Feeder Bite Indication

Feeder fishing involves having a capsule of bait attached to your line, which then sinks to the bottom so you are ledgering. On the right the feeder is filled with ground bait. Fishing on the bottom makes good bite indication difficult since there is no float.

One method is to 'feel' the line. I suggest holding the line between your thumb and other four fingers. For this to work the line must be taut. When a fish does take your bait you should feel a tug on the line. This is by the far the most sensitive bite indication.

Another method is to 'quiver tip'. This involves the use of a 'quiver tip' rod or a rod that is quite flexible. Again the line should be taut. When the fish does pull your line the rod tip should move back and forth and hence the name 'quiver tip'.

New Fishing TV Series

On January 9th a series of 10 programs called 'Nick Hancock's Fishing School' are starting about budding fly fishermen being shown the ropes in Scottish lochs. It is on at 7.30PM on ITV1.

The TV Presenter invites would-be anglers to the Highlands of Scotland to learn the art of wild game fishing. The environment is stunning but remote and rugged - do they know what they have got themselves into?

The Benefit of Bite Alarms

A bite alarm is a device which indicates visually or by sound that you have a bite. This makes them ideally suitable for fishing where you have more than one rod, such as in Carp or Pike fishing. In these situations bite alarms reduce the pressure on you to monitor all rods at once.

They come in 2 forms. 'Front alarms' (pictured left) are placed on the first rod stick and will sound when the line is moved over them. A bobbin or drop arm is then required to ensure the line is pulled down onto the bite alarm. A post here demonstrates normal requirements of bite alarms.

Rear 'drop off' electronic bite alarms are slightly different. They only sound when the line is pulled off the clip on the drop off arm. They will sound continuously when the line is pulled free.

A recent development in bite alarms is the use of a wireless receiver. Small lights on the receiver will light up when a bite is observed. This is especially useful if you are fishing in a bivvy and might not here the alarms.