Why Terry Hearn has gone off Chod Rigs...

The big question

Why are you less likely to put out a Chod Rig now than you would have been 10 years ago?

“Simply because they’re used so much more now. I remember going to Coate Water one winter and very few people knew about the Chod Rig back then. I was hiding it in my hand as I’d just caught one and a few other anglers had turned up, and I really didn’t want anyone seeing it when recasting. I can remember walking to the front of my swim, rod in right-hand, rig cupped in left-hand and then whanging it out quickly in a fashion that they couldn’t quite focus on. Their eyes were trying to follow it, but fished as a slider it just looked like a two-inch hooklink tight to the lead. I remember the comments well; it proper freaked the lads out! Saying that, at least one or two anglers sussed it, as by the time I’d got back for my next session a week later, the big one, the mirror known as The Resident, had already been ‘Choddied’ from the same blooming swim!

“You remember what it was like mate, in those early days it really was working everywhere, it’s just not as effective now. I don’t just mean Chods and Hinged Stiff Links either, I mean pop-ups full stop. You only have to look at it in the water, it’s so blatant. You see people put an aggressive curve into them and it makes the hook stand out even more. The more aggressive the curve the more you put the hook on show! On the larger, lesser-fished pits I still use the Chod no problem, but on a lot of waters it’s clear that it’s not doing as well as it should. A good example is here on Pit 4. Chods have been thrashed all over the lake and yet still the majority of the big fish haven’t come out to them this year. Nige and I were using Chod’s initially on here and soon came to the conclusion that they weren’t working as well as they should. We had fish all over us with very few bites. Baits fished hard on the deck proved to be much more effective.”