A bite indicator is any signalling device (mechanical or electronic) used in

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

which alerts the

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

of what is happening at the

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

end of the

fishing line A fishing line is any flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed att ...

, particularly whether a fish has swallowed (i.e. "bite") the hook. It is the quintessential tackle used in bait fishing, which depends partly on luck and often requires unpredictable periods of time passively waiting for fish to bite the hook.

Types

There are many types of bite indicators. Which ones work best depends on the type of fishing. *

Fishing float A fishing float or bobber is a lightweight buoy used in angling, usually attached to a fishing line. Angling using a float is sometimes called float fishing. A float can serve several purposes: * firstly, it serves as a visual bite indicator t ...

s: lightweight

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s widely used as bite indicators. Floats oscillate in and out of the water surface when the hook suspended below is pulled by fish biting the

hookbait Fishing bait is any luring substance used specifically to attract and catch fish, typically when angling with a hook and line. There are generally two types of baits used in angling: ''hookbaits'', which are directly mounted onto fish hooks ...

. They are usually "cocked" by different split shot weights so that just the brightly coloured tip of the float is showing above the surface. * Fishing bells: a bulldog clip attached to a pair of small

jingle bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. Th ...

s. When clipped onto the fishing rod, the bell clip is placed in contact with the

and any vibrations transmitted from the line will cause the bell to rattle, giving off alerting sounds that the angler can hear. * Quiver tips: attached onto the end of the

fishing rod A fishing rod or fishing pole is a long, thin rod used by angling, anglers to fishing, catch fish by manipulating a fishing line, line ending in a fish hook, hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic ...

. These can be screw in or push in and come in different weights of test curve for sensitivity and application, such as river and stillwater use. It amplifies vibrations transmitted from the line onto the rod, and is typically used in bottom fishing. * Swing Tip: similar to quiver tips but hang off the tip of the rod and pull up into a horizontal position during a bite. These are usually screw in and are not as common as quiver tips. * Bite alarms: electronic

buzzer A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric (''piezo'' for short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers, train and confirmation of user input such ...

s which bleep when the line is tugged. The fishing line is wound on a running roller, which is monitored by a sensor that makes a noise when the fishing line moves, thus alerting the angler that a fish might be hooked.Bite indicators
/ref> They are attached to the fishing rod between the reel and the first eye on the rod, and give an audible alert when there is a simple movement of the line. :Bite alarms can range from simple devices with an on/off switch that do no more than indicate when the line moves over the roller, to more sophisticated devices with volume, tone and sensitivity controls. They are useful when fishing with more than one rod, and are commonly used when

coarse fishing Coarse fishing (, ) is a phrase commonly used in United Kingdom, Great Britain and Ireland. It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, parti ...

for

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

. Whereas floats can be used as visual bite detectors, bite alarms are audible bite detectors. Although more expensive than visual devices, audible devices are popular as they do not require constant monitoring. They were invented by Richard Walker.

Notes

Fishing equipment Biting {{fishing-stub