Silly Rule?

[wellyphant]

I've just been going through some EA rules and realised I've been breaking one of them when I've been Pike fishing in the lake district. The rule I've been breaking is the middle part of the following regarding distance between the outermost rod butts.

The number of rods you can use at the same time depends on the water you’re fishing in and the fish you’re trying to catch.

You must make sure that the distance between the butts of the outermost rods isn’t more than 3 metres when fishing with multiple rods and lines.

It’s illegal to leave a rod and line in the water unattended or over which you don’t have sufficient control.

I know I'm not the only one who doesn't fish with their rods this close to each other.

Is it just me that thinks this a impractical rule for certain types of fishing?

What is the reason for this rule?

Does anyone know of anyone who has been prosecuted for breaking this rule?

[chesters1]

Theres lots of rules but they only apply if their enforced.

Common sense is the best if your rods are 10 mtrs apart then the chances rise you will harm the fish ,at 3 mtrs the chance is lessened ,at 3ft lessened more

Simply spread your tips out but keep the butts within 3mtrs you wont be missing much and you can be comfy sitting in the middle instead of bolting along the bank

Remember most rules (hopefully) are good for the fish not the angler

As a bailiff i have some imput to which rules are rigidly enforced and those that can be bent ,if your harming the fish then the book comes down hard on others i advise the anglers to be more careful or in some i look the other way as they dont apply in the situation i find them in and some rules dreampt up look good in the book but are unenforceable in the real world

And theres rules easily broken because people just dont know about them ,we all know you cannot fish rivers etc in the closed season but do people or clubs know you cannot fish ponds in sssi areas either?

Edited January 30, 2017 by chesters1

[barbelbarmy]

This is a rule I do tend to enforce as a bailiff. However, the areas I control are mainly narrow river swims where an unattended fish can soon find it self tethered by the line in the tree it managed to get to before the fisherman ran to get to his rod. You also get more instances of deep hooking and fish swimming around without the fisherman even knowing they have caught. Not to mention the odd rod that has disappeared into the depths.

 

Often you find people that think that because they have a bite alarm, they can wander off and leave it. The extreme was someone that had an alarm linked to their phone. He jumped up from his seat in the pub, exclaimed that he had a bite, downed his pint and ran out.

 

However, like Chesters, you do judge each situation individually.

[Martin56]

This is a rule I do tend to enforce as a bailiff. However, the areas I control are mainly narrow river swims where an unattended fish can soon find it self tethered by the line in the tree it managed to get to before the fisherman ran to get to his rod. You also get more instances of deep hooking and fish swimming around without the fisherman even knowing they have caught. Not to mention the odd rod that has disappeared into the depths.

 

Often you find people that think that because they have a bite alarm, they can wander off and leave it. The extreme was someone that had an alarm linked to their phone. He jumped up from his seat in the pub, exclaimed that he had a bite, downed his pint and ran out.

 

However, like Chesters, you do judge each situation individually.

That's not Fishing!! - That's Catching!!!!!

[wellyphant]

Here's a scenario,

I'm Pike fishing one of my usual swims in the lake district.

My baits are on the other side of a steep rocky drop off and I've set my 4 rods up with a maximum of 3m between the outermost rod butts, (instead of 3m between EACH butt which up until yesterday, I thought was the rule).

 

I get a run on the 2nd or 3rd rod and whilst playing the fish in, it becomes entangled with one of my other lines, out of netting reach. I have no option but to drag the fish to the net pulling my other rig with it.

Now, not only do I have the difficulty of unhooking the fish amongst a tangle of line, causing it more distress but whilst dragging it in, I have also snagged up my other rig. I try to retrieve it but the lead is stuck and my line snaps, leaving a baited trace in the water and therefore, potentially, a dead pike.

 

There is much less chance of any of this happening if my rods are spread out more and I can safely play a fish away from the other lines but potentially, I could face prosecution for being set up that way, depending on which bailiff comes by or what side of the bed he got out of.

Edited January 31, 2017 by wellyphant

[Tigger]

I wouldn't use three rods, two is ample imo.

[chesters1]

Here's a scenario,

I'm Pike fishing one of my usual swims in the lake district.

My baits are on the other side of a steep rocky drop off and I've set my 4 rods up with a maximum of 3m between the outermost rod butts, (instead of 3m between EACH butt which up until yesterday, I thought was the rule).

 

I get a run on the 2nd or 3rd rod and whilst playing the fish in, it becomes entangled with one of my other lines, out of netting reach. I have no option but to drag the fish to the net pulling my other rig with it.

Now, not only do I have the difficulty of unhooking the fish amongst a tangle of line, causing it more distress but whilst dragging it in, I have also snagged up my other rig. I try to retrieve it but the lead is stuck and my line snaps, leaving a baited trace in the water and therefore, potentially, a dead pike.

 

There is much less chance of any of this happening if my rods are spread out more and I can safely play a fish away from the other lines but potentially, I could face prosecution for being set up that way, depending on which bailiff comes by or what side of the bed he got out of.

The bailiffs rarely make the rules they enforce them hopefully with discretion ,your scenario could happen with two rods so each other rod makes the likelyhood worse so the user needs to bear in mind the possible consequences as i said hopefully all rules are brougt out to protect the fish perhaps the EA is at fault for allowing 4?

