Cosgrove Caster's - 'Spombs Away'

‘Spombs Away’

Quite a few anglers recently have asked me about baiting up at distance so I've decided to let you in on a few of my 'secrets' for getting bait out at range.

Now I am a big fan of spodding which for those that don’t know involves using a baiting ‘rocket’ like device to put out a bed of bait at distances far beyond anything that you could throw or even catapult. A few years ago, an item of tackle appeared on the market called a ‘Spomb’ which has revolutionised my baiting up especially at long range.

How a fully loaded Spomb fly's - note the float on the tail in case of a crack off

For me the Spomb has two distinct advantages over a conventional spod. Because of how the Spomb works it allows me bait up without ‘spod spill’ which is where the bait falls out of the back of a conventional spod on the cast. Also, because it opens on impact with the water and immediately deposits your bait you can reel back almost instantly and you don’t have to wait for the bait to empty as with a normal spod. This saves me loads of time especially when I am putting in a good bed of bait at 100 metres plus. When baiting up at distance or when I want to put out a very big bed of bait using a large Spomb that can weigh up to 8oz when fully loaded with particles, I use a dedicated - high test curve spod rod, big pit reel, shock leader and braided reel line. This allows me to bait up with any bait I choose to use at more than 100 metres when I need to. There are three sizes of Spomb available so if you don’t own a ‘spod rod’ you can use the Small or Midi version with any normal carp rod.

My selection of Large, Midi and Mini Spomb's and also my 'Mega' groundbait 'feeder'

I regularly use the 'Mini' version when feeder fishing. particularly useful in a match fishing scenario. When I am feeder fishing I am almost always ‘clipped up’ to maintain accuracy so as long as I’m not fishing in excess of 50 metres I can clip on a small Spomb on my feeder rod and effectively use it as a light spod rod to bait up with any bait I choose exactly on ‘the spot’!

A feeder fishing session after bream with my Mini Spomb in prime position

When I need to bait up using groundbait, particularly useful for bream fishing I use a converted spod that is essentially a huge open-ended feeder. I usually make several casts with this ‘feeder’ laying down a bed of ground bait before changing to a Spomb to lay a mix of particles over the top.

My 'Mega' feeder made from an old spod - very useful for feeding groundbait

My favourite spod mix which is very attractive for carp, tench and bream, involves a mixture of pellets / hempseed / pigeon conditioner (mixed seeds) / crushed boilies and any other bits and pieces I have handy such as sweetcorn, dead maggots, groundbait and casters etc. I also like to add a couple of tins of tuna and a good shot of salt and even chilli powder for extra attraction.

A bucket of 'carpy' spod mix

One main piece of advice I can offer not just when spombing/spodding, but fishing in general is to keep everything accurate. Make sure that once you’ve found your swim that all your lines on all your rods - marker rods, spod rods and fishing rods are all clipped up at the same distance. At one time I used to mark my lines with a piece of electrical tape or a braid stop knot, but since using ‘Distance Sticks’ I just make sure that I have the correct distance recorded. Using distance sticks that are positioned one rod length = 12 feet = 4 yards apart. Then using a figure of eight motion let your line out around the bank sticks counting the number of 'wraps', so they are all clipped up the same. The other advantage with this method is you can accurately measure your fishing distance i.e. 10 wraps = 40 yards. This may sound like an awful lot of effort, but trust me it is worth it. I even have my distances in numbers of wraps recorded on my iPhone for all the regular swims that I fish on each of the lakes.

I'm sure that by following the tips and tricks outlined above that you can improve your baiting technique and in doing so catch more and bigger fish.

Tightlines - Gary S