INTRODUCTION TO BILLYS BACKBITERS

Since going commercial in December 2007 Billy's Backbiters have quickly established themselves as the number one Bite Alarm for Pike Anglers throughout the UK and Europe. The combination of 23 years of engineering and 25 years of pike fishing have provided me with all the experience necessary to deliver what all Pike anglers want. A high quality and supremely reliable 'Backbiter' or 'Drop Back' style alarm that will provide season after season of continuous reliable service no matter what the worse of the winters weather has to throw at them. My promise is to give you an exceptional product with exceptional service.

Billy's Backbiters give you just that, Pukka Alarms For Pukka Pikers. Their neat, compact design using components of only the highest quality will guarantee that when that pike takes your bait the 95dB sounder will let you know about it.

(33lb 12oz - 'Lydia' The Queen of the Wye and a record for Billy's Backbiters)

So why Pikers need a Drop-Off type bite alarm

Most Pukka Pikers out there will use a Drop-Off style indicator of some sort. Even pikers using front alarms will incorporate a drop arm in their bite indication as the need to detect a slack line run is as important as using a wire trace when piking.

With Billy's Backbiters I have filled a void in the market for a quality alarm for Predator anglers. Many Pikers will have reverted to front alarms in this time and will have spent years putting up with the bleeping all day long when fishing in flow on a river, fishing in wind on a still water where the waves are rolling or when using big live baits. As a result you get complacent to the beeps and tend not to pay them any attention. When a Backbiter or Drop Off style alarm goes off it is for one reason only and that's because a predator has grabbed your bait. In my opinion and that of most serious Pikers the Backbiter or Drop Off style alarm is the only type of alarm that covers all round predator angling from fishing small lives on the local cut to banging out big dead baits on a Scottish Loch.

Billy’s Backbiters have raised the bar to new heights for Predator alarms and will give you a good visual and audible indication of 'clip out' and 'slack line' runs.

Models and Options
With 100'S sold since their launch in December 2007 Billy's Backbiters have set the standard in the predator angling world as the bite alarm of choice for the discerning piker. All products have the same functionality and principle of operation and it's just the look that differs between models.

The original and the Bite alarm that set the standard

The traditional model. As tough and reliable as they've ever been and built to the tried and tested design that goes back over 10 years of seasoned piking. Shown here in RED other colours available are YELLOW and GREEN.

By far and away the most popular model and for good reason. Yeah, it looks great but it's not a bite alarm aimed at the tackle tarts. The tough blue box has a practical application in that when you get a run the box lights as bright as you like. I cannot emphasise enough what a brilliant feature this is for when you're either giving it that hour into dark for the big girls or staring at rods through bleary eyes when you're going through the night for Zeds.

Billy's Bluenose Backbiter shining brightly in the dark during a Zander session on the Warwickshire Avon. No mistake as to which rod's got the run.....

Well established and now selling as many a the Bluenoses. The translucent red box and flashing 10mm LED make this alarm stand out like a like a beacon. They look great and perform even better.

New for the 2009/2010 season

Following a request for something a little more discrete I came up with the Black 'n' Blue. All the same functionality the other Backbiters just a little bit more understated. This was the top seller at the 2009 PAC convention.

So popular were they that I even managed to sell Eddie Turner a set. Thats right, Eddie Turner now uses Billy's Backbiters. If ever there was testement...!!!!

Billy and Barry - a perfect match

When fishing for shy biting fish such as Zander or Eels then resistance of a clip can lead to dropped runs. This led Barry McConell to develop his revolutionary Rollover indicator. After months of development to come up wil a perfect and simple solution Baz and I are now pleased to announce that by using a simple adapter the two products can now be combined.

Please visit Barry's website www.zandavan.co.uk for more information, articles and demonstration videos and to purchase the Rollover indicator.

How to Use Your Backbiter with A Rollover Indicator

STANDARD FEATURES

The following used to be sold as cost extras but as every order I was receiving included the extras I have decided to standardise all backbiters which enables me to reduce the overall cost and pass this on to my customers. This excludes the ATTX remote compatibility.

1: Volume Control
It took a while to find a suitable volume control as cheap potentiometers wouldn't last more than a few trips in bad weather. This encapsulated unit keeps your Backbiter nice and quiet so that the whole water doesn't know what your up to or what your catching whilst not compromising the quality of my Backbiters.

