Should we be paying 4 the privilege?

[Bob Bradford]

An excellent post Mark, the EA do next to nothing regarding access for anglers in our area, and you are quite correct regarding an element of boaters on holiday, 2 years ago a hire cruiser came past me on the Yare ,at the back of it two blokes were trolling, this is not allowed on the Broads, anyway I shouted to them to inform them of this fact, they just laughed as they carried on past and shouted they did not have a licence either! talk about sticking two fingers up to the Broads authority, a lot of the visiting " boating anglers" fish with toy rods they purchased locally on a whim, with not the first clue how to deal with an unfortunate fish should they hook one, no landing net and no disgorger.....and very little policing by the EA.

 

Value for money? it depends on your perspective I guess.

[corydoras]

Hey, there's an idea. If we increased it to, say, 100 pounds per annum, it might start to make sense...

Make it £100 a year and give me the right to fish ANYWHERE with it and I might just change my mind about the license.

Edited July 26, 2006 by corydoras

[Steve Burke]

A rod license doesn't of course give the right to fish a given water. It just gives the right to use up to 2 rods. The money raised by the EA goes into a common pot.

 

Owners of the fishing rights (be they a club, an individual, a pension fund or whatever) may then charge for the use of their fishery. Part or all of the money raised is used to run and improve the fishery. It also provides a return on the capital and time the owner has invested and reflects the risk he's taken.

 

One of the results is that we get a lot more choice as different owners run their fisheries in different ways. It also gives anglers more control, albeit indirectly. If we don't like the way the fishery is run we take our custom elsewhere.

 

BTW, with the odd exception, all non-tidal waters are private. This means that if you fish such waters you are "stealing" the owner's fishing rights. This is a criminal offence under the Theft Act. Note that this applies to boat fishing such waters as well.

 

Boat fishing on most tidal waters though isn't a criminal offence. However, you can be sued for trespass if you use the adjoining land in any way.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Steve Burke

[Mark Crame]

Boat fishing on most tidal waters though isn't a criminal offence. However, you can be sued for trespass if you use the adjoining land in any way.

 

A good, informative and thoughtful response Steve. As I fish the Waveney, which is tidal, and don't do lakes (I don't like to catch 'pet' fish, I prefer wild ones) my kayak will not get me in trouble.

 

Regarding the use of adjoining land, i have heard (but not had verified) that you can fish any bank as long as you stay within 1.5 metres of the waters edge as this belongs to the river authority and not the landholder - though I 'assume' that fishing rights, as in club waters, would provide the exeption to this.

 

Can anyone confirm? I forget where I got this nugget from as it was many years ago.

[Steve Burke]

A good, informative and thoughtful response Steve. As I fish the Waveney, which is tidal, and don't do lakes (I don't like to catch 'pet' fish, I prefer wild ones) my kayak will not get me in trouble.

 

Regarding the use of adjoining land, i have heard (but not had verified) that you can fish any bank as long as you stay within 1.5 metres of the waters edge as this belongs to the river authority and not the landholder - though I 'assume' that fishing rights, as in club waters, would provide the exeption to this.

 

Can anyone confirm? I forget where I got this nugget from as it was many years ago.

 

There may possibly be an odd local exception, but in general this wouldn't be the case. Such an exception is most likely to be because a landowner rather than the King already owned the fishing rights prior to the Magna Carta in 1215. The fishing rights will have been passed down and may now be controlled by a club. This though is extremely unusual.

 

Since the Magna Carta the vast majority of tidal waters are free fishing for members of the public, although the public may not have access to the banks in which case they can only boat fish such waters.

 

If indeed the 1.5 metre rule you mentioned is legal it might be where a club etc owns or has legal access to a strip of tidal bankside this wide.

 

BTW, before anyone asks, the public can't legally fish from a path just because it's a public footpath.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Steve Burke

[kleinboet]

Steve, I read your first post with interest and want to ask a question.

I live in Cheltenham, which is just past the "designated" tidal section of the River Severn. We are offered free fishing under the Motorway bridges. In Tewksbury we are offered fee fishing in the River Avon just outside the town.

 

Does this mean that the authorities "own" these sections of the rivers, and are offered to the fishing fraternity by them?

[MordenMike]

Been an excellent topic this , but at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious the alternative

to having a licence is to NOT have a licence, In which case on those (few) public waters , some of

which I fish, who would control them in regards to water quality,fish stocks etc. Also would that

mean an end to minimum rods per angler ? I can see those speci boys turning up with 8 rods !

 

just for the record i've had my licence checked twice within 10 days , an all time record for me !

[robisme]

Hi, I often think it's only a matter of time before the government syphon off some of the licence fee's for their own use on things nothing to do with the environment / angling .

 

cya

Rob

Edited July 27, 2006 by robisme

[Anderoo]

Also would that mean an end to minimum rods per angler? I can see those speci boys turning up with 8 rods!

 

A very good point, and one I hadn't considered before. Club waters and syndicates would no doubt cap the number of rods you can use, but free water (yes, there is some still out there!) would be pretty lawless.

[Steve Burke]

Steve, I read your first post with interest and want to ask a question.

I live in Cheltenham, which is just past the "designated" tidal section of the River Severn. We are offered free fishing under the Motorway bridges. In Tewksbury we are offered fee fishing in the River Avon just outside the town.

 

Does this mean that the authorities "own" these sections of the rivers, and are offered to the fishing fraternity by them?

 

It could well be, although locals would know better. Certainly the EA, amongst other organisations, does control stretches of river.