Why you need to try super sloppy spod mixes

Why use a sloppy spod mix?

“To create a column of feed in the water to get shoals of carp competing for food up in the water. When you can’t get them on the lakebed, try thinking in 3D!” MARK BARTLETT

“I first came across this technique at a CarpFest show a few years ago. Chris Rose and Steve Spurgeon were using the ‘Spodicopter’ and catching loads. I then saw the juniors doing it whilst practising at Brasenose 1 for the British Young Carpers Championships. I ran out of bait trying it myself. It’s ace!” MAT WOODS

“I mainly use a sloppy spod mix when fishing over Zig Rigs. By using such a mix I can create a large cloud in the water, attracting more carp into my swim. This cloud slowly falls through the water and will get fish moving around and feeding at different depths. Also, as the water is cloudy around your hookbaits and the fish are competing much more aggressively against each other, they become a lot easier to catch, as they are literally eating anything within the clouded water.” TOM MAKER

“Basically, you want to create a cloud over the hookbaits and the best way to do this is with a sloppy mix, because it keeps the bait in the upper layers for longer, which is what we are trying to achieve by presenting Zig hookbaits.” JAMIE LONDORS

“On heavily stocked lakes when the fish are up in the water, a sloppy spod mix will hold fish in your swim. It will also cloud the upper-layers where the fish want to be and attract them to your hookbaits fished on a Zig Rig.” MYLES GASCOYNE

What's the best type of venue?

“Like the other guys have stated, it works best on lakes with a larger stock of carp, for example Thorpe Lea and Walthamstow Number 1,” says Fox International’s Tom Maker. “However, as this is such an underused method and carp are such inquisitive creatures, who’s to say it wouldn’t work on a lake where the stock is a lot less? Try it out, you might be surprised.”

Says Avid Carp’s Mat Woods: “Anywhere with thousands of carp. I’ve had good hits at Brasenose 1, Oxlease, Thorpe Lea, Earlswood, Calf Heath Reservoir, Hasse Fen and even at Abbey Lakes’ Match Pool. It can work anywhere with a decent stock though.”

Billy Flowers agrees: “Highly stocked ones where you can get the fish competing against each other.”

“A deep, heavily stocked water such as Brasenose on the Linear complex or Thorpe Lea. Zig Rigs do work best on lakes with depths in excess of 6ft for some reason,” reveals Myles Gascoyne.

“Anywhere with reasonable water clarity and of course, lots of carp,” states Mark Bartlett. “I think venues with an average depth of 10ft or more are usually the best.”

What goes in the mix?

“My preferred mix for spodding over Zigs is half a bucket of Hinders Nutz Sludge, two good handfuls of Hinders A-Mix which is a finely crushed hemp. Pellets that have been soaked and are of a creamy consistency, and a jar of Hinders Salamiz Hemp to get some bait falling through the layers quicker, drawing the cloud down.”TOM MAKER

“Recently I’ve seen sponsored anglers putting together mixes that cost over £70 for a bucketful! It might work and catch fish but that’s crazy. Crushed hemp, desiccated coconut and brown crumb with some liquidized sweetcorn is the base of my sloppy spod mix. I then add coconut milk and Solar Growler Juice. A bucket of this will cost under £25 and catch you a ton of fish.”MYLES GASCOYNE

“Hemp & Corn and a mixture of 2mm pellets with some groundbait. Expanders can be worth using as well, something like 4mm floating pellets. It depends how high up in the water the fish are.” MARK BARTLETT

“Bait-Tech’s ENVY groundbait is made up of halibut and hemp, so this goes into my concoction. The Special G Gold and Nuts Mix by Hinders are also brilliant to mix in there. Alone, these will produce a nice cloud, but a tin of evaporated milk can really propel the mix to an all-new level, and it’s cheap and tasty! I also like the idea of small food articles floating at different levels, so the dried Shrimp and Crustacean Mix from CC Moore’s is also a massive edge that very few people would have used. Some of these float, some sink and others waft around like sea horses! Make it tantalizing and creamy and the carp will come… in bundles!” ALI HAMIDI

“I tend to use mainly pellets mashed into a soup. 2mm S-Pellet Feed and the matching Sonubaits S-Pellet Groundbait are ace for this approach, with a bit of Hemp & Corn, Hemp & Mini Maize or Hemp & Crushed Tigers. I add crushed hemp to make it milkier.”MAT WOODS

How do you apply it?