2: Weighted Drop Arm

The business end of the Backbiter and the Ultimate all round indicator. Slide the weight up the arm to keep pressure on the line and tight to the lead at range or when fishing in flow or slide all the way back for when fishing visible floats. I have now made this my standard arm as it gives you the best possible bite alarm.

The stainless steel ball line clip has adjustable tension and will register drop backs perfectly. The bobbin head will screw off so that an isotope or starlight can be added when night fishing. The Arm comes with a reflective orange sleeve that will go over the head for when fishing in daylight.

ADDITIONAL COST OPTIONS

ATTX REMOTE SYSTEM compatibility
£10 extra for each Backbiter

Now an established product the ATTX compatibility of Billy's Backbiters is a popular option that allow the angler to have a more discrete alarm that can't be heard by every other angler on the lake. Also Ideal for spaced rods or a rod stuck round a bush in the next swim (withing the EA 10m limit between rod buts of course face ;-))

I was a bit dubious about offering this as an option for pike welfare reasons but having talked with loads of pikers who want this option the reasons are obvious. Wind swept days on remote Fens with that third rod tucked around a bush. Busy pits where the slightest sound of a buzzer sees heads popping out of the undergrowth to see 'whose catching what'. There are numerous reasons to have a remote system and having field tested it for nearly 12 month now I'm confident that the system is robust and compatible with the quality of what I already offer.

Looking at all the remote systems out there I was drawn to the ATTX system for its compact size, robustness and I haven't been disappointed. Their remote transmitters plugs into a 3.5mm jack socket on the base of my adapted Backbiters (as shown below) and in doing so this will disable the speaker on the backbiter but not the light inside the box. The modified Backbiter is compatible with both the ATTX V1 & V2 systems.

(NOTE: ATTX remote system needs to be purchased separately. 3.5mm Jack Plug required. Adapters available if you already have the 2.5mm system)

BILLY's PARTNERS

A number of customers have made modifications to their Backbiters to add additional enhancements or modify to suit their set ups. The following add ons are now availible to Billys Backbiter customers.

MARK HOUGHTONS legendry Line Gate clips

Mark explains the advantges of the linegate system.....

"With the linegates, the line is free to run unhindered across the gate, effectively showing even the slightest slackening of the line, while still retaining a resistance - free release when line is taken on a full-blown run. Excessively heavy indicator heads are now unneccessary for all but extreme long range fishing. Similarly, twitch type takes are registered with equal efficiency.

Due to the way the linegates work, when the indicator is set correctly below horizontal the angle of the line prevents the gate opening, without having to increase resistance to a taking fish. Upon a take, the indicator will rise smoothly and virtually resistance-free and the gate will open freely. For Pike on pressured waters or in circumstances where they are feeding more relucantly than usual, the resistance - free operation of the linegate system has proved a boon. Likewise for other predatory species such as Zander and Eels, which often won`t tolerate any resistance upon the take the linegate system is far superior to standard line clips."

Linegate arms will soon be availible in either Marks standard 'egg head' design......

or in the nylon headed 'hi-viz' style I have specified.

The cost of Billys Backbiter arms with Linegate heads will be £10 each and availible soon.

John Paynes ROD Pod Extensions

I will not be selling these but John Payne, a customer of mine has started to manufacture them on request. He needed them for a water where a Pod was a necessary and very neat they are too. These are available direct from John Payne who can be contacted on the following email address jpayne595@btinternet.com .

(aluminium Pod adapters available from John Payne)

Weighted Drop Arm for Rear Rest
£12 each

Currently not available due to supplier issues.

Since I started offering these arms as an option for my Back Biters I've been inundated with enquiries for them to be sold separately. If you still can't be convinced that backbiters are the way forward then you still need reliable slack line detection. Until now there hasn't been a quality Drop Arm on the market but that's changed.

These fit the bill perfectly and are easily detached from a dovetailed bank stick adapter for storage. The stainless clip registers drop backs perfectly.

Each arm comes with a choice of reflective sleeve of fluorescent tape to cover the bobbin head or alternatively the head can be unscrewed in order to fit an Isotope of starlight. I also include a packet of star lights with each order.

Available in RED, BLUE or YELLOW.