Silent Bite Alarms: Fishing With Receiver-Only Indication

What is a silent bite alarm?

A normal bite alarm has a speaker on the head and, often, a receiver that copies it. A silent alarm leaves out the speaker. It still senses line movement and lights its LED, but the sound comes only from the receiver. Gardner describes its ATTs as a silent alarm with no speaker, sending all audible and vibrating indication to the ATTx V2 receiver.

Why fish silently?

• Bank noise. Many anglers believe alarms sounding at the water's edge can spook fish in the margins. There's little hard evidence either way, but quiet banks do no harm.
• Neighbours. On a busy lake at night, a screaming alarm wakes everyone. A receiver in your bivvy wakes only you.
• Stalking. Small, silent heads suit short sessions where you creep between swims.
• Reliability. With no speaker opening, buttons or sockets, the ATTs has fewer ways for water to get in; Gardner calls it 100% watertight.

Alarms built for silent fishing

Running any alarm silently

You don't need a dedicated silent alarm to fish quietly. Most wireless alarms have a silent volume setting or a mute mode:

• Steve Neville's volume switch has a silent position for receiver-only use.
• Nash's R4 offers three muting configurations, and its receiver can vibrate or show LEDs only.
• Delkim's Txi-D v2 has mute and a stealth mode that also turns off the LEDs on activation.
• Wolf's Icon alarms have local mute and a stealth mode.

Silent heads vs muted alarms

Bank etiquette

Even if you don't fish silently, keeping alarm volume low after dark is good manners on a busy water. Turn heads down once your receiver is set, avoid testing alarms at full volume late at night, and keep bright LEDs and night lights pointed away from neighbouring swims. Many anglers find a quiet bank more enjoyable whether or not it puts more fish on the mat.

Making older alarms silent

If your alarms have no transmitter but do have a jack-plug output, you may not need new heads. Gardner's ATTx V2 system can take the signal from many alarms with a jack output, including older Delkims, Nevilles and Fox alarms, through a small ATTx transmitter plugged into the alarm. Turn the heads down, and the receiver does the rest.

What to look for in a receiver for silent fishing

• Vibration strong enough to wake you through a sleeping bag.
• Clear LEDs matching each alarm's colour, so you know which rod to run to.
• Last event recall, in case you miss the first bleep.
• A low battery warning that gives you plenty of notice.
• A lanyard or clip so it stays with you when you leave the bivvy.

A silent night routine

1. Set the rods, then test every alarm through the receiver from inside the bivvy.
2. Turn the alarm heads to silent or mute; leave the LEDs on low if allowed.
3. Set the receiver to sound plus vibrate, at a volume that will wake you.
4. Clip the receiver to the bivvy roof or your clothing, off the ground.
5. Check the battery warnings one last time before you sleep.

The catch: you must trust your receiver

With silent heads, a flat receiver battery or a weak signal means missed takes. Before you rely on silent fishing:

1. Test the receiver from inside the zipped bivvy in every new swim.
2. Carry a spare receiver battery (an AA for the ATTx V2).
3. Keep the receiver off the ground and away from other electronics.
4. Use vibration mode as well as sound, especially if you sleep heavily.

Read our receivers guide for range and pairing, and check the venue rules: some fisheries require you to stay within sight or sound of your rods.