“It’s got to be spodded in for me. You can ring the dinner bell as often as you like.”MARK BARTLETT

“The Spomb is great for getting slop out there without too much mess. Otherwise, I use a regular spod.” MYLES GASCOYNE

“Spodding: it’s the only way I can get it out to the distance I want to fish at. I’ve found that at some venues, the fish travel to the noise of the spod.”JAMIE LONDORS

“Usually a spod, but I have caught at Rob Hughes’ Birchwood Pool and Rob Hales’ Avenue Pool laying cloudy margin traps. The whole lot settles on the lakebed until the fish turn up. It’s worked for me in the winter, it’s that good.”MAT WOODS

How often do you re-bait?

“Sometimes, one of us spods until we get a take if the venue is really well-stocked,” states Billy Flowers. “Mostly, though, we would drop three spods every five minutes, as we feel that after five minutes the cloud has gone and the bait has sunk,” concludes angling buddy, Jamie Londors.

“This is full-on fishing where regular baiting will increase your results,” says angling tutor, Myles Gascoyne. “That is why there is no pellet or food in my slop mix. I want to cloud the water with feed stimulants but not overfeed the fish. I put a spod full in the edge and see how long it takes for the cloud to disappear. If it’s five minutes then I’ll put a spod or two out every four or five minutes.”

“As often as possible!” laughs Mat Woods. “I think on some waters you need to let the area settle before bites come, but on others you get bites as you’re spodding, so you just have to keep going. It’s messy!”

Says Tom Maker: “I will start with 10 spods over my Zigs, then two every 10 minutes thereafter. If I find that after an hour I haven’t had a bite, then I will up the amount to five spods and this usually brings bites. However, if you find that you are still struggling to get a bite, change the depths of your Zigs, as the fish maybe playing hard to get and are sitting at certain depths, just picking off bits as it falls through the water.”

“Constantly,” says one half of this month’s 48hr feature contributors, Mark Bartlett. “I will spod and spod and spod to get them going. I only stop when I’m getting bites and have to reel fish in!”

What's your spodding gear?

“When spodding I use a purposely-designed spod rod, which is capable of casting spods of up to 6oz with ease. I use a big pit reel which is loaded with 20lb braid and a 65lb braided leader.” TOM MAKER

“A 3.5lb carp rod, a spod reel, 20lb Whiplash braid with a 50lb Whiplash leader, with an Air Range particle spod.”
MAT WOODS

“Hi-S Spod Rod, Shimano Technium, 10lb XT, 30lb Armour Cord, Deliverance spods or Korda Distance Spod for long distance.” BILLY FLOWERS

“Accuracy is vital so a well-built spod rod, built on the spine will make a difference. I use the Free Spirit E Class Multi Range Spod rod. It’s easy to cast all day and won’t break the bank. I use a Shimano Ultegra reel for its great retrieve and good gearing. The main line is 10lb mono and I always use a 50lb braided shockleader. Don’t forget a finger stall, though, or you’ll cut your finger off!” MYLES GASCOYNE

What are the spodding essentials?

“Finger stall, buckets at hip-height, a baiting pouch, different sized spods, a good sloppy mix with lots of oil in it, a shockleader to avoid cracking-off and a reliable spod rod and reel,” states Billy Flowers.

Says Myles Gascoyne: “Put your bucket of spod mix on top of one or two other buckets (fill the bottom ones with water) so it’s at waist height and just to your left if you are right-handed. Stand in the same spot each time with your left foot forward inline with the buckets. When you wind in, bring the Spomb or spod back to a rod length from the bank and swing it in to your left hand. You don’t want to have to put the rod down and lose your rhythm.”

“A bucket of water to rinse your hands between casts is fairly useful,” reveals Mark Bartlett. “I tend not to need a fingerstall because my hands are like leather from work.”

