Leaderboard

And that!

See for me the chod rig is only useful on spots that you literally could not present on with any other method. I can't see why anyone would cast one out otherwise, the compromise in mechanics are clear as day to see, the only benefit to it is it allows you to get bites from spots that couldn't otherwise be fished effectively.

I have had good results fishing popped up 9 inches when fishing dead pads , my theory is you'll never quite know whether you lead is down in between a tuba or not so you could be fishing anything from an inch to 9 inches above , Works for me .

Another advantage of not using a chod and having a lead clip set up, is that you can switch rigs much quicker. Especially easy to switch from say a pop up rig to a zig! With the very short sessions that I get in, sometimes just an hour after work or on a Saturday morning before the kids get up, that instant adaptability can be the difference between snatching a bite or not!

I use the chod when , 1, I know it's thick weed and the bait needs to be presented above/on it. 2, when I find fish feeding/ showing and I have no idea what the bottom is like. And I'd say 90% of the takes I get with chods are absolute 1 noters. Infact I don't recall too many that weren't 1 noters. Also I can honestly say I very rarely have hook pulls. I use size 4 hooks with a 12-14 mm pop up and they are nailed in the bottom lip. In my opinion it's a very good rig, when tied and used safely and in the right circumstances.

I think the screamers occur when a fish panics i.e. when they hook themselves against a lead and bolt. With the chod they don't really do that, rather they take the rig and it slowly penetrates as it moves up or down the leader. Now I think about it I very rarely, if ever, get a screamer using chods (not that I use them a lot). Ultimately it doesn't really matter to me what the run is like, it's landing the fish that counts.