Product Review: Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL

Recently I made a great cast with my spod and hit a concrete culvert and shattered the plastic, creating the need for me to buy a new one.  After researching different spods, I decided on trying out the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL.  I was a bit skeptical of this spod having not seen one of them.  I was concerned that the XXL spod would be too big for my spod rod to handle based on it being marketed as XXL.  My current spod rod is a 12' 3.5lb TC Daiwa Mad Dragon which is basically an extra rod that I have at the moment.  Most spod rods are 4.5-5lb TC so you can see why I was worried about a product marketed as an XXL.  I paid $8.66 for this spod.  This spod is marketed as having a larger capacity without the bulk of other spods that casts accurately and can also float as a marker. It is made in orange, yellow, and fluoro colors.

The Good:

Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL

• This spod is a really light spod compared to other spods that I've had with a similar capacity.  This is nice as my spod rod is not as heavy as it should be.
• Due to its design, this spod is very easy to be accurate with.  The marketing here does not lie.  It flies true through the air and I was actually able to cast this spod farther than my marker float with a 3 oz lead.  
• This spod is well balanced for the amount of bait it delivers to the swim and its accuracy and distance achieved.  
• The spod can deliver cloudy/milky liquids and does not lose smaller particles through holes in the side like other spods.  Also because it does not have any holes, you can fill with water from the lake and have weight to cast to measure distance and clip off.  

The Bad:

Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL 

• This spod is marketed as being able to be a marker as well.  I did not see this as being a very good function of this spod - despite it being highly visible in the yellow color that I used.  
• This spod does not empty as well as other spods I have used.  It tends to stay on its side rather than go verticle as it does not have any foam in the spod at all.  Occasionally when reeling this spod in, some of the bait would still be stuck, especially in the tip of the spod.  
• Reeling in the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL can be a challenge.  It tends to plow through the water until it gets close enough to you.  As a result, it can make you pretty tired if you're spodding heavily and you cannot spod as quickly because of all the drag the opening creates when you reel it in.  Modifying this spod to come in nose first would be more preferable.  

Recommended Use:

• Overall this is a good quality spod for the money.  I like the way it is easy to cast and I like the amount of bait it delivers.  It fits in an all around category and can be fished with a range of test curves (lighter to heavier).  There are some other spods on the market that have advantages over this spod like delivering larger bait quantities and/or being able to be reeled in easier.  However, I think you will be pleased with this spod.  

Have you ever used the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL?  What do you think about it?  Leave your comments below!