The present invention provides a bite indicator (10) having a housing (20) , a wheel (12) mounted on the housing (20) to rotate freely about an axle (14) , a surface (22) on the housing (20) for supporting a fishing rod in a position in which a line of the fishing rod makes contact with the wheel (12) to cause the wheel (12) to rotate in response to movement of the line and a sensor (18) for producing an electrical signal with rotation of the wheel (12) . The wheel (12) is mounted in the housing (20) for rotation about an axis that extends horizontally and transverse to the line of the fishing rod when the bite indicator (10) 10 is in use. A magnet (16) 16 is mounted to rotate with the wheel (12) 12 and a tunnel magnetoresistance sensor (18) 18 is provided in the housing (20) to continually monitor and detect the movement of the wheel (12) (and hence the line) very accurately and with a high resolution.
