bite alarms

[fisher28]

Hi all,

 

Just after some advice on which indicators to go for please. I mainly only do pike fishing in the winter and tench fishing in the warmer months and am looking for a pair of alarms that will cater for both. I normally pike fish with a rear pike swinger and front alarm.

 

Dont want to buy cheap tat that won't last but I also don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on something that I wont benfit from, but am open to advice, any of which will be much appreciated!

 

Many thanks

[Steve Burke]

This is an easy one, but my apologies to those who have heard it before: Good Fishing GFs is what I use and recommend.

 

Here's what I posted recently;

 

"I too can't recommend the Good Fishing GFs highly enough. I've had a set for many years and I don't believe there's a better roller wheel alarm on the market - at any price!

 

In fact they're now only about half the price I originally paid!

 

Some of their other plus points:

 

• They're ultra-reliable being made in Britain from British components.
• You buy direct from the maker so cutting out the middleman.
• They work even with rods with small rings. Some alarms won't, being designed purely for the carp market.
• The GFs has dual sensitivity that I find very handy"

I'd add that they cost just £14.99 each and can be ordered from www.gfbitealarms.com.

[Brian Carragher]

I've just ordered 4 of the GF's from Phil at GF Bite Alarms (web site above) based mainly on their reputation and the use and abuse of said gear by many of the posters on here. They get a thumbs up from everyone even after years of use so thats good enough for me

 

Looking forward to putting them through their paces

[Andy_1984]

only ever used Fox micron M's so can only recommend them but they have lasted for years on the same battery and have never let me down even in freezing temps.

 

used for both pike and tench fishing.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Andy_1984

[Anderoo]

I've only ever had basic alarms (I have no need for the more expensive ones), specifically the old style Fox Micron M and the basic GF alarms. Of the two I prefer the Microns, as they work much better with light line and light bobbins, plus a few times with the GFs the line has looked like it was on the roller but wasn't, meaning missed bites (something I check carefully now). The GFs are good though, especially at their price, but if I had to recommend one over the other, I'd go for the Microns. They were about £20 new when I bought them over 15 years ago, have never once failed me in all that time, have been out in all weathers at all times of year, and are only now on their second battery!

[John Weddup]

Hi all,

 

Just after some advice on which indicators to go for please. I mainly only do pike fishing in the winter and tench fishing in the warmer months and am looking for a pair of alarms that will cater for both. I normally pike fish with a rear pike swinger and front alarm.

 

Dont want to buy cheap tat that won't last but I also don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on something that I wont benfit from, but am open to advice, any of which will be much appreciated!

 

Many thanks

Hi

 

If you want a reliable alarm when fishing open bail arm for predators then delkim is the answer. It does not have a roller just a line sensing v which works on vibration.

 

I have bought and still have some of the very best roller alarms and as much as I love then for tench/bream fishing etc for open bail arm the delkims are streets ahead.

 

A fellow zander angler also tried several different roller alarms but went back to delkims. Delkims are not without little niggles hence he tried others. For instance with sensitivity turned up heavy rain will make them bleep. In the middle of the night zander fishing this can be a nuisance but rather that than have the line skip over the roller without turning it which seems to happen very easily on roller alarms.

 

I have not had a roller alarm freeze although I do fish in those conditions but I have had them get flooded with water around roller again stopping roller turning. With a bobbin at front they work perfectly but not open bailarm rear drop off.

 

I actually boughtb the delks to use whilst quiver tipping. Seems weird I know but on a couple of big reservoirs you can wait hours for a bite until fish turn up. I would rather be looking at water than tips. I always fish beachcaster style on these waters (rod up in air) and delks will indicate when I get a bite. Its because they work on vibration rather than line movement. They are fantastic for that.

 

I then started to use and compare with my other alarms and now only take the delks.

 

There are 3 the middle one is a lot better than the cheapest as it has a wider sensitivity range and only differs from the dearest in not being built for receiver.

