Ok serious question.

When you guys talk about bit detection on a rod more so about the tip being sensitive. Is that because you watch it and wait for a bite? Or attach bells and walk away?

I don't understand this obsession about bite detection through the rod. Does it impede on the sensitivity of feeling bites through the line (when actively fishing I've always got a finger on the lines, thought everyone had)?

It really stumps me. I know shy fish can be gentle/sly on the bite, but never encounted one I didn't feel through the rod.  Hell I can feel peckers on my SK4 & the heavy tip on my Poseidon 5. Only thing I've ever noticed dull the bite is heavier line classes more so with mono.

Because then you get braid, which is like porn for morse code buffs when your baits being pecked to all **** buggery by a small swam of peckers. I regularly have MASSIVE amounts of slack when bait fishing and have the rod pointed at the bait so that removes the rod most times from the detection equation and can feel even small bites/mouse nibbles as the mrs call them, fin. Works just as well when I have the rod raised with less slack (using circle hooks).

I'm really stumped on this...

Or is it that the target species is like some super duper shy biter that can surgically remove bait from hooks while disguising the bite as the gentle pull of seaweed.

Last thing I've ever cared about was the "bite detection" aspect of a rod, have I been doing it wrong? Keeping that in mind, I do fish lighter lines on lighter casting weight rods, but that's been about all the attention I've paid to it, never because of bite detection though. Or have I been tin arse about the whole thing and so always drop to light enough line for good bite detection on lighter weighted rods.

I still haven't encountered that fish that can remove baits (target/preferred species) with out me feeling it (keeping in mind I haven't fished further south that Port Waikato).

So yeah, thoughts on bite detection....

An example would be, the bite detection on am older 222 model ( great rod) has poor bite detection on species like gurnard which struggle to move the rod. On a windy day, shes near impossible to tell. In comparison, a Jarvious walker will go banana's over a gurnard bite, because the bite detection is so much better..........

This is what I picture when people talk bite detection in nz.

http://www.worldseafishing.com/shore/basic_bite_detection.html

Sitting there watching the rods.

Line detection of bites and rod detection are different.

often im just sitting back chilling on the rocks having a yarn with a mate and a drink as the rod does its thang.

nice to be able to see a bite come through if not holding on to it.

When shore fishing I just leave the rods in their holders, and do something else like check another rod, make replacement rigs, go for a walk or take a few photos. 

Every so often I glance at the rods to check, sometimes I notice they have gone slack which means something moved the sinker. Sometimes the rod would be bending, that means something is pulling on the line.  Sometimes, I would check the bait and discover I had hooked a fish (sometimes a large fish), when pressure is not applied they often just rest up on the bottom rather then run. I only use circle hooks while shore fishing, and its easier to apply pressure to early rather then to late. 

 If I am fishing with just a single rod from a boat, I would use the line to detect bites... but I normally just keep them in the holder and wait until I hear the drag losing line.