In reply to Post #1
banana braid - never lets me down
banana braid - never lets me down
In reply to Post #9
can't see the benefit of mono on a spod rod myself? surely the stretch will be inaccurate when you hit the clip.
can't see the benefit of mono on a spod rod myself? surely the stretch will be inaccurate when you hit the clip.
In reply to Post #17
I'm not suggesting mono has any advantages, I just wondered what the advantages of a heavy braid would be.
I don't use wraps, so I'm normally using a marker to cast to. It's quite easy to judge how far past or in front of the marker I need to cast my rods to. And I'm using mono on my fishing rods so the stretch wouldn't be too dissimilar, if I ever clipped them up.
I'm not suggesting mono has any advantages, I just wondered what the advantages of a heavy braid would be.
I don't use wraps, so I'm normally using a marker to cast to. It's quite easy to judge how far past or in front of the marker I need to cast my rods to. And I'm using mono on my fishing rods so the stretch wouldn't be too dissimilar, if I ever clipped them up.
In reply to Post #18
I used a Marker rod with braid, and a spod or Spomb rod with mono, then I got caught up in the Darkness and swapped to one rod for both on a water where I have enough room to clip up and bankside markers to aim at, reducing the number of rods I take.
Like you I can judge the area around the marker, although I can and do clip up by walking my lines out.
I actually find braid is slightly more awkward to use.
There is no stretch, so even with 50lb braid and no leader I would crack-off if I hit the clip hard. Hitting the clip at all with braid and a mono leader, could see the Spomb not opening as it 'flattens out'.
Mono has the advantage of stretch, so reducing crack-offs when using a heavy leader.
My swap to braid saw me eventually going to AngryFish 4 PE braided line. I've not had any problems with it, maybe an occasional wind knot, but they've been able to be picked apart.
I used a Marker rod with braid, and a spod or Spomb rod with mono, then I got caught up in the Darkness and swapped to one rod for both on a water where I have enough room to clip up and bankside markers to aim at, reducing the number of rods I take.
Like you I can judge the area around the marker, although I can and do clip up by walking my lines out.
I actually find braid is slightly more awkward to use.
There is no stretch, so even with 50lb braid and no leader I would crack-off if I hit the clip hard. Hitting the clip at all with braid and a mono leader, could see the Spomb not opening as it 'flattens out'.
Mono has the advantage of stretch, so reducing crack-offs when using a heavy leader.
My swap to braid saw me eventually going to AngryFish 4 PE braided line. I've not had any problems with it, maybe an occasional wind knot, but they've been able to be picked apart.
I have 2 spod rod sets ups, 12ft for normal use and 13ft for distance on my "big" water where i am having to get 150 yards plus.....I also use the same rod for feature finding/marker work.
Standard process before i start is dunk the reel, (Daiwa Spod Reel on both) in the margin then retrieve the first and every 4th/5th retrieval after that with the tip sunk to keep the braid damp.
On the normal set up I have the Ridgemonkey Transmit, 25lb, 0.28....it is 4 seasons old now and has been faultless, never had a wind knot and can only remember cracking off once due to a butt-ring frap-up.
On the distance set up I went with the Fox Spomb braid which is 20lb and 0.18....it is absolute dog sh!te....first time out and a horrific wind knot just passing it around the distance sticks....then it snapped like cotton twice losing me 2 spombs.....needless to say it was stripped off and binned.
Apparently the Wolf X-Spod braid is supposed to be very good...
Standard process before i start is dunk the reel, (Daiwa Spod Reel on both) in the margin then retrieve the first and every 4th/5th retrieval after that with the tip sunk to keep the braid damp.
On the normal set up I have the Ridgemonkey Transmit, 25lb, 0.28....it is 4 seasons old now and has been faultless, never had a wind knot and can only remember cracking off once due to a butt-ring frap-up.
On the distance set up I went with the Fox Spomb braid which is 20lb and 0.18....it is absolute dog sh!te....first time out and a horrific wind knot just passing it around the distance sticks....then it snapped like cotton twice losing me 2 spombs.....needless to say it was stripped off and binned.
Apparently the Wolf X-Spod braid is supposed to be very good...
In reply to Post #20
I have used Spider Wire for a few years now and it has never let me down, to thin to use straight through but a Gardner braided shock leader does the trick
I have used Spider Wire for a few years now and it has never let me down, to thin to use straight through but a Gardner braided shock leader does the trick
In reply to Post #18
I'm just not sure why you'd marker a spot with braid and then bait up with a spod / spomb on mono. seems weird to me. even if you are judging the casts, even transfer of power through the rod is less.
surely you measure off your marker rod to find the range no? or do you just cast past the float and feel it down?
I'm just not sure why you'd marker a spot with braid and then bait up with a spod / spomb on mono. seems weird to me. even if you are judging the casts, even transfer of power through the rod is less.
surely you measure off your marker rod to find the range no? or do you just cast past the float and feel it down?
In reply to Post #22
With a spod or Spomb, the bait spreads out as it releases. Obviously a spod it spreads further as it is gradually releasing bait as it drifts until the spod is empty, but even with a Spomb, it doesn't drop straight down unless the water is very shallow or the (wet) groundbait is balled inside.
