False bites/twitches on the quivver caused by Bats!

I have now managed to explain to myself why I had been getting a collection of small (what seemed like) knocks on the quiver every time I fished a certain swim before the Barbel and Chub came on the feed.......it was Bats.

I watched them feeding (just before dusk they would start patroling the area) and making a few plucks at the line which must of confused them into thinking there was an insect where the line was, strange eh?
It doesn't bother me so much to be honest but I have now wondered if the Bats can actually weaken your line where they make a grab for it, normally just above the water line where the natural food source is already flying around, that is assuming they literally bite the line making the tip register a false bite.

Anyone else experience this?

What do you make of it?

I've had bat twitches when quivertipping and when carping. Rather than attacking the line, I believe they are simply flying into it. I've certainly never noticed any damage.

I know a young guest on my syndicate that was convinced he was in for an action packed night due to the sheer number of twitches he got around dusk. A couple of us guessed what might be going on but thoroughly enjoyed watching him bounce up and down with every twitch he got. We eventually relented and advised him to put his tip rings just under the water. The twitches all but stopped, though you still get the odd one as they skim under the rods.

Quivertipping with the rods pointing skywards on a tree lined river is almost guaranteed to produce some bat knocks.

sam vimes said:

I know a young guest on my syndicate that was convinced he was in for an action packed night due to the sheer number of twitches he got around dusk.

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Does get the adrenalin going, when you don't know what's causing these false bites, I'm laughing right now because those Bats had me jumping up and sitting down scratching my head or biting my nails many times, after putting the night light on the tip I would get a headache from straining my eyes after 30 minutes mg:

They say bats dont fly into things. Oh yes they do. When I was a youngster and getting up early to cycle to the lakes, there were occasions when they brushed the top of my head. Gave me the willies

john step said:

They say bats dont fly into things. Oh yes they do. When I was a youngster and getting up early to cycle to the lakes, there were occasions when they brushed the top of my head. Gave me the willies

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that would me, too.

Whilst dry fly fishing in the partial moonlight, one evening, I was getting little plucks which I couldn't hit - very frustrating! Then when the light started to fade a bit more and street-lights came on - I was able to see the fly by reflection of a nearby streetlight in the water. I saw the twitches as they happened - they weren't from rises but dips - from small bats!
I gave up dry fly fishing that evening - in case I accidently hooked one!

I've also had a bat 'part my hair' one evening whilst sauntering back from a restaurant in Northern Queensland - did the whole WTF? thing - then saw the bat flying into the trees - it was enormous - a fruitbat with a 3ft wingspan!

We used to suffer loads of false bites from bats hitting the line whilst Barbel fishing on the River Swale. It became very tedious at times, especially when fishing rod tip up. I overcame the issue to a degree by touch ledgering, and keeping the rod tip low.

One other thing I was told by those in the know was that bats use their sonar to bounce echoes off intended food items and other solid objects. But since nylon absorbs the bats sonar they are effectively ''blind as a bat''.

Interestingly the naturalists who carry out surveys on bat populations use ''mist nets'' to capture the bats for research.