Fox International Exocet Spod & Marker Float Systems

Fox International are well known for constantly working on improving existing products in their vast range of tackle, until they are as close to perfect as possible. Many anglers are using the Fox TB Spods and the marker floats that Fox produced, but there was a fair bit of criticism from various angling forums about the durability of the products long term. Fox have obviously took these words that had been posted by the "internet anglers" and set about designing a completely new range of spods and marker float systems, with input from their team of consultants.

The Exocets are armed and ready for launch!!!

Fox International Exocet Dual Spod

At first glances, the Exocet Spod looks no different to most other spods on the current marketplace, that is until you open the very well sealed packaging and get one in your hand.
A quick squeeze of the actual spod itself tells you instantly that the product is more robust than older spods and the minute amount of movement in the material will absorb any amount of shock that the product will be likely to meet in normal use.

The main body of the spod has been manufactured with a slight forward taper which even the most unscientific of angling brains would tell you that it will cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. The taper also means that extra bouyancy can be made at the front of the spod giving quick dispersal of baits that have been placed inside it.
Along the sides of the Exocet spod, Fox have added "bullet nose" type apertures which allow water to enter the spod upon impact with the water and discharge the payload straight away with less chance of any bait becoming trapped inside (which can then spill out upon retrieval, leading a trail of bait away from the intended area).
At the rear of the Exocet spod, Fox have added unintrusive stability fins, that keep the rear of the spod stable in flight, and increases accuracy and distance. The fins are an integral part of the spod rather than an after moulding addition, so there is next to no chance of them coming off in use.
Like the TB Spods before them, the Exocet spod is supplied with an insert that blanks off most of the holes in the side of the spod. These inserts allow the spod to be used with liquids (such as water for obtaining the required distance without depositing bait everywhere). The other benefit of the the new insert is that it is a parallel design, which means that baits such as boilies will no get jammed in the spod because of a taper. The insert will also not fall out during use as it is put in from the nose first. To fit the parallel insert it is simply a case of unscrewing the nose cone, sliding the insert in and replacing the nose cone. Because of the taper of the spod, there is no way for the insert to come out without the nose cone being removed. Such a simple solution to a problem that has been a bane to anglers for years!

The nose cones are instantly interchangable, and simply require one full turn to remove and put back on again, One full turn does not sound much, but it would take a lot to have one of these come off in use. The nose cones have been moulded out of a very robust plastic, that has been kept hollow to give the highest amount of bouyancy - which means the spod inverts upon hitting the water instantly and with very little diving. At the flat end of the nose cone, Fox have added a raised area in the centre which fits into a depressed area on the parallel insert to keep it central inside the spod. A nice little touch that could easily have been overlooked and the angler would not have realised! Three nose cones are supplied with each spod in different colours to suit virtually all water conditions - orange, yellow and black. All that is missing is a glow-in-the-dark nose cone for spodding at night!!!!

The clever touch though is the new anti-twist "harness" that attaches the spod to the line. Fox have gone for a semi-rigid system that stands completely proud and will not twist at all, even during the fastest of retrieves. The semi-stiff nature also means that the spod is filled rapidly without having to worry about burying the harness inside under the payload - which is something that can happen with traditional cord type attachments. At the line attachment end, Fox have moulded a swivel into the harness that will not come away unless put under extreme pressure - by far greater than what could be experienced in use. The harness is easily attached and removed, and Fox have also included a spare in the kit in case of a mishap or misplacement. The harness simply slots into 3 grooves at the end of the spod, and locks into place with a good pull. Because the harness is stiff, retrieval of the spod is effortless as if the rod tip is held high, the harness will lift the open end of the spod off the surface of the water, allowing the spod to effortless skate across the surface. This is one thing that we hate about spodding is when the open end of the spod ducks under the surface and then skips back upon exit, which can cause the soft braid used on the reel to tangle on itself due to the slack, especially in widy conditions.

UKMA have not been on the bank yet with the Exocet Dual Spod, but we cannot see the spod doing anything other than what has been described above and we cannot wait to get out and put it through it's paces.

The Exocet Dual Spod is available in two sizes - Small and Large, that will cover the majority of spod usage that the angler will ever require.

Fox Exocet Marker Float System

With the Exocet Marker Float, Fox and the companies consultants have sat down and redesigned their existing marker floats to be virtually perfect for the angler's needs today. A lot of marker floats get slated (again by the "internet anglers") for simply not being robust enough to deal with use in weed and on hard bottoms in shallow water, which usually ends up with the angler retrieving part of a marker float or one that is completely unusable afterwards because the body has cracked open. Fox have looked at these situations and designed what is going to be a huge seller in 2010 and beyond!

When you pick the Exocet Marker Float up, the first thing that is apparent is that it is virtually weightless! This has been obtained by using a very robust plastic compound and capturing air inside the float body to increase bouyancy. This float should come up to the surface in all but the very dense of weed. What is also amazing about the float body is that because of how light it is, you would expect the plastic to be very thin and prone to damage - totally the opposite! The float's body is as robust as anything else we have seen, and with one of the UKMA team trying to snap it by bending it and failing miserably, you just know that this float is not going to let you down!
At the base of the float, Fox have had a swivel moulded into the actual float which will not come away even if abused slightly.

At the other end of the float, Fox have fitted a quick change flight system, which requires one & a half complete turns to easily change the colour flight that you require. 3 different colour flights are supplied - orange, yellow and black. The flights themselves are also hollow inside, which will increase bouyancy and also allow the flights to "glow" when on the surface in light.

UKMA were sent the 4oz marker kit system which also includes a 4oz feature finding lead and a marker boom with all the required components to set up a marker float system correctly. The angler will not need to worry about having to buy anything else for their marker rod other than the rod, reel and braided mainline itself!

The supplied marker boom has had some thought put into it, with all knots covered by tapered rubber sleeves to neaten the setup perfectly. At the base of the boom, Fox have fitted a Quick Change Clip that allows the lead to be removed and put on effortlessly without having to worry about the lead coming off in use. At the other end of the boom, a wire clip has been fitted that a Slik ring fits onto. The wire clip allows for the Slik ring to be removed and a foam ball to be slid on should the angler require a more bouyant boom - especially useful when marking around over weed. The Slik ring is also something that other manufacturers could look at (only one other manufacturer uses a similar type of system to our knowledge). The Slik ring is essentially the ring secion of a SiC rod guide that has a small hole drilled in to attach to the boom. The use of the SiC liner means that even braids will run freely through it without cutting a groove (which can happen with other solutions after prolonged use).
Included along with the boom, are the final components required for perfect marker float use - another Quick Change Clip to attach the float to the mainline, a 10mm plastic bead to stop the Slik ring from catching on the swivel of the float and a buffer bead to go over the clip to ensure that the float does not come off unless the angler wishes.

Just like with the Exocet Spod, we have not been able to get out on the bank yet to put them through the paces, but we will on our next session and update this feature with our exact findings.

The Exocet Marker float is available to buy as a float only or as a complete kit with a choice of either a 3 or 4oz lead.

This is just an introduction into the Exocet range of Spod's & Marker Floats, and will be updated as soon as we have been able to put the products through a long term test.

For more information on the Exocet range of spods and marker floats, or any other item in the Fox range, please click the image below to visit the Fox Carp website.