 

John

[Steve Burke]

I've only ever had basic alarms (I have no need for the more expensive ones), specifically the old style Fox Micron M and the basic GF alarms. Of the two I prefer the Microns, as they work much better with light line and light bobbins, plus a few times with the GFs the line has looked like it was on the roller but wasn't, meaning missed bites (something I check carefully now). The GFs are good though, especially at their price, but if I had to recommend one over the other, I'd go for the Microns. They were about £20 new when I bought them over 15 years ago, have never once failed me in all that time, have been out in all weathers at all times of year, and are only now on their second battery!

 

Andrew, have you tried putting the GF alarm immediately behind the butt ring? I don't have any problems then. I may have brought this up before, but my apologies if I haven't.

 

BTW, do you have the GFs with the dual sensitivity - that's what the S stands for? It shouldn't make a difference with the line not being on the roller, but it's a feature I do find useful.

 

Like Andrew, I too have done head to heads. Rather than the basic versions of each make with just 1 sensitivity setting, I compared the dual sensitivity models (GFs v Fox MX). The Good Fishing GFs had better sensitivity than the Fox MX on the high setting.

[Steve Burke]

Hi

 

If you want a reliable alarm when fishing open bail arm for predators then delkim is the answer. It does not have a roller just a line sensing v which works on vibration.

 

I have bought and still have some of the very best roller alarms and as much as I love then for tench/bream fishing etc for open bail arm the delkims are streets ahead.

 

A fellow zander angler also tried several different roller alarms but went back to delkims. Delkims are not without little niggles hence he tried others. For instance with sensitivity turned up heavy rain will make them bleep. In the middle of the night zander fishing this can be a nuisance but rather that than have the line skip over the roller without turning it which seems to happen very easily on roller alarms.

 

I have not had a roller alarm freeze although I do fish in those conditions but I have had them get flooded with water around roller again stopping roller turning. With a bobbin at front they work perfectly but not open bailarm rear drop off.

 

I actually boughtb the delks to use whilst quiver tipping. Seems weird I know but on a couple of big reservoirs you can wait hours for a bite until fish turn up. I would rather be looking at water than tips. I always fish beachcaster style on these waters (rod up in air) and delks will indicate when I get a bite. Its because they work on vibration rather than line movement. They are fantastic for that.

 

I then started to use and compare with my other alarms and now only take the delks.

 

There are 3 the middle one is a lot better than the cheapest as it has a wider sensitivity range and only differs from the dearest in not being built for receiver.

 

John

 

I've never needed to be woken up when predator fishing, but if I did fish overnight for species such as zander I too would go for a vibration type alarm. I nearly bought a secondhand set of Delkims this year from Si but couldn't justify the expense. Vibration type alarms are very much more expensive than roller wheel alarms to say the least!

 

For my daytime predator fishing I use an open bail arm, but then all I need is a single bleep. I then watch the indicator. And at night when fishing for such species as bream or tench I fish closed bail arm. In each case my roller wheel GFs alarms have done all I need of them. If you place them just in front of the butt ring there should be no problem with line skip as I mentioned in my earlier reply.

 

However if I could afford them, like John, I'd buy just vibration alarms as they'd cover every eventuality.

[Brian Carragher]

The question was'nt which are the best or most expensive alarms he could buy the question was

 

"Dont want to buy cheap tat that won't last but I also don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on something that I wont benfit from"

 

Plenty of alarms that fit that particular bill I still have and use some Leeda alarms that are over 15 yrs old and they work fine for piking also have some Fladen alarms and they too are good for piking, because of the set up and position of the alarm against the first eye and the weight of the drop off they all make that all important noise when a fish picks up the bait, makes no difference if the sounds the same for a drop back or a run all the alarm needs to do is alert to to whats about to happen

 

Most alarms will do but some are more reliable than others in extreme weather, some don't like a dunking, my Leeda alarms were a fiver each from Argos and have been dropped, dunked and generall well used for years without the need to buy expensive delks

 

If like me you have alarms attached permanantly to bank sticks stuck in your quiver or holdall then you don't really want to run the risk of knackering your very expensive toys or wasting the kids inheritance

[Phil Adams]

Im a Delkim user and have stuck with my 98 models since. I do belive that the older versions are somewhat better than the newer ones. If it wasnt for the Delks, Id go for Gardner TLBs as roller alarms for pure reliability.