Bite alarms

[Mark Pevy]

without any indication on my alarm

that you heard while you were asleep ?
and of course depends on what Alarms you were using and how they were adjusted

Fox mini microns and i did have them turned up full

 

[Chris Belcher]

Woke this morning from a sort of sleep lol,to see my left hand rod down in the margin, reeled in and it was snagged, left it while seeing to my other rod,then returned to a nice chub about 5lb,it had taken my bait from near middle river without any indication on my alarm

Lol sounds like a rod retention issue rather than an alarm issue! Assume you use snag ears / butt cups etc? If you're a heavy sleeper suggest you get alarms with a remote and position near your head whilst kipping and maybe get some Jag rod lockers / bungee straps to ensure you don't lose your rods! To be honest I rarely night fish for barbel (only fishing into first hour of darkness) so am always on the rods but I do for Carp and fishing with tight clutches you need to ensure you wake up to a single loud bleep . . .

 

[Richard Gibson]

Fox mini microns and i did have them turned up full

What lead setup Mark?

Semi-fixed leads (i.e. leadclip) can sometimes allow the fish to kite without giving any indication on the bobbin. I recall seeing it demonstrated on Korda Underwater.

I assume you mean line down the margin as opposed to the rod/reel had come off rod rest and ended up down the margin

 

[Jim Ufton]

Sorry chris but we will have to agree to disagree, no way will alarms beat eyes and fingers, and to say you never had a three foot twich from a barbel, however light you set a cluch, i rest my case m'lud
Regards

 

[Mark Pevy]

What lead setup Mark?

Semi-fixed leads (i.e. leadclip) can sometimes allow the fish to kite without giving any indication on the bobbin. I recall seeing it demonstrated on Korda Underwater.

I assume you mean line down the margin as opposed to the rod/reel had come off rod rest and ended up down the margin

Yes mate,line down the margin not rod,feeder and korum bolt and run rig

 

[Richard Isaacs]

As a short session angler my alarms never really see any action until winter time when the pike baits are out and you simply can’t get enough forms of indication. Any pike angler will tell you that belt n braces on indication plus some.
For barbel I’d sooner watch rod tips because an alarm can only tell you something happened where as a rod tip can tell you it was a liner, it was a drop back, it was short sharp series of chub taps etc.
they say a picture paints a thousand words and it’s quite similar in this case too because your ears can’t tell you as much as your eyes can.
Now I’m not super human and if I was doing an overnight session I’d have to take my eyes off occasionally and yes I’d have a buzzer to help out in this case scenario but like Jim said….. rod tips definitely tell you a lot more information about what is happening

 

[Rob Mitchell]

I tend to fish longer sessions, but even when on the local river I’ll use an alarm with snag ears as the front rod rest, because why not. Nobody can stare at a rod tip and never look away.

 

[Jim Ufton]

But you can touch led all night and look at anything you want,,,,,,

 

[Dan Whitelock]

Been reading this with great interest. As a result, last night I had a late one after a long day at work, absolutely knackered so I took along one of my Delkims and receiver. I was fishing my local river that follows a really weird pattern that I've learned over the years: I'll get a pull, or several pulls over the course of an hour before the rod finally hoops round. This particular narrow swim I fish nearly always gives a huge line bite about half an hour before a mental bite.... Whether the fish are moving down river from the shallows after dark I don't yet know, but anyway I digress.
I was unintentionally dozing off, after telling myself I'll give it until midnight when the alarm let out a single beep and the rod sprang back. The classic pre-bite liner. This woke me up, alerted me and after draining the rest of my flask at 0030 the rod slammed round and my first double of the season was soon on the mat.
If I wasn't using the alarm I would have missed seeing the liner, wound in and gone home very grumpy at a blank.
Yes I could have been touch legering but I'd be in an uncomfortable position trying to hold the rod in a tight swim, it's rare that I get a fish in under two hours and due to the nature of my job I'm lucky if I get a few hours a week fishing so I have to fish as efficiently and effective as possible. Using an alarm really helps my approach. I don't bother switching it on while I'm awake and alert but when the eyes get heavy it's really useful.

 

[Neil Smart]

I don't use them, but as Dan's post outlined they have a use IF used with consideration to others that might be nearby. Of course huge expanses of river such as the lower, lower Severn if anyone was confident enough to fish for Barbel here, to not use the things would be daft. Of course river carp anglers use them all the time.

 

[Chris Belcher]

Sorry chris but we will have to agree to disagree, no way will alarms beat eyes and fingers, and to say you never had a three foot twich from a barbel, however light you set a cluch, i rest my case m'lud
Regards

Not in disagreement Jim! Didn't say an alarm replaces the senses; however to be that alert throughout the session is unrealistic - you cant touch leger when you're going for a p*ss unless you perhaps keep an arm outstretched - with two rods undertaking this bodily function with loops between fingers it would be amusing to witness!

As per Dans comments - you def don't have to use alarms to fish for barbel or any other species for that matter and they don't beat staring at the tips in totality - however they are an advantage!