detecting bites/strikes whilst night fishing

[Underpants 1,543]

I was wondering what techniques folks use when fishing in the dark to determine when they are getting proper bites, strikes ect when not holding the rod?

 

Im primarily thinking about land based beach where the rod is left in a holder while waiting for things to happen.

 

I have used the little glow sticks near the rod tip but then you have to watch things. Other than that i use a correctly (?!)  set drag which generally stirs me up from a slumber when a fish grabs & runs. I must say that im not at all nocturnal and find night fishing really hard work, even in ideal conditions!

 

Any other ideas out there?

[AquaticResearch1 1,046]

Depends on the size of the fish and conditions. Little fish and calm conditions a bell is good, although they are really annoying when fighting the fish. Salt Creek and Pounding surf/currents and weed then i'd use a glow stick on the tip and fit a "powerful" glow stick to the blank just above the fore grip or even fit a light onto the rod stand. That way you can tell by the angle between the glow sticks and also slight illumination of the real as to wether you've been hit or not.

[Underpants 1,543]

Depends on the size of the fish and conditions. Little fish and calm conditions a bell is good, although they are really annoying when fighting the fish. Salt Creek and Pounding surf/currents and weed then i'd use a glow stick on the tip and fit a "powerful" glow stick to the blank just above the fore grip or even fit a light onto the rod stand. That way you can tell by the angle between the glow sticks and also slight illumination of the real as to wether you've been hit or not.

 The latter is more what i was referring too. I like that one & have some old big glow sticks needing using.

[AquaticResearch1 1,046]

Handy that you've got some big glow sticks floating around. It is a pain trying to detect bites at night, but from apart from running flood lights around your fishing gear there isn't alot you can do.

[plankton 725]

I have used light sticks before, but they're quite expensive. Now I use these little LED lights powered by button batteries. They come with plastic brackets that you can tape onto your rod, and then slide the light on when needed. There are cheap ones out there, but I've found the slightly more dear ones to be much better value.

 

As far as striking, I use circle hooks and set my drag with enough tension to set the hook but not allow my rig to dragged into the sea, no need to strike and set the hook, the fish do it themselves. I also use homemade rod holders that go deep into the sand, a short length of PVC is not enough to stand up to the pull of a decent fish IMO.

[Underpants 1,543]

I have used light sticks before, but they're quite expensive. Now I use these little LED lights powered by button batteries. They come with plastic brackets that you can tape onto your rod, and then slide the light on when needed. There are cheap ones out there, but I've found the slightly more dear ones to be much better value.

 

 

Yep I know the ones you mean

 

As far as striking, I use circle hooks and set my drag with enough tension to set the hook but not allow my rig to dragged into the sea, no need to strike and set the hook, the fish do it themselves. I also use homemade rod holders that go deep into the sand, a short length of PVC is not enough to stand up to the pull of a decent fish IMO.

 

Please share your rod holders....... .

[plankton 725]

It's a star dropper that has some PVC pipe riveted the the top that extends about 25cm above the dropper. The whole thing is 160cm and I set them 40-50cm into the sand.

 

Ideally I would like to get something similar made up in aluminium to prevent corrosion and reduce the weight.

[lofty64 1,309]

Hi there , talking about the weight of your rod holder....maybe try a plastic star dropper... I have not tried them but might be the go...  . Look up fatcow.com.au....they sell them...ASCO...is the company I think ....they are half the weight...at around $10....wont rust..good luck

[Underpants 1,543]

Hi there , talking about the weight of your rod holder....maybe try a plastic star dropper... I have not tried them but might be the go...  . Look up fatcow.com.au....they sell them...ASCO...is the company I think ....they are half the weight...at around $10....wont rust..good luck

Nice. http://www.fatcow.com.au/c/ASCO/Recycled-Plastic-Star-Pickets-from-ASCO-p2501451

Now if i can find some today ready to leave friday morning......!

 

Plus the holes on the picket lower down would be great to attach a occy strap to hold the reel down.

[no_idea 48]

Hey mate. Try putting a little circle glow sticker on your spool, so when you get a run you will see the glow sticker go around and around.

[plankton 725]

Hi there , talking about the weight of your rod holder....maybe try a plastic star dropper... I have not tried them but might be the go...  . Look up fatcow.com.au....they sell them...ASCO...is the company I think ....they are half the weight...at around $10....wont rust..good luck

 

Thanks for that, they look pretty good.

 

Anyone seen these available locally? Would love to check them out.

[Guest]

Alvey reel when beach fishing... you know from 100ft away when it real starts singing.. you have a fish on... and makes enough noise to wake the dead! Love my Alvey for beach work!

[Luke5600 61]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hot-Sea-Fishing-LED-Rod-Tip-Night-Light-Strike-Alert-Glow-Stick-Bite-Alert-Alarm-/331657393343?hash=item4d385234bf:g:m9cAAOSwsB9V-N0A

This is what I use, these ones are from china but extremely cheap. You can get them local from memory but they are at a higher price, you can change the batteries yourself and from memory they're meant to last about 100 hours of being on before needing to be changed

Flashes green every 2-3 seconds when no bites, when you do get a bite it flashes red constantly. It works off what I'm assuming to be some kind of shock absorber, It detects vibration through the rod blank when a fish bites. I've found them to be pretty good when discerning between wave/wind action and a fish bite, The wind/wave action will tend to put a slow long draw on the rod as opposed to the quick sharp pull that a fish bite will do, This all depends on whether or not you are using enough weight to hold the bottom though, if the conditions are windy and the wind manages to dislodge the sinker from the seafloor it will be able to set the flash off although it doesn't last long and you'll be able to tell the difference soon enough

The light is fairly visible from a distance as well, I put one down at the rocks one day on my rod and climbed roughly 80-100m up the cliff face back to the car and I was still able to see the rod, While not exactly practical being that far away from the rod unless using circle hooks it is nice to know you are able to fish a decent spread of rods while still being able to see bites on them all.

If you go for the option of getting one from china it may take 2-3 weeks to arrive but definitely worth it, the ones that are sold in australia are just ones bought from the suppliers in china so its all the same product at $1.89 its definitely worth a try to see if its for you, won't help much as far as being able to doze off while fishing but pair this with an alvey as softy suggested and you should have all bases covered for detecting bites at night even if you do have a quick sleep

[Cal 480]

I know a guy who fishes salt creek on a regular basis and he buys these things from cheap as chips/reject shop for 2 dollars a pack of 5 and reckons there the bomb. One on the rod tip ,and one on the rod stand for when you walk away to bait up,land a fish ect.