“I use a fingerstall because I find if I don’t, my casts start losing oomph as I compensate for a sore finger,” explains Mat Woods. “I use the same square spod bucket everywhere I go, which helps with the fluency and familiarity of things.”

Whenever I am spodding I always use some form of finger protection, whether it be a finger stall or a glove, it is essential that your casting finger is well protected as one slip and your finger will be sliced from the braid, putting you out of action,” advises Tom Maker. “Another thing, when fishing in this style, you’re constantly bending over refilling the spod and your back will soon feel the strain, so by stacking two buckets on top of each other, the bucket you are spodding from will be higher up and reachable with a lot less strain on your back each time.”

Any spodding tips?

“The Air Range spod makes it easy to get into a rhythm because there’s no tails to get caught in the bait. Just scoop, scoop, wind, wind and cast.” MAT WOODS

“Braid loves to tangle. It loves ‘wind knots’, so it’s essential to wet your braid before you commence casting. Simply splash a couple of handfuls of water over the spool and then you’re ready to go.” JON FINCH

“To keep clean, always have two buckets, one with spod mix in, one with water in, so that once you have loaded the spod you can wash your hands straightaway to wash off the mix. To get into a rhythm, there are two things I do: firstly, have the buckets at hip-height to avoid leaning over and secondly, wear a baiting pouch to load straight from the pouch whilst standing and cast straightaway.”JAMIE LONDORS

“To maintain accuracy you need to have clipped your line up at the correct distance. Remember, you will want your spod mix to be right over your Zig bait or you may be drawing fish away from your hookbait. Make sure that you cast both your hookbait and each spod load at the same far bank/horizon marker. Get that right and you’re most of the way there.”
MYLES GASCOYNE

“When spodding this type of mix, things can become very messy. Firstly, make sure all loose items of tackle behind you (rod bag, barrow etc.) are well out of the way, as the mix will fly everywhere. Secondly, have a bucket of water near to you to wash your hands off each time you fill the spod. Thirdly and something I have learnt over the years, take a few spare T-Shirts; there’s nothing worse than getting into bed and waking up to loads of dried spod mix in your bag.” TOM MAKER

“Be comfortable. Fishing this way means regularly spodding, so you need everything around you and the perfect height. I love the Cygnet Sniper Bait Bucket Adaptor Set. It’s easy to put together and it means I can set the bucket to whatever high I require.” DAVE GAWTHORN

How do you fish your Zigs?

“Just as important as attraction is the size of the hookbait. I’ve seen people chuck out 18mm pop-ups on size 6 hooks before and wonder why they’ve not had the fishing day of their lives! There’s not a great deal of finesse in that is there? In my opinion, the smaller the better (small bait, small hooks, light hooklinks), 10mm boilies, tiny bits of foam, two grains of plastic corn, a cut down corkball, all of these are excellent Zig hookbaits. I carry an array of plastic hookbaits from the Enterprise stable and also some Hi-Visual Pop-Ups from Mainline.”ALI HAMIDI

“No leadcore, tubing or the like are necessary. The main line goes into a tail rubber and lead clip. I use the lightest lead needed to reach the distance, as this will help prevent fish losses whilst playing them. A small, straight-eyed hook in size 10 or 12 is perfect. Keep the Hair short and the hookbait small and very buoyant.”MYLES GASCOYNE

“Fishing with Zigs is such a simple method to use, but the art is to get the bait out without a tangle. I always use a drop-off in-line set-up, no tubing, just lead and line and the heaviest lead I can. My Zigs are tied out of Fox’s specialist Zig Line with a size 6 hook. That may seem a large hook and quite opposite to the norm, but when I hook a fish, I want the best possible chance of landing it without playing it for an hour worrying if I am going to pull the hook. For bait I will use things such as Zig Alignas, cork or trimmed down pop-ups. All my hookbaits are soaked in Hinders Betalin for added attraction, but as mentioned, it’s okay having a perfect Zig set-up, but tangles are a huge problem and just by placing a piece of dissolving foam around your hookbait and feathering the lead down, all tangles will be eliminated and you can be sure of the perfect presentation every time.” TOM MAKER