The Best Spods and Spombs

When it comes to depositing bait at range, you can't beat a spod. They can be filled with pretty much any free offerings from maggots and boilies, to particles and liquids. Due to their aerodynamic design they can be cast much further into the lake than a catapult can deposit bait and they are far more accurate and versatile than a throwing stick, as that can only feed boilies.

Early versions were little more than a castable cylindrical tube, whereas modern spods have more sophisticated release mechanisms. The problem with original spods was their inability to keep all the bait locked in during the cast. Many anglers will have suffered from "spod spill", even when plugging the back with groundbait. They also took a while to release the bait, so on a windy day they could cause bait to spread as they drifted.

Best Spombs and spods at a glance...

• Best all-rounder - The Spomb

• Best for load capacity - Wolf X-Spod Performance

• Best for flowing water - Korum Bopper Bait Dropper

• Best for distance - Nash Dot Spod

Whilst all spods and Spombs deliver bait in the same way, they do all vary on the way they open and load. Some spods can be pushed into the bait to scoop it up, where others must be filled manually. You will find the manual loading ones do take more bait, however. Spombs do vary quite a lot in size, you may find a medium size is easier to cast than a large at long range due to the weight difference. Here is a guide to some of the best available on the market currently...

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

A good spod or Spomb needs to be light and aerodynamic, this will ensure you can cast it to the spot you want to deposit your bait on.

It also helps if it has a good loading capacity, so you don't need to make a ridiculous amount of casts to get some bait in the swim.

Finally, and this is one regular spod and Spomb users will all agree on, it needs to be reliable! There's nothing worse than making that perfect cast to a spot, only to find your bait rocket hasn't opened and is now a dead weight full of water. It's pretty embarrassing when they open in flight too, sometimes covering the user in 'Munga' mix. This is why choice of product is vital.

Glossary

Spod: A cynlindrical tube that is filled with bait and has the ability be cast into the lake

Spomb: A bait rocket that has a tapered shape to aid casting. It is filled and locked shut via a clip on the front that, on impact with the water, opens and releases the bait.

Spod Spill: Where bait exits out of the back of the spod on casting resulting in bait spilling out everywhere.

Frequently asked questions

What is better a spod or a spomb?

Whilst both items still have a place in angling, spombs are far more popular nowadays thanks to the benefits they have over a spod. They cast more accurately and further, they don't lose any bait on the cast like spods do and they release all the bait on impact so you can reel in straight away unlike a spod where you have to wait for it to fall out.

Which rocket-style spod is best?

With a lot of manufacturers following Spomb's lead, there are quite a few baiting up tools that perform in a similar way. None of them will lose bait before they impact the water but they all have different features. Some allow you to fill up without getting your hands dirty, whilst others are designed to hold less bait and be cast further. It is all down to what you want from the spod, if you regularly fish around 70-80 yards and want to apply lots of bait, then a big spomb would be great, if you want to cast 100+ yards with relative ease then some other manufacturers may be more suitable.