Spomb X Reel

How well is it built?

Spomb have clearly thought about what a baiting reel goes through.

Casting a fully loaded Spomb again and again puts a lot of strain on the gears, so the Spomb X uses machine-cut aluminium and brass gearing, a high-strength combination that's there for long-term durability rather than saving a few grams.

The drag, rotor and body are all sealed as well, and I think that's one of the most sensible features on the reel. Spodding is wet, messy work, with braid coming back covered in water and bait residue on every wind, and sealing keeps that grit away from the parts that matter.

At 603g it's a solid reel, and it only has 3+1 bearings, which looks modest next to some big pits. To be fair, on a spod rod I'd rather have strong gearing and good seals than a long bearing count, and the black finish with red Spomb logos looks smart on the rod.

How well does it cast and retrieve?

Speed is what you want from a spod reel, and the Spomb X has it. The 5.2:1 gear ratio brings back 124cm of line per turn of the handle, which means less winding between casts and more time getting the bait out where you want it.

The spool holds 300m of 0.18mm braid, which is plenty for spodding at range, and slow oscillation is there to lay that braid neatly so it comes off cleanly on the next cast.

Tidy braid lay matters a lot on a spod reel, because a loose loop on a heavy cast can soon turn into a crack-off.

The line control details are where you can see the specialist thinking.

There are dual soft-sprung clips with line-safe surrounds for clipping up, and a rotor brake and no-return ramp that are there to stop the bail closing by accident during the cast, which is exactly what you don't want with a loaded Spomb in the air.

How useful is the drag system?

The 25kg Quick Clutch drag is the headline feature for me. It's a carbon-matrix drag, and its job is to stop the spool slipping when you're putting everything into a cast with a heavy baiting device, because any slip on the cast costs you distance and accuracy.

The quick adjustment is just as useful. You can go from locked-up casting tension to a lighter setting for normal line control without lots of turns of the knob, and it's just as easy to set it back up again before the next cast.

It's sealed too, so the carbon-matrix drag is protected from the water and bait mess that comes back on the braid every time you wind in.

The Daiwa Superspod and Emblem Spod both have very good drags, but for a reel that will only ever be used for baiting, I'd put this one right alongside them and it's the drag I'd pick for heavy Spombs.

Is it good value for money?

The Spomb X is the dearest spod reel in this group, costing a good chunk more than the Daiwa 23 Superspod 45 SCW, the Daiwa Emblem Spod and the Shimano Aerlex XTC Spod 14000.

That's why its value score sits below its other scores, because those reels do the job very well for less money.

What the extra buys you is a reel designed only for baiting, with sealed internals, aluminium and brass gearing, a 25kg drag and the bail protection features, rather than a general reel adapted for spodding. If you spod a lot every session, I think that focus is worth paying for.

It suits carp anglers who bait heavily with Spombs, fish longer sessions where the spod rod gets a lot of use, and want a dedicated reel built to take the punishment, rather than an occasional spodder who'd be well served by something cheaper.