why use bivvys?

[Ken L]

Shhhhh.

It's a bit of a secret, but you don't actually need a shelter at all in order to catch fish.

On the positive side, having a bivie neatly justifies the barrow load of long range rods and rigs that are required to reach the fish that were right under your feet when you arrived but buggered off to the far side of the lake when you started banging in the tent pegs.

 

Personally, I prefer to find the fish, catch them from where they are in a short session and go home without so much as setting up a brolly.

Mind you for those looking for a day shelter, the pop up bivie seenm a bit small and at £58 it's a bit steep. This is cheaper and big enough to lie down in if required.

[Neil G]

Shhhhh.

It's a bit of a secret, but you don't actually need a shelter at all in order to catch fish.

On the positive side, having a bivie neatly justifies the barrow load of long range rods and rigs that are required to reach the fish that were right under your feet when you arrived but buggered off to the far side of the lake when you started banging in the tent pegs.

 

Personally, I prefer to find the fish, catch them from where they are in a short session and go home without so much as setting up a brolly.

Mind you for those looking for a day shelter, the pop up bivie seenm a bit small and at £58 it's a bit steep. This is cheaper and big enough to lie down in if required.

 

lol at your comments Ken but all too true

 

B**ger all kit for the win!

[fruitloopy]

This is nice and inexpensive if you just want a quick pop up to get out of this bloody April rain.

 

Ebay: Pop up shelter

The only problem is its slightly the wrong colour green! They do have it brown though.

 

This has got me thinking about getting a lightweight shelter so I found this one as well. Easier to setup than a brolly and can be completely sealed up for when the rain hammers down.

 

Ebay: Pop up shelter in dark green

 

I'll throw in this Gelert Army Camo pop up two man tent as well for when I go on trips. Only £22

 

Ebay: Army camo 2 man pop up tent

 

And no I am not the seller!

Edited April 17, 2008 by fruitloopy

[ColinW]

I agree, Ken, I don't think I've ever put my tent up within 50 miles of home. It's a bit difficult to pop home for the night from Scotland though!

Don't overestimate the indestructability of canvas. I remember using my dad's (good quality) frame tent in Wales the year after we'd spent four weeks in Spain in it. We came back from the pub to find our worldy possesions spread around the field. Four weeks of Spanish sun had completely wrecked the canvas. It looked OK but it tore with hardly any effort. To be honest it wasn't the only tent that succumbed to the wind. We ended up with about thirteen of us sleeping in a ridge tent that would have withstood a hurricane.

[Anderoo]

Shhhhh.

It's a bit of a secret, but you don't actually need a shelter at all in order to catch fish.

On the positive side, having a bivie neatly justifies the barrow load of long range rods and rigs that are required to reach the fish that were right under your feet when you arrived but buggered off to the far side of the lake when you started banging in the tent pegs.

 

Personally, I prefer to find the fish, catch them from where they are in a short session and go home without so much as setting up a brolly.

Mind you for those looking for a day shelter, the pop up bivie seenm a bit small and at £58 it's a bit steep. This is cheaper and big enough to lie down in if required.

 

That's a bit unfair Ken! Having a bivvy just means you can stay at a lake for several days if you want to. It doesn't mean you can't fish the margins. It also doesn't mean you can't move swims. It also, also doesn't mean you have to set it up as soon as you arrive and smack pegs into the ground! If you fish a lake where the fish are caught mainly at night, or early the following morning after baiting up the previous evening, I can't see the problem. The biggest benefit is if you're fishing a long way from home and you can't nip back and forth.

 

I know what you mean though. Over recent years I have turned over to the dark side a bit My favourite way of fishing is roving about a small stream with one rod, a net and a bag of bits, but if I'm tench or bream fishing I do tend to fish for a few days at a time, and so a bivvy is a bonus. For tench fishing especially, the first day is usually spent finding spots and baiting up, and the fish arrive the following day. I hardly ever catch much the first day. This isn't due to excessive noise or disturbance either, I've tried fishing one-day sessions on both my main tench pits and it just isn't productive.

 

I remember fishing for zander last autumn in the Fens and on the second night the weather turned and the famous Norfolk wind started tearing down the drain, together with really heavy rain. The good old cypry dome didn't leak or tear but it was squashed almost flat a few times A more expensive and solid bivvy would have stayed upright, but I'd rather put up with the odd uncomfortable night than lug one of those about.

 

This is before it got really bad:

 

 

[chesters1]

You may be right Chesters, I bought mine 12 or 15 years ago it was on special offer in Anglers Mail or AT, it wasn't bought from Jacksons, I only used that link because thats all I could find, in fact mine is actually called a "Pop a Bivvy" not Pop UP Bivvy, mine certainly looks like that, whether that one is the same grade as mine , I don't know

 

 

Edit

Just found the "Pop A Bivvy", it has the round badge on the top front like mine

 

http://www.archeryworld.co.uk/acatalog/Tents_Umbrella.html

hers a pick of a real pop up bivvy ,put up a bit squint due to swim and the rush to get out of the rain ,it was camo painted by using a mixture of wax and black poster paint but faded over 10 or so years.

 

 

we live just down the road from a camping display and they put out their tents in feb by october they are falling apart (we were given 20 odd so if you ever need zips ) they just cant take the sun but ofcourse a full season up is several years normal exposure.our trailer tent was also put up the same time (its been to spain and france in the years since the last owner bought it second hand) and who knows where before (its 1989 vintage) it was sun bleached one side and green with slime the other we took a chance and bought it very cheap but after 2 days scrubbing it came up clean enough for the mrs to allow it indoors to be dried ,still sun bleached but the canvas is perfect.

surprised the canvas tent suffered as i said it needs looking after and suffers by being very dry but the best canvas is made in france so its very surprising it failed! perhaps the canvas was inferior even our very old 70's relum frame tent thats just so so quality is as good as the day whoever it was bought it.

wind though will destroy anything mind you.

