TACTICS
Water temperature determines the break time, but even though the breadcrumb holds this mix together like concrete, the cracked corn still traps enough air for it to break eventually. I wanted a mix that would take a while to break so the attractants in it would disperse more slowly into the water. Get into a rhythm of baiting up and once you get the distance right putting them out comes easily, and you can get a good 50 out at a time without tiring yourself out too much. The other method we used was spodding at range. I spod a lot when I’m not using a kayak on big water because you can quickly put a lot of bait into an area and also scatter some baits to give a little more chance of fish picking up your bait when you are fishing single hookbaits far out. Again, you need beefed up tackle. A regular 3lb test curve carp rod with a baitrunner isn’t going to cut it for this kind of baiting. I like a heavy spod rod that has a lot of power for casting and reeling back, but not too heavy so it fatigues your arms. A fast retrieve reel is a serious plus, and though it’s not necessary it’ll make your baiting go a lot quicker. A good line clip isn’t completely necessary with braid but it helps tremendously. My setup consists of a Chub Outkast
CARPPRO $ 2013
Plus 5lb TC spod rod and a Daiwa Emblem Spod reel. I use 30lb test Power Pro braid for spodding, 300 yards with another hundred or so of mono backing it to prevent slippage of line during the cast, which can result in a bad cut. I personally absolutely hate fingerstalls, I just can’t stand to use one so I just lock up the drag tight and have no problems with line burn or cuts. As for spods... I love Spombs because of how true and accurate they fly when cast, they just take a bit longer to load and you may have issues with the button engaging and spilling the contents all over the bank behind you if you aren’t careful with where you are going with your backcast. I also use a few others, including the Korda Skyliner. I really don’t find that spod spill is an issue for me, with a spod mix that is kind of sticky when packed into the spod very little of it comes out the back of the spod. The only problem with spods is they make a lot of noise on the retrieve and entry, so you may want to limit how many you put in at a time at night or when it’s really quiet, as it may spook fish from your swim. There are a few other tools that make fishing at range a whole lot easier. I absolutely love my marker