Using the chod rig has been a big part of my fishing for the past five years. I’d flirted with it previously but never felt that I’d got it quite right so would usually opt for something different. It was actually whilst working at an open day with Darrell Peck that he showed just how short he fished them. He wasn’t using the really long ones that most people seemed to favour back then but instead, using it as a ‘cast anywhere pop-up rig’. This coincided with me starting on Star Lane and not really knowing what was in front of me made a short chod rig seem perfect for the job.
I used them lots for the next few years on various waters but because I like to pre-tie all of my rigs I always found it frustrating the length of time needed to get a fresh rig in the water. From cutting off the lead to re-threading beads the whole process took away precious fishing time when I felt the fish were in the area. Recently though, my prayers were answered.
I was sitting with Tom Dove around the time we released our range of quick-change swivels and mentioned that I was using the size 11 version to clip my chods on and off. I said that they were slightly too heavy and he showed me a version he was working on that had a round eye, rather than the conventional ‘shepherds crook’ type attachment. These looked absolutely perfect for the job and as soon as he had samples, all of my rods were tied up ready to go.
I like to pre-tie all of my rigs and when using chods I believe that having a loop at the bottom makes it not only more aggressive but far more effective too, so as you can see from the photos, all of mine are krimped with a loop in place. This means that as soon as I have netted a fish, I can unhook it whilst it’s still in the net, unclip the rig, put a fresh one on and get it back in position. For this I use the Mouth-Trap in 25lb, which is quite thick so when you attach it to the loop you get an audible ‘click’ so there’s no way that it can come unattached in a fishing situation. I do add a piece of putty around the gap just to ensure this and to balance the pop-up.
The added bonus is that should I wish to use a different rig then the quick change option is still there and I can clip a conventional bottom bait rig just as easily. All of this means that I’m getting a baited rig back in position in the quickest time possible which has definitely put a few bonus fish in the bank.