 

the gardener was badly designed and if you used two beds completely full but its draw was its instant erection and fight bending it all back in the bag at the end

and because of its gardner lable a bit more expensive then compared to now.the problem with it and all other "shelter" type tents is that it gets rain blown straight in in a facing wind hence i mentioned it in my first post.

 

a lot of manufacturers are going back to canvas in their top end tents ,i suspect though not for longevity reasons but if rolled up damp they get mildew and rot away in a month they then get more money up front before the now gutted user buys something else ,canvas is natural as is mildew so get on very well together!!!!

Edited April 17, 2008 by chesters1

[gozzer]

I've never been a great fan of bivvys, but that's down to my approach to angling as much as anything else.

I have used various shelters over the years, through tents, umbrellas, wind breaks, and even a massive ex army poncho that fit over me and my chair.

 

But I have never believed in sleeping whilst fishing. If I went for a 3-4 day session, then I fished when I thought I had the most chance of catching, and slept when I didn't.

I could never come to terms with using an 'alarm clock' as a bite indicator.

When I fished, I fished. When I slept, I slept.

 

The self hooking rigs in common use today I feel are an abomination, and I would never intentionally use one.

I (personally ) see very little difference between someone using several of these rigs and sleeping 5, 10 or 15 yds away, and someone casting in, and going for a short walk leaving their tackle unattended, or indeed (in some cases), setting a dead line. (Both of which are illegal on most waters).

 

Just my opinion mind you.

 

John.

 

Sorry it's a bit off topic, but there is a connection if you look close enough.

[Guest tigger]

I've never been a great fan of bivvys, but that's down to my approach to angling as much as anything else.

I have used various shelters over the years, through tents, umbrellas, wind breaks, and even a massive ex army poncho that fit over me and my chair.

 

But I have never believed in sleeping whilst fishing. If I went for a 3-4 day session, then I fished when I thought I had the most chance of catching, and slept when I didn't.

I could never come to terms with using an 'alarm clock' as a bite indicator.

When I fished, I fished. When I slept, I slept.

 

The self hooking rigs in common use today I feel are an abomination, and I would never intentionally use one.

I (personally ) see very little difference between someone using several of these rigs and sleeping 5, 10 or 15 yds away, and someone casting in, and going for a short walk leaving their tackle unattended, or indeed (in some cases), setting a dead line. (Both of which are illegal on most waters).

 

Just my opinion mind you.

 

John.

 

Sorry it's a bit off topic, but there is a connection if you look close enough.

 

 

When fishing through the night I've gone for that reason so have been sat waiting/watching for a bite but in the morning I've packed up and gone home until next time. I've only recently bought a cheap bivvy but still have never used one. I think a bivvy is a good thing if your stat fishing for several days or more as it enables you to stay in your peg (even with your lines out of the water while you sleep if you wish) without having to go home to bed and then come back later especially if your fishing a water some distance from home.

John I used to think the same as you regarding bolt rigs but after using them I have to admitt they are good and I've never seen a fish hooked anywhere but in the lip area using the bolt rig style. Using running rigs etc it is easy for a fish to get deep hooked before there's any sign on your quiver tip no matter how vigilant your are.

[Anderoo]

It's not often that I disagree with Gozzer, but we do differ on this point. The reality of fishing some places is that you may only get a handful of bites (maybe even none) over a 2 or 3 day session. If you want to catch something, your best bet is to use a method which doesn't require you to hover over your rod all the time, because no-one can keep that up for long. You also need to keep an eye on the water and move onto fish.

 

You can't really compare using a self-hooking rig, or sleeping while doing certain types of fishing, to leaving your rods unattended or setting deadlines. These types of rig allow you to fish places that otherwise would be virtually impossible. (Using them all the time as a matter of course is another matter entirely.)

 

Obvious exceptions to sleeping while fishing include fishing for fish like pike and chub and fishing near snags.

 

I think, if done 'properly', it's a very skillful method. It doesn't look like it, because all other people usually see is someone in a bivvy with 3 rods sitting on alarms. But that doesn't show the work that went in beforehand - choosing a swim, finding spots to present a bait, baiting up, and fishing accurately. The end result looks lazy, but the reality is that this type of fishing is often more knackering than wandering about a river with hardly any gear.

 

I'd always rather watch a float, but on a big windswept gravel pit which isn't exactly teeming with fish, and which you really need to fish overnight if possible, it's just not practical.

 

To be fair, I'd much rather be either sleeping or fishing, but on certain waters that may be the difference between a susccessful or a wasted trip, in terms of fish caught.

 

I can tell you one thing, though, and that's after a couple of months of long sessions it's a real joy to be back on my little streams trotting a float!

Edited April 17, 2008 by Anderoo

[ColinW]

But I have never believed in sleeping whilst fishing. If I went for a 3-4 day session, then I fished when I thought I had the most chance of catching, and slept when I didn't.

I could never come to terms with using an 'alarm clock' as a bite indicator.

When I fished, I fished. When I slept, I slept.

 

Me too!

And if I feel like a drink I can put my scruffy old tackle in the tent and go to the pub. If that cuts my chances of catching a fish by 50% well, who cares? It's not like it's what I do for a living!