Spod Rig

[Maj.Tryhard]

I'm at Weeping Willow, trying to level up for South America. I've been here a couple weeks, and I'm gaining XP but it looks like it'll take another month just to hit Mississippi.

To my understanding, a spod rod would increase the average size of the fish I'm catching, which should help speed up the process. I only have 200k, but I can grind out more money if necessary. On the other hand, my best gear is in the 40lb range, so I'll be needing stronger gear for Miss and the Amazon; I'd prefer spend as little as possible on dedicated carp gear.

Is my best bet to get a spod rig? About how much will that cost? Is it a problem that I'm using regular bottom gear, as opposed to carp gear? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, the grind is starting to get to me.

Tight lines. o7

[Julian]

(Away from Home atm, can't check the shop), A Spod rod (the higher the level the better), (any) spinning reel to match the rod, and at least a medium spod rocket should get you started. Get some ground bait bases (like biscuits for starters), maybe add some particles (if you want) and add a portion of aroma (maybe X flavour, Giant Occy supreme), mix it all up. Add to rocket and cast about 5 times to the same area, then about every game hour after that.
Spodding should increase the fish activity within minutes, you will also tend to get better results using the boilies (a yes to the carp gear, 2 setups would be fine, suggest you try using 1 first off). GL.

[Geauxboy]

Do you also use open feeders instead of sinkers? That could be a cheaper way even though a SPOD rod isn't that expensive.

[Julian]

Note : I normally use method ground bait mixes for the spod rod and use a method feeder on the carp rod with the same mix.

[mickey1940]

use the`10/0 carp hook for bigger fish, hooks are cheaper than spod rods

[Mdina FU_KCE]

The spod rod is not a bad price but you can spend a lot of money on baits and mixs that dont work.some members on there fish with heavy bottom rods and use the rubber tree seeds which are cheap to buy for 300 at a time and they do catch a lot of big carp.you also need to know the spots for the fish to get the best results.Im level 65 rank 13 and have put in a lot of time on there and i only have 4 mix for the spod that do work.i have a few pva bag mix i use but they are made to fish on certain days ie rain/sun/cloud/the same goes for your hook bait.Rain days i use crab/krill/worm/fish meal baits on hook.Sunny days i use Tigernut/Banana/citrus/choco;late/cloudy days i use citrus/spices/plumb/chocolate.
hope this is of use to you.
PS you also need to learn the weather/Temp/Wind direction/Depth of water/Type of lake bed ie silt/weed and look on your gps map for nice little deep spots is also good to help catch fish.

[Mdina FU_KCE]

Mickey 1940 you also use spod rods i have fished with you for a long time on there in the past.

[mickey1940]

He said he didn't have much game money big hooks would get him big fish till he had the money to get a spod rod,

[Julian]

Note II : It also appears to me that you cannot make up well portioned spod mix using the Imperial measurement system, but works fine using the Metric system.

[Maj.Tryhard]

Nice. Alright, thanks Julian. I'll plan on leaving the lake to check the shop in the next day or so. Hopefully I can afford the spod and at least one good carp rig.

Originally posted by Geauxboy:

Do you also use open feeders instead of sinkers? That could be a cheaper way even though a SPOD rod isn't that expensive.

I don't typically use groundbait, as I don't spend much time on carp. As such, I don't pay much mind to what sort of weight I use. At the moment I don't have any feeders, as the one I brought got lost.

Originally posted by mickey1940:

use the`10/0 carp hook for bigger fish, hooks are cheaper than spod rods

I haven't noticed any benefit to using a #10/0 on carp. I still land young ones, and the bite rate feels slower than when I use a 6/0 or 4/0. At this point, I'm just farming with all #4/0's.

I'll prolly go back to 10's when I get the spod.

Originally posted by Bandit Destroyer:

The spod rod is not a bad price but you can spend a lot of money on baits and mixs that dont work.some members on there fish with heavy bottom rods and use the rubber tree seeds which are cheap to buy for 300 at a time and they do catch a lot of big carp.you also need to know the spots for the fish to get the best results.Im level 65 rank 13 and have put in a lot of time on there and i only have 4 mix for the spod that do work.i have a few pva bag mix i use but they are made to fish on certain days ie rain/sun/cloud/the same goes for your hook bait.Rain days i use crab/krill/worm/fish meal baits on hook.Sunny days i use Tigernut/Banana/citrus/choco;late/cloudy days i use citrus/spices/plumb/chocolate.
hope this is of use to you.
PS you also need to learn the weather/Temp/Wind direction/Depth of water/Type of lake bed ie silt/weed and look on your gps map for nice little deep spots is also good to help catch fish.

Yeah, I'm very concerned about the complexity of this. I'll have to figure it out sooner or later though.

[Marshall_maz]

Buy the cheapest spod rod. Then buy a cheap spinning reel that match the rods lowest line strength with the lowest strength line for it. Remember you are not going to catch and fight fish with it. You just want to get the spod in the water and out. No reason to buy an expensive spod rod and reel.

[richierob83]

The problem with carp fishing is that all the good gear and bait is really expensive. But if you want to catch uniques, the best way is to invest in carp rods and use boilies.

Groundbait is important, but don't bother with the spod rod. PVA bags/mesh work just as well.

[Maj.Tryhard]

Well, I already got a spod rod last night. Marshall, you say I'm supposed to set my gear around the lowest rating for the rod? So reel and line both at the bottom of that range? I had to try a few different setups before it stopped saying things were gonna break.

It seems like working with the higher-quality baits is incredibly expensive. I spent prolly 30k+ just on a little assortment and so far none of it seems to work. I spent 2 or 3 hours last night with 1 carp rod (running method feed) and 2 standard bottom rods. I was also spodding like people say to do, 5 at first then 1 every hour or so. I don't think I caught a single fish on the carp rod and the fish I was catching on my other rods weren't any larger than normal.

So, apparently, most of the groundbaits have very little effect when not used under ideal circumstances? What's the best way to go about figuring out what does work? The two rigs and my bait sampler took up almost the entire 200k I had. At this point though, I've invested enough that I feel the need to make it pay off.

P.S. What qualifies as "warm" water?

[Julian]

Suggest trying a different pond if the fish aren't responding (i.e. Cave rock island on a sunny day and Old willow for a overcast one), easiest way to find a good spot is looking for surface activity (and also finding the deeper areas).

Not exactly sure on what is considered warm (my warm weather could be considered a heat wave in England) but I go by (guess) sunny for hot, slightly cloudy for moderate and overcast for cold. HTH.

[Maj.Tryhard]

Alright, I'll give that a try. I've only found a couple reliable spots so far, so maybe I'm not moving around enough.

Yeah, I hear you with the temps. "Warm" is very relative. Hard to guess what they might be meaning.

[XentroDiMentro]

Hey Maj,

Weeping willow is pretty specfic if you want to catch consistent big fish. Its also a place which is pretty hard on your bank account if you make mistakes. As you have to use expensive groundbaits/boilies/SPOD and if you dont catch good fish you'll have a negative cash balance in no time.

If you want to commit to carp fishing effectively its a bit of an investment. But i do advise to use atleast 3 carp rods, with boilies as bait, and spodding up the area you are fishing with atleast one cast every 15 in-game mins.

Kpshamino's spots still work like a charm: (Especially his sunny day rotation, this is what i also used grind)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlyVjgrTJ-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj0eAYIhU3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7av_2x7S98

He also has a vid on the SPOD rods, which you can use to force bigger carp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-QAWxDhtnQ