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Spodding Tactics to Attract Large Carp into the Swim
Most carp anglers use a spod
of some kind to place out bait at regular intervals during a fishing
session, but are there any good tactics that can ensure a more
effective
bait presentation to attract the larger carp into feeding?
I firmly believe that when we spod out bait, the majority of time we just
end up with small, consistently sized patches of spod mix scattered around
an area the size of a small garage. For many anglers, this may seem fine,
but I feel this is all too common for the majority of carp in English
waters. Once carp see a common pattern enough times they start to associate
those situations as dangerous. Even if they still feed on a potentially
dangerous presentation they will be more cautious, and as a result they’ll
be harder to hook! I think it’s important to try to present our spod mixes
to wary carp in different ways to ensure continued big fish captures.
Very Tight Ultra Accurate Spod Drops
 The first change to using a
different spod presentation is to make sure all spod is accurately bunched
together so it forms a large mound of bait on the bottom of the lake bed.
This is actually quite a hard task to achieve and will require very good
casting accuracy in order to create this type of spod presentation. Also, it
will often require other factors to be in your favour, such as calm winds
and slower water currents. Either of these factors could ruin the potential
for a good bait presentation, and for these reasons, this tactic is probably
best used on very calm days in the summer months. It will also require a lot
of practice at casting to a clipped-up reel and may be best to use this
tactic for short distance fishing. In fact, the difficulty of such accurate
casting, especially at range, is why I prefer to use a bait boat when
attempting very tightly packed groups of bait. I often tie some line from a
spare rod to the back of the boat and clip up so the boat hits the exact
distance every time. I also guarantee accurate drops by parking the boat to
a clear horizon marker, and to be especially accurate, I stand in the exact
spot every time the boat goes out with a ton of extra bait. Baiting the swim
this way ensures the spod mix falls on top of the previous drop, and causes
the whole bait to mound up which gives a very prominent bait presentation
for attracting in the big carp. This is something I never see other boat
users doing, so I think it does give an edge for catching out extra large
carp.
Very Loose Spod Patch Tactics
Another way to change the
presentation of your spod patches is to bait up with complete inaccuracy. By
this I mean you want to place out spod patches all over the whole swim with
complete randomness, where there’s a small patch of spod mix in numerous
different parts of the swim, and at good distances apart. This may seem like
a crazy method that wouldn’t work in a million years but it does have its
benefits.
1. With patches of bait so far apart it causes the fish to keep
moving and mooching for more food, this creates easier catches because they
seem to move off quicker after picking up the hookbait. This also helps with
stronger hook holds because the carp seem to take the bait more confidently
in order to
quickly move onto the next patch before any other fish get there
first.
2. You want the carp to become more active when searching out food
items because there’s more chance they’ll pick up a hookbait with a lowered
guard making it easier for hooking them. Active fish in your swim will also mean
a potential increase in line
bites, and location of your lines bites will
give away where the carp are feeding most. This shows you where you should
put out more bait, and of course, where to place the rigs!
Good Spod Mixture Tactics
Using a sloppy spod mix
for ideal attraction
For the
particles I use a
mixture of hemp, tares, maples, maize, tins of tuna and the other half with
some dried beans such as black-eyed beans and maple peas. I then add pellets
of all sizes to the mix, although, some are low in oil and a few kilos of
pellets are high in oil content.
Once the particles are cooked and the juices drained off (which I save for
later), I add the dry pellets with the particles together and soak them in
some of the juice from the
cooked particles. I soak these both the night
before I go fishing. The pellets will fluff up as they take in the particle
juices. These juices also hold the smell, sugars and other nutrients from
the cooked particles, so they add real attraction to the whole mix. I
sometimes add a few boilies or chops to the mix when I arrive at the lake,
although I always use fresh frozen boilies. If I find that the mix is
becoming too stodgy I will add a little bread crumb ground bait. This will
soak up some liquid so it doesn’t become too slimy, but it also helps hold
in the flavours and liquids so they can release into the water when fishing.
As the spod mix hits the water, it gives off a slight oil slick that comes
from the pellets. The cloud that form as the mix falls through the water
will attract carp from some distance away, this adds to the effectiveness of
the sloppy spod mix. Another benefit of using this sloppy spod mix is you’ll
get to know when the carp have started to feed hard on the mix because
you’ll see a flat circle form on top of the water. This is when you want to
leave the rigs in and wait for the rods to scream off! Or if you need to
recast, try doing it in between spod splashes, so there’s less chance of
spooking any carp in the swim.
The great thing about knowing when the fish are feeding on the mix is that
you’ll get a good feel for how much more spod mix to add or top up during
your fishing session. If there are plenty of flat spots during the day then
don’t be afraid to top up with loads more as it gets dark.
A Different Spod Mix Technique
Using those fizzing tablets
in quite a few of your spod mixes can work really well for attracting carp
onto your baited area, especially when grouping your spod mixture tightly to
the fishing rigs. I have used many different flavours together at the same
time, but just add one tablet to one spod mixture once in every three casts.
The whole bed will have a few different flavoured tablets fizzing away in
various section of your baited area, if the carp aren’t attracted by one
flavour, then maybe another one will work more effectively. They should all
be working together to produce good attraction levels for carp to move into
the area.
Applying a New Carp Bait
Fishing for Carp in Rivers
Locating
Big Carp in the Spring
Carp
Location in the Summertime
Finding
Large Carp in the Cold Winter
Location
of Most Carp in Autumn
The
Case for Quality Carp Bait
Fishing Tactics for Snags & Trees
Boilie Placement on the Hair rig
Different types of carp rigs to use
Attempting to Catch Wary Carp
A Carp's Digestive System in Detail
Common
Baiting Tactics When Fishing
The Various Carp Bait
used to Catch Bigger Carp
When to use Pop-ups or Bottom Bait for Carp Fishing
How to
complete a Baiting
Campaign on Lakes & Ponds
The
Basic Carp Fishing
Baits Used to Catch Large Carp
Fishing Tactics when Fishing for Carp during Long-stay Sessions
Advice & Articles on How to Fish for Big Carp
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