Abstract: A fishing rod holder includes an elongate support that is driven into the sand or earth near a body of water. A short tube receives the butt of a fishing rod so the rod end extends upwardly generally parallel to the elongate support. An alarm is fixed to the upper end of the elongate support and provides a tether releasably connected to the rod with a spring biased clip. When the rod is straight, and no fish is on the line, the tether describes a catenary and is essentially untensioned. When a fish is on the line, the rod bends, straightening out the tether and pulling the clip from the rod. When the rod moves out of the clip, the spring biased ends of the clip close thereby completing an electric circuit energizing the alarm.