The First ever Bite Alarm you had?

[Guest Chris Perch]

Good grief, this takes me back longer than I care to remember. My first alarms were Herons which were immediately painted matt black with the contacts being changed to GPO one. The emphasis then was little or no weight either on the line or around the hook but of course the consequences of this was that it did not take much to tighten the line so it slipped out from between the contacts which was a right pain at night. The contacts were adjustable but unless there was little or no wind and the water still, they were a pain to get anywhere near workable and virtually anything that clipped the line would set them off.

These were followed by a set of BJs which were very similar in terms of how they worked and it was generally not until the Optonics came on the scene and and also that weight around the hook length was not such a bad thing after all that things improved dramatically. My first Optonics were the originals which were then replaced by ones which connected to a dedicated sounder box. which in turn were eventually replaced by the Optonic XLs which I still have. When the first Delkims came out I bought a set mainly for Carp fishing both in the UK and Europe but these failed badly due to rain ingress then I discovered Good Fishing alarms which have been brilliant for many years with the only downside being the small size of the roller which can induce line skips if you have the back end of the rods high. In more recent times, have been using the Gardner ATTS alarms with 4 magnet wheels which to me are superb especially as they are heads are silent and will not transmit sound through the water. For some types of fishing I still use both the Optonics particularly when the big roller gives a distinct advantage if the back of the rods are high and the GF alarms for general fishing.

never heard of delkims suffering water ingress before had mine 10 years and they were second hand when i got them.

Was it the delkim conversions or the recent ones?

[tincatinca]

never heard of delkims suffering water ingress before had mine 10 years and they were second hand when i got them.

Was it the delkim conversions or the recent ones?

Not the Del Romang Optonic conversions but the original Delkims that worked on vibration. I first started using them around the late eighties early nineties when I first started to fish in France but after a relatively short period, they started to malfunction due to water ingress and I had to make top hats out of plastic/paper cups to keep the water out. When they worked they were good but I lost confidence in them after that and coupled with the excessive pricing policy, I sold on the Delkims and bought a few of the Geoff Pecks good fishing GFMs which apart from having to replace the battery leads and connection on a two of them over the years are still working as well as when I got them., as indeed are the Optonics.

[stivestackle]

never heard of delkims suffering water ingress before had mine 10 years and they were second hand when i got them.

Was it the delkim conversions or the recent ones?

 

Not the Del Romang Optonic conversions but the original Delkims that worked on vibration. I first started using them around the late eighties early nineties when I first started to fish in France but after a relatively short period, they started to malfunction due to water ingress and I had to make top hats out of plastic/paper cups to keep the water out. When they worked they were good but I lost confidence in them after that and coupled with the excessive pricing policy, I sold on the Delkims and bought a few of the Geoff Pecks good fishing GFMs which apart from having to replace the battery leads and connection on a two of them over the years are still working as well as when I got them., as indeed are the Optonics.

Mmmm interesting had a set of Delkims about 2003 I think. They were awful with regards to water ingress and when returned the maker they tried to accuse me of submersing them in the lake. All they had suffered was a few rain showers, so I was not too impressed by this. Sold them on and will never touch em again.

First alarms for me were good old optonics even though the on off switch used to get a bit oxidised and volume was a bit feeble.

Fox Micron s now which are over ten years old and going strong.

[davedave]

This Lidl jobby!

 

 

Still use it now, it's surprisingly sensitive!

[Andy Macfarlane]

My first alarms were the same Micron Ms I have now. It took for me to get into Pike fishing to actually see the benefits, having previously considered them to be for the lazy angler. Sigh...how wrong could I have been?

 

Now I prop my rods on them, whether I need them for the type of fishing I'm doing or not. Even if I'm fishing the quivertip, I have my rods propped up on them, as I can take my eyes off the ball, to gaze around or just give my eyes a break from the glare for a bit (light-sensitive you see) which has proved to be valuable if I feel one of my migraines coming on.

 

OK, they're not much use for delicate biters like roach etc. but in their case, if you miss a bite visually, you've generally missed the fish altogether. For perch, tench, carp and trout, they're fine, even if they only give a single bleep. It's just good to know that you don't have to be 100% vigilant all day long or in some cases, 2 days if I'm fishing for tench for instance.

 

That's not to mention the call of nature. Very often we don't want to reel in and recast for fear of spooking shady fish, all for the sake of a quick slash in the bushes.

[Dave H]

The best i had was the Delkims last year they were awesome. Just the bog standard EV ones i thought were great. Sadly i had to sell them to make ends meet last year and am back on my Fox Microns. I still think they are ample for the job but can be not quite sensitive for those finiky eel bites and zander but they do the job well enough.

[Anderoo]

I'm the same as Andy above - my first alarms are the same pair of Fox Micon M that I still use regularly. I've had them for over 15 years now, they've been though everything the British weather could throw at them, not particularly well looked after, and they've never once missed a beat. They're even only on their second batteries too! Not bad for cheap Chinese rubbish

Edited February 27, 2013 by Anderoo

[poledark]

Made my own to Richard Walkers design. Platinum coated GPO relay contacts, adjustable for "sensitivity", you could even hang a bobbin behind them to show dropbacks.....no lead weights in those days.

 

About 1953 I think

 

Den

[Mat Hillman]

My first were a pair of fox mini microns, tiny little alarms, cheap and effective. Recently retired them as after about 15 years use the rubber on the line wheels was starting to perish, and bought a pair of GF Alarms as recommended here instead.

 

Mat

[RUDD]

I had a black plastic box that screwd onto a bankstick it with a metal arm on the side that moved when the line tightend- cant remember the name.

Next came a fox mini micro, replaced with a micron for single rod use, followed by a pair of GF which are still used with a wired sounder box.