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 Bite
alarm chorus
The bite alarm chorus seems
to start just before dark, when everyone on
the lake decides to re-bait and re-cast at
the same time ready for the night ahead, setting
their bite alarms to a loud enough volume
to wake them should they get a run in the
night, the lake sounds like the amusement
arcade on Brighton Pier. With so many different
bite alarms set at various high and low tones,
I sometimes yearn for times when fishing was
a quiet and peaceful pastime, when the only
sound you would hear at night time would be
a fox or an owl or maybe the gentle plopping
sound of a very small ledger entering the
water. And all this occurs before matey in
the next swim decides to call home on his
mobile to wish Johnny good night and talk
for one and a half hours to his beloved!
Tin Cans
Having said all that,
I wouldn't really want to go back to the
days when you daren't fall asleep in case
you missed a long awaited run, unless you
were awoken by the coin dropping off of
the line into the tin can. That old method
used to work well for a light sleeper, but
nowadays, the serious carp angler needs
a good set of bite alarms if he wants to
maximise on his nights fishing. However
as in most items in the anglers wish list,
they are not cheap and there are quite a
few different makes and models to choose
from. So how are you going to decide?
Money
I suppose sadly, the first consideration
as always has to be money. Alarms are available
at all sorts of prices from the cheap budget
to the all singing all dancing top of the
range go faster models, so set yourself
a price limit and only look at bite alarms
in that range. Our decisions would always
be a lot easier if every model cost the
same, but they don't and so we have to be
practical. Having said that, there are some
very good and reliable bite alarms becoming
available lately at a very good price and
you don't have to spend a fortune in order
to equip yourself with some very competent
technology indeed. So what are the differences
between them all and what do all of the
features available actually do? Let's take
a look.
Gain Control
There are three main controls on bit alarms
and your chosen model may have none or all
of them featured. Firstly, present on most
bite alarms, is a volume control. Without
this you may either end up the most annoying
angler on the lake, or never hear a bite
being registered, and so I would consider
this a must. Secondly, tone control, which
can be useful if you wish to use two alarms
and have them sound different so that you
can hear instantly which one is sounding.
Some bite alarms don't have this feature
but are available to purchase in both Hi
and Lo tones for this purpose. Finally,
a sensitivity control, enabling you to adjust
how small or large an amount of line movement
is required before a bite registers. A nice
to have feature this one, very useful when
fishing in windy conditions to stop the
wind registering a bite, or when being pestered
by small line bites.
Flash
The next feature on the face of the bite
alarm is one or more LEDs which are usually
either red, green, yellow, blue or white.
The blue and white versions are sometimes
a more expensive component, which is reflected
in the asking price. Some alarms will have
one and others two, but the purpose of the
first is to show when a bite has occurred.
It will light when line is being taken from
the reel and running through the alarm.
It is when this stops occurring that the
features differ. On some bite alarms the
same light will remain lit for a number
of seconds, in order for the angler, still
stumbling from his bivvy, to see which alarm
was sounding. This is known as a latching
light. On other bite alarms a second LED
will serve this purpose, the first having
now switched off. Whatever system is used,
a latching light is extremely useful, especially
when the bite has stopped by the time you
reach your rods. You need to know which
rod the bite occurred on so that you may
still strike should you wish, or retrieve
it to check the bait.
Remote
Another feature you may like to consider
is the addition of a remote sounder box.
These fall into two categories, the wired
and the radio versions. Wired sounder boxes
are attached to your alarms by long trailing
wires which plug in using jack plugs. The
wires need to be placed carefully through
your swim, especially at night to avoid
tripping over them. The more modern, although
more expensive, versions are radio sounder
boxes, which receive a radio signal from
your alarms without any need for wires at
all. They will operate at a long distance
from your swim, which is useful if you need
to answer a call of nature during the night
behind your swim. It does NOT however give
you reason to wander round to the other
side of the lake and share a cuppa with
your mates. This practice is dangerous to
the fish and you risk not being allowed
to return to the venue if you're caught.
Don't do it. It's not funny, it's not clever.
OK, off my soap box now, but it sadly needs
saying over and over again.
Reliability
Although I have left this until last, it
is maybe one of the most important aspects
of a good bite alarm. It doesn't matter
how many controls or flashing lights it
has, if it doesn't work in the wet, or the
battery runs out every three hours, it is
of no use to anyone. You need to find out
whether it will work and stay working. Now
I know I say this in so many of my tackle
articles, but there is no better way to
find out about a piece of fishing gear than
to ask someone who already owns one. Asking
in a tackle shop may result in good advice
from the more reputable dealers, but there
will always be those who recommend the one
that they happen to have a lot of in stock
or that they earn the most commission on.
A recommendation from someone who has owned
one for a good length of time is better
than any tackle catalogue advertisement.
Why not check out the forum and ask on there.
Somebody may well own one or know someone
that does. Why not give it a try. Who knows,
you may even find someone who has one or
two for sale in the classifieds as well.
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