[barbelbarmy]

I am a club bailiff, as such I cannot prosecute you. If I do not, after taking the whole situation into account, like your setup I can tell you to change your method, ask you to leave or raise a disciplinary with the committee.

 

You also need to check your club rules, the EA may allow four rods but our club does not. There may be things I disagree with but, if you fish to the rules, I cannot say anything.

 

Personally I cannot understand putting lots of rods out and rarely do so even when beach casting. As Martin said, its catching not fishing and is certainly not angling. But then I don't understand setting up bite alarms and then sitting watching telly or reading a book.

 

I also think, in many occasions going to sleep in a bivvy is worse that what your doing.

 

However, if your butts are 3m apart and you have casted in opposite directions, as long as you are not in a swim that is too small for two rods being out, and you are near enough to play the fish without it having time to swim all over the place, then you shouldn't have a problem. In other works, take into account the swim before putting more than one rod out. I have come across people with a rod in one swim and a rod in another, with trees in between. This is definitely against the rule and not fair on other club members.

 

The round up is - depends on the situation.

[Emma two]

I've just been going through some EA rules and realised I've been breaking one of them when I've been Pike fishing in the lake district. The rule I've been breaking is the middle part of the following regarding distance between the outermost rod butts.

The number of rods you can use at the same time depends on the water you’re fishing in and the fish you’re trying to catch.

You must make sure that the distance between the butts of the outermost rods isn’t more than 3 metres when fishing with multiple rods and lines.

It’s illegal to leave a rod and line in the water unattended or over which you don’t have sufficient control.

I know I'm not the only one who doesn't fish with their rods this close to each other.

Is it just me that thinks this a impractical rule for certain types of fishing?

What is the reason for this rule?

Does anyone know of anyone who has been prosecuted for breaking this rule?

You may remember I live in the Lake District, and while the bulk of our fishing is done from a boat, we do take to the shore sometimes, especially in bad weather. I never fish 3 rods. I would say in answer to your question that it might depend on where you are fishing, we very rarely see a bailiff keeping away from most heavily fished areas.For years our bailiffs were far more focused upon salmon poaching than how far apart anglers rods are, we have only one left now, near to retirement and has a huge area to cover. What you may get is the wardens who are employed by the national park, they can only check you about the park or water rules, for example that you have a permit, you are not livebaiting, not using freshwater dead baits, not building a fire, not 'camping; (this can cause conflict over bivvies as some consider them as tents). They are not authorized to check your license, just as an EA bailiff is unauthorized to check your permit. If the distance between rod buts is an EA issue and should be no business of the warden, even if they think that it is.They could call for an EA bailiff or even the police, but the latter especially are not likely to be impressed at hiking around the lake looking to measure the distance between someone's rods.The relationship between the Bailiffs and the wardens is not always the best anyway,

 

I much prefer to use good screw in banksticks where possible, but there are a few places where it is impossible to drive them into the ground and I use a pod so of course the rods are close. I never fish 3 rods. I understand your explanation of sometimes having your rods spread apart to avoid tangles and to cover the water in front of you, it's what we do too.

 

I think that perhaps the use of the word 'bailiff' has a different meaning as it does to some of you from other parts of the country. A bailiff is an employee of the EA, not someone nominated or employed by a club or commercial water to enforce it's rules. The former can enforce EA rules, the latter enforces the rules of the club/fishery. A point to note is always ask for identification of anyone who turns up and claims to have the authority to question anything you are doing when fishing (or anything else I suppose). Some of these wardens think that they are bailiffs, they are not.

 

No, I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for having their rods too far apart around here.

[chesters1]

Perhaps your lucky enough to fish waters that are not run by clubs but they are rare in the south ,when i say bailiff i mean club bailiff and as you say club rules are used which maybe more restrictive than EA or regional byelaws .

A few cannot be enforced except by a head bailiff hook checks for instance .

We have the EA licence enforcement lot pottering about but the nearest we get to a 'warden' is employed by the village couuncil enforcing the byelaws he did challenge me once fishing in the public stretch and i told him to bugger off and check the rules as the bank was left in trust for the enjoyment of the village residents ,he leaves me alone now LOL

The EA were down pinching mr timms land again devastating the bank 'improving ' the flow but they havnt got the brains to realise why the river floods or more importantly what triggers it ,at the moment the river looks like a canal but soon the himalayan balsam will cover the banks again trapping the silt making the effort pointless.

They really dont have a clue about fish or waters

The angling trust seem to have got in the action somewhere as theres a bit of contention with the local fluff chucking club and the village council gave them the sole rights to fish the waters ,except ofcourse its up to the landowners who fishes i take great joy kicking them off the 400 yards of bank i have permission on and they do not!

A couple of angling trust posters appeared on the bridges telling people not to fish i removed them for their cheek.thats another lot of pricks who need to keep their noses out

 

Anyway back on topic ,the club only allows two rods max so the scenario above is far less than four and more importantly members cannot deliberately fish for pike without attending a basic handling course and on completion get a special stamp in their permit which shows they can fish for them ofcourse on waters we dont own the owners can put in rules above and beyond those on waters the club owns the frenshams are owned by the NT and one is run by the rspb but luckily that shower has kept its noses out regarding angling but the NT imposes a couple

Edited January 31, 2017 by chesters1