Bite alarms, indicators and pods: setting up bite indication

Carp fishing is mostly waiting, and bite indication is what lets you wait without staring at the rod tips. Three parts do the job: an alarm that sounds when line moves, an indicator that shows which way it moved, and something to hold the rods steady so the first two can work.

The alarm

An alarm sits under the rod in front of the reel, and the line runs over a wheel in the top of it. When a fish pulls line the wheel turns and the alarm sounds. The features that matter are volume and tone, so you can tell your two rods apart in the dark, and sensitivity, so a drifting weed bed does not sound like a run. NGT's XPR alarm has all three and a socket for an illuminated indicator; the VX1 is the plain version with a latching LED that stays lit for twenty seconds so you can see which rod went.

The indicator

An indicator hangs on the line between the reel and the alarm. A run lifts it; a fish swimming towards you drops it, which the alarm alone will not tell you. Chain indicators such as the three-piece ProLine set come in three colours for three rods, and the complete indicator set adds the hangers and fittings.

When you need a receiver

A receiver is a pager that repeats the alarms wirelessly, so you can sit under a brolly twenty yards back, or in the car, and still hear a run. For an overnight session it is the difference between sleeping and not. The three-piece VS wireless set is three alarms and a receiver in a case, and the GTS Pro set is the step up.

Bank sticks or a pod

Bank sticks push into the ground and hold a buzz bar across the front and a rest across the back. They are cheap, light and adjustable, and they are useless on gravel, decking or a hard-packed swim. A pod stands on the ground and needs nothing pushing into it. NGT's Quickfish pod is the sturdy starter, the Dual Line pod sets its legs in three positions for a slope, and the stainless pod set turns the bank sticks you already own into a pod for the day the ground will not take them. On soft ground a pair of stainless bank sticks and a three-rod buzz bar is all you need.

Batteries

A flat alarm is a silent run. Every NGT alarm takes the LRV08 cell, and a card of five in the tackle box is the cheapest insurance in the range.

• Bite indication for alarms, receivers, indicators, pods, bank sticks and buzz bars.
• Sets and combos where the alarms come with the rods and reels.

All of it from a real shop in Lowestoft, with £6 UK delivery, free over £300, and 10% off any basket over £100 taken off automatically.