License Question

[JBee123]

Right my rod license entitles me to have 2 rods? Does this include a marker rod? as unless I discover some strange beast that has a taste for plastic and lead I dont think I will have any chance of catching anything.

 

Stupid question really but the way the EA are at the moment I really dont want them to catch me using a marker rod and do me for it.

[Dick Dastardly]

Always been under the impression the rod needs to have a hook on it and be in the water to count.

[bushwacker]

A couple of years ago I was checked by the N.R.A. baillif for my rod licence, and at the time I had a marker rod out. I was asked to retrieve it and he checked to see that there was not a hook or anything on it just a lead and the float, then said that it was o/k but I have no idea if the law has changed or if the NRA guy was just letting me off.

 

Not a great deal of help really, but I would THINK, that the rod has to capable of hooking a fish to constitute it being under the ruleing for rod licences.

[Quest]

good question.

[Severn Wolf]

I`ve had three rods out in the water plus a marker rod that I`ve been spodding to.......whoops

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

why not email the environment agency and ask. They are usually very helpful. If they tell you in writing that you don't need a licence then you're ok (print out the email and keep it safe), if they say you do then at least you know!

[ayjay]

There has only ever been one occasion when I've been asked to produce a licence. I was at the time plumbing all around a large gravel pit with a friend, we were using one rod with an ounce bomb and a large float attached, I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, had no other tackle or anything else with me, my friend was similarly dressed and had a notebook and pencil to write down our findings.

 

One very obnoxious EA bailiff insisted on seeing a rod licence because we were using a rod, despite pointing out the lack of a hook or any other tackle the officious little jobsworth would not take no for an answer or concede the point that we weren't fishing.

 

As far as he was concerned we were using a rod and he wanted to see a licence, fortunately my friend had his licence in his permit book but had actually forgotten that it was there.

 

I would suggest you email the EA and print off their answer and then carry that with your licence, always assuming you get the answer that you're hoping for.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ayjay,I would have told him to go swallow! If we are to acept his way of interpreting it then it would be illegal to plumb up the depth out of season!

 

No a "fishing rod" is only a "fishing rod" when it is rigged to catch fish surely?

 

Sadly a lot of EA employies arnt too gened up when it comes to things like this....like the berk who demanded to see my licence and told me I was fishing out of season whilst mulleting on the tidal Rother!

[Andi]

I have spoken to the EA on the phone regarding this question after finding out i was no longer elligible for the discounted licence (no blue disc).

 

The young lady i was speaking to told me in no uncertain term that should i be using either a spod or marker rod (once my 2 rods were out fishing) that i had to have a licence to cover them, her words were "the rod licence covers the rods in use not the end tackle"

 

Now this made me think about all those carp anglers out there fishing with four rods plus using spod and marker rods as they would, according to this young lady not only be unlicenced but would be over the national rod limit so could possibly be prosecuted on two counts.

 

I have also been told on another occasion by an EA bailiff that you need hooks on your line to catch fish and as such spod and marker setups dont count.

 

Needless to say i am still confused about this and tbh it seems to me that it a) depends on the day and depends on the EA bailiff in question

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

The environment agency website states:

 

"The maximum number of rods that you can fish with"

 

Now sticking my legal brain in gear and IF that is what the law actually states, I would say that the only possible interpretation of the very plain language used is that you may use 2 rods for FISHING.

 

The only thing that then needs to be decided is what is fishing? The Pocket Oxford English Dictionary defines fishing as "The sport of trying to catch fish" and "fishing-line" and "fishing-rod" as "line and rod with fish-hook, used in this."

 

So if my interpretation is correct then you can use as many rods as you like without hooks and without trying to catch fish with them.

 

I have emailed a question to someone in the EA who should be able to give a definitive answer to the question.