Every time that I watch a freshwater angling show on TV,a lot of the time they talk about 'feeding
a swim'.That's to say putting a bit of free bait for the fish,in the form of groundbait,into the area that they're fishing
in.The point being to create a scent in that area of water to try to bring the fish to you instead of you trying to find them.
In practise,in the confines of a river of lake,that seems to work fine,as there generally isn't
too much motion on the water.In the sea though it would be difficult to stop the free bait that you're chucking in from
washing away with the tide or waves.
Using this method,which is basically a spod,you can plonk your groundbait on the bottom at a given
spot to try to bring fish into your area.
Firstly you'll need a soft drinks bottle like the one we used for the floats.
Cut the bottom out of it.
Drill a hole through the cap.
And drill 3 or 4 half inch holes in the shoulder of your bottle.
Drill two small holes and form a "handle" on the open end.For this I use string as it's what
will eventually take the weight of the filled spod and therefore less likely to pull through the plastic when you cast.
You now need to rig the rest of your spod.I'm still using string here for you to see it easier,but
in practise you should use a good heavy mono line.
You need a length of mono about 24 inches.Pass the line through the hole in the lid,and tie on a
weight of your choice at the cut end.Pull the sinker back into the bottle till it stops.About 10 inches up the line from the
lid,tie an oval ring or split ring.About 6 inches from this ring,tie a hook of some sort,like a rotten bottom link,or a heavy
wire fish hook with the barb and point clipped off.This will eventually carry the weight of your cast so make it heavy enough
to hold this safely.
When you're rigged correctly you should be able to hold the split ring and hook the handle of your
spod onto the metal hook in your rig.The weight of your spod should be carried on the ring via the metal hook.The line to
your sinker should be slack.
When you cast out your spod,the metal hook will part with the handle as it hits the water,the filled
spod will sink to the bottom with the weight of the groundbait and sinker,and empty it's contents onto the floor.(Give it
a minute to do this). When you retrieve,your spod will turn backwards with the weight of it now being carried on the sinker
link,tipping out any remaining contents.(the holes in the neck help this). Do this regularly as close to the same spot as
you can cast to keep your "swim" topped up and giving a good scent.
I've started doing this with mackerel chopped up as the groundbait.I take off the fillets for my
bait,then simply chop up the bones and head for the groundbait courtesy of a 99p blender from the car boot sale.Also keep
any unused lug,crabs,rag,squid,or other baits once it's gone too yucky for using,and bung it in too.Waste not want not.
