have released their own versions to the market. There are many types and sizes available and it’s a case of finding a bait rocket to suit your own style of fishing.

Gardner Pocket Rocket: Small & versatile, my preferred choice

Personally I favour a small Gardner Spod of around 5-inches. Why? Well, I mainly fish waters where I’m casting less than 100-yards, and as a keen stalking angler, most of my fishing is done within 30-yards of the bank. As such, I’m happy to make a few more casts with a smaller rocket to get a nicer spread of bait and as I’m working close in, I’m not going to get a dead-arm from all the winding. If I was regularly fishing in excess of 100-yards, then obviously I would go for a larger rocket to reduce the amount of winding required between casts. In addition, by using a smaller rocket, I don’t need to use a beefy rod, and if used with care, can easily cast without the need for a shock-leader.

The successful spodding angler should not just be thinking of spodding in terms of distance application of bait, as I regularly use my little rocket for applying bait extremely close in. Imagine a nice little pad line 15-feet out from the swim that you fancy a crack at. A catapult will easily reach but there will be a good degree of spread if using something like hemp as attractor bait. However, by filling up a small spod and casting to the spot you can get a nice tight patch, which you can position your hook bait right on top of; perfect! There’s one swim on a lake I fish that has a nice marginal bush on one side of the swim where fish regularly patrol, however, they are wary of bait catapulted in the area. As such I devised a system where I waded out a few paces, then underarm flicked a spod along the front of the bush just past the spot where catapulted bait could reach, and bingo; the method produced more fish off that swim than ever before! The point I’m making is that spods are a very versatile means off applying very tight beds of bait, small or large, close in or distant.

If I was fishing a venue where I knew in advance I was always going to be fishing at distance, then I would probably take a dedicated spod-rod with me. You can get purpose built spod rods where the blank has been designed to compress differently than a carp rod on loading, but again, purchasing one would be dependant on the likely amount of use it would receive. To be honest, I do own a spod rod but most of the time I stick to a stiff carp rod, anything in the 2.5-3lb TC range should suffice. For me, more important for regular work is the reel you choose, as a bit pit reel will make light work of puling back repeated casts, whereas a small spool reel will leave you exhausted after a few kilos have been applied!

As most of my fishing is close in, I prefer to have the small spod in my tackle bag and attach it to my fishing rod whenever the situation arises. As I use a Gizmo link system this poses no problems and I can switch from a rig to a spod in seconds.

This Top Pool lump fell to clipped-up single hookbait placed over a spodded bed of hemp

Once you are tackled up for the job, how do you apply your bait accurately? For me this is the most important aspect of spodding; getting your bait in the right place. Usually, because I favour a light approach to my fishing and don’t want to be weighed down with marker rods, spod rods, and alike, I do all my work with one rod. I will usually drag a lead through a swim to check depth and find a feature I like the look of, and by clipping up I know where the spot is on the cast without the need for a marker. I will then take the lead off The Gizmo and attach my little spod. Although the line is at the right distance, it helps to give yourself a visual marker on the surface as well, because a spod loaded with bait will put more stretch on the line and see your rocket going beyond the area if casting to the clip. As such, I make a few casts using a spod full of water to ensure I’m hitting the right spot, which usually means wrapping a few more turns of line around the spool. If you are punching the bait out to a positiond marker float it’s just a case of using full spods of water to check you are hitting the right spot.

Once done, you are now able to hit the exact distance each time; assuming you are able to put the same amount of pressure into each cast. I prefer to put a little bit more effort into the cast than is required and feather the cast to insure you land on the money, which insures you will never drop short. It’s also easy to veer left or right from the intended area because any deviation from true on the bank will be amplified by the time the spod gets to the intended spot. It’s only practice that will sort you out here, but again, see if you can line up a visual marker in your minds eye at which to point at. Wind can also have an effect and tends to push your rocket offline. I find the best way to stop this happening is to put more pressure into the cast which increases the force of propulsion and then to feather the landing. Alternatively you can aim a bit more into the wind to allow for its effect on the cast.

If you are hitting big distances it helps to use a shock leader, which will allow you to apply greater pressure on the cast without the fear of cracking off. I tend to use 35lb Quicksilver, and with a 2-foot drop from rod tip to spod, and would use a length that allowed for four or five turns around the spool on the cast. For close to medium work you don’t have to use a leader, you just need to be able to load the rod properly on the cast. The key is not to just ‘whack’ the cast; leave a drop of between one and two feet from the rod-tip and allow a little backwards swing before the push and keep it smooth. However, if you’re still a novice or intermediate angler, then a shock-leader would be a better bet and reduce the risk of cracking-off.

Giving it the ‘big one’: Shaun Docksey launches a bait rocket skyward

The only thing left to do is ensure the rocket empties on landing. I find it’s best not to ram it with stiff mixes, as you end up reeling half of it back in. I tend to fill my spod three-quarters full and then drop the top just below the surface of the lake to fill it to the top with water, which I find helps it to release perfectly each time. Along the same lines, make sure you don’t burry the spod into the lake bed on the cast. The best way to do this is by feathering the cast; ideally you want it to ‘plop’ into the water. Practice will make perfect; I regularly spod particles at distance to water less than a foot deep; by feathering the cast and pulling back you can get a perfect spread in any depth.

Do be careful about how much you put out. It’s easy to get carried away with spodding and overfeed the swim; I’ve seen it happen so many times. Massive beds of bait can be effective on some waters or at certain times but it’s always easier to keep adding a bit as once it’s in you can’t take it back out!

Also, remember where you put it! That may sound really daft, but I’ve lost count of the amount of anglers I’ve seen who have marked up a spot, spodded bait to it, cast a bait out, and then reeled in the marker. An hour later they reel in the hookbait for whatever reason, cast back out to where they *think* the spodded bait is, and miss the spot completely!! Remember to use visual markers, but be aware that shadows on the water can move! By far the safest way is to clip up on both rod and marker.

That’s it really. Keep it accurate, don’t go mad and the fish should follow.

Tight Lines…

Julian Grattidge
February 2006

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Guide to Bait Rockets & Spodding

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