lol.
chopped fish, shrimp, and tiny bits of fresh clam might work. after all, that's all "rods food" is, a bunch of stuff from the supermarket and LFS all chopped up and made ready for you. i say you can do this yourself for a fraction of the cost.
i have recently added a copperband to the tank i maintain at the local gym. he's been in the tank for about 3 weeks now and has not eaten anything prepared yet. i have tried the chopped foods above mentioned, flake, and pellet. i'm going to get some frozen blood worms on monday. if they don't work, i'm going to try live blood worms.
to date, all he's eaten is pods.