If you are hitting or getting very close to the marker, it is easy to clip up once you are directly on range.
I'm lucky in that my first cast is usually very close, but by taping or elastic banding the Spomb shut until your cast is spot on makes it easy enough to get close.
The other thing as has been mentioned on this thread or elsewhere is that with a Spomb you want it to drop almost vertically, so that makes it good to gauge around the marker.
Particles and boilies spread at different distances; light and small particles and pellets drift more in current or spread out further than heavy pellets, particles or balls, and rolled or flaked maize can end up well away from the marker.
In deep water I've seen Spombed or spodded baits drift metres away from the marker. You would be better casting your hookbaits 20metres left or right!
With a spod or Spomb, the bait spreads out as it releases. Obviously a spod it spreads further as it is gradually releasing bait as it drifts until the spod is empty, but even with a Spomb, it doesn't drop straight down unless the water is very shallow or the (wet) groundbait is balled inside.
If you are hitting or getting very close to the marker, it is easy to clip up once you are directly on range.
I'm lucky in that my first cast is usually very close, but by taping or elastic banding the Spomb shut until your cast is spot on makes it easy enough to get close.
The other thing as has been mentioned on this thread or elsewhere is that with a Spomb you want it to drop almost vertically, so that makes it good to gauge around the marker.
Particles and boilies spread at different distances; light and small particles and pellets drift more in current or spread out further than heavy pellets, particles or balls, and rolled or flaked maize can end up well away from the marker.
In deep water I've seen Spombed or spodded baits drift metres away from the marker. You would be better casting your hookbaits 20metres left or right!
In reply to Post #23
I use a Gardner spod with no holes, full of water to ensure I'm getting close to the marker before putting on a spomb or spod with bait in.
I use a Gardner spod with no holes, full of water to ensure I'm getting close to the marker before putting on a spomb or spod with bait in.
In reply to Post #22
I don't see how it's weird, as long as the spod is landing where you want. I use a braid leader on my spod rod, the knots alot neater than using a mono leader. I have never clipped up my fishing rods, or my marker. I just cast my rods next to my marker, it's how we did it in the '80's and I've never felt the need to change. I'm sure I must be missing out, but just not sure how!
In deep water I've seen Spombed or spodded baits drift metres away from the marker. You would be better casting your hookbaits 20metres left or right!
As I'm usually fishing between 15ft and 25ft deep I do this. I put one rod over the spod and try to estimate the undertow and put the other two (with bags or stringers) at intervals at one side. I never use pellets smaller than 8mm in the spod, usually soaked in a heavy liquid, and often just boilies in various sizes.
I don't see how it's weird, as long as the spod is landing where you want. I use a braid leader on my spod rod, the knots alot neater than using a mono leader. I have never clipped up my fishing rods, or my marker. I just cast my rods next to my marker, it's how we did it in the '80's and I've never felt the need to change. I'm sure I must be missing out, but just not sure how!
In deep water I've seen Spombed or spodded baits drift metres away from the marker. You would be better casting your hookbaits 20metres left or right!
As I'm usually fishing between 15ft and 25ft deep I do this. I put one rod over the spod and try to estimate the undertow and put the other two (with bags or stringers) at intervals at one side. I never use pellets smaller than 8mm in the spod, usually soaked in a heavy liquid, and often just boilies in various sizes.
In reply to Post #25
How do you recast after a fish. Especially at night?
How do you recast after a fish. Especially at night?
In reply to Post #26
Just use my judgement. If I'm fishing the baits close together I may not recast, or recast with a bag off to one side.
Just use my judgement. If I'm fishing the baits close together I may not recast, or recast with a bag off to one side.
In reply to Post #27
Surely you can see that you are missing out on accuracy though, and not being able to recast at night is probably costing fish?
Nothing against it, I know many who fish the way you do, they just don't like to change the way they do things. I don't understand how they do it, especially on a weedy lake. They still.manage tk catch fish though.
Surely you can see that you are missing out on accuracy though, and not being able to recast at night is probably costing fish?
Nothing against it, I know many who fish the way you do, they just don't like to change the way they do things. I don't understand how they do it, especially on a weedy lake. They still.manage tk catch fish though.
In reply to Post #28
If you fish the same way frequently and especially if you fish familiar swims, then your muscle memory will put you pretty close to where you want to be. No good first time on a new lake in the dark though.
If you fish the same way frequently and especially if you fish familiar swims, then your muscle memory will put you pretty close to where you want to be. No good first time on a new lake in the dark though.
In reply to Post #28
TBH I think you're probably right, I might have to move into the 21st century and make some distance sticks. It's very rare I would fish all three rods to the same spot, that's the only time any difficulty would arise, not so much for the distance but for the line. There's only a couple of swims on the water I fish that give you a good night time alignment landmark.
TBH I think you're probably right, I might have to move into the 21st century and make some distance sticks. It's very rare I would fish all three rods to the same spot, that's the only time any difficulty would arise, not so much for the distance but for the line. There's only a couple of swims on the water I fish that give you a good night time alignment landmark.