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Fishing the canals from boat side


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Hi,

I have been living in Asia, Hong Kong for the 25 years and have sometimes dropped a line in the water and on occasions brought a fish or two home for dinner, this was however salt water fishing from a pier or rocks. The threads posted here refer to licenses, owned fishing rights and rod licenses etc.

I am not a keen fisherman but intend to return to UK in the coming years and try my hand at permanent cruising. Is it feasible for a boat owner to do a spot of fishing from the side of ones boat for pan sized fish without upsetting local traditions or fall foul any laws, reasonable licensing fees etc. of course being obtained but not looking to spend too much time or money on this pastime just considering to fill in a bit of time while moored up.  

Mick

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I think that in some circumstances it's illegal to take your catch home for food (sounds daft, but no doubt there are good reasons). I'm sure that there are people on here who can give you a more informed answer.

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1 minute ago, Athy said:

I think that in some circumstances it's illegal to take your catch home for food (sounds daft, but no doubt there are good reasons). I'm sure that there are people on here who can give you a more informed answer.

This is really what I am trying to establish, sports fishing alone would not hold any great appeal for me but it would be a worthwhile pastime to do a spot of fishing if the proceeds were put to good use. Nothing like bringing home and eating your own catch and I would imagine with the water under your nose and a floating kitchen next to your hook that this would be a nice addition to boating.   

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The first thing you will need if you have a fishing rod is and EA rod licence https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences

For canals I don't believe you are allowed to keep anything that you catch, it has in general to be put back.  Possibly on some rivers you are allowed to keep what you catch.

Most canals and rivers would have the fishing rights own by someone, eg a club, so you would need to be a member of that club or have a day licence from them.  Some sections don't have anyone leasing the fishing rights, so on those there is a CRT licence you can buy that allows you to fish there https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/fishing/waterway-wanderers-scheme

Edited by john6767
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You'll need a licence to fish if you want to be legal, https://www.gov.uk/freshwater-rod-fishing-rules for more info, unless you have a child under 12 and can pass the rod to them every time someone comes past just in case its a bailiff.

On the plus side, you can do pretty well using bread as bait, I guess so much has been thrown in for the ducks/swans etc. that the fish are used to it.
On the minus side, you're going to attract every waterfowl within half a mile as soon as you chuck some bait in :D

Personally i'd not eat any fish out of the cut, our Eastern European friends think differently.

Here's one we had out of the basin at Llangollen just sat on the front with a pole and some bread

File 12-09-2017, 09 19 30.jpeg

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15 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Here's one we had out of the basin at Llangollen just sat on the front with a pole and some bread

File 12-09-2017, 09 19 30.jpeg

That looks promising,

 

18 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

On the minus side, you're going to attract every waterfowl within half a mile as soon as you chuck some bait in :D

I won’t even ask about restrictions on the waterfowl but a bit of roast on a Sunday duck would be a treat :D

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The short answer is: No, you can't.

Even if you hold a national rod licence, which is compulsory, the fishing rights on canals are owned by various clubs who may or may not allow non-members to fish by also purchasing a day ticket. They own the fish in their canal, many of which they will have bought for stocking their water. There are various rules and opinions on whether Pike and Zander may be taken, but nothing else is fair game.

Edited by Sea Dog
Autocorrect re-correction!
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All as above, you need  a licence and permission from the club or who ever to fish it. some are day ticket some are annual member ship.

 

Some clubs may let you take Pike, but then you would not want to eat any fish from the canal unless lke the taste of sewage lol.  

I need to be careful how i put this now as folk get touchy about it, but the poachers from the far Eastern countries must have no taste buds. Still that dont stop the ignorant swines. 

 

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I would not eat anything swimming in water I would not drink. 

You could do worse than trap the American crayfish, its illegal to return them,  as they are killing the native crayfish with a disease they are carrying, again I would not eat them, but anyway you need to kill them humanely, in my view, that does not include roasting on a BBQ. 

PS don't feed birds bread, it gives them an upset, and you can just imagine where that ends up ..... yep .................

Edited by LadyG
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14 minutes ago, rasputin said:

Would you drink sea water?

Only if it was desalinated, liveaboards often have the means. Offshore I have cooked spuds in 50 50  fresh and salt, very tasty.

I' d never drink Eau de Clyde, the sewerage system is overwhelmed sometimes, and you know what happens then, plus the Clyde estuary was used to dump the output from Glasgow right up to the 1990  and 2000's, heavy metals, and all the rest of the s~:::t.

 

Edited by LadyG
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15 hours ago, Mick in Bangkok said:

That looks promising,

 

I won’t even ask about restrictions on the waterfowl but a bit of roast on a Sunday duck would be a treat :D

Perhaps you fancy something like this for Sunday lunch?

fish1.jpg.45362e76ba42bd8120a3af04759f1165.jpg

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Poor thing, does not look like he enjoys the "sport" 

I have occasionaly fished for the pot, fly fishing, the fish has far greater chance of survival than I have of being successful with a shaggy black

http://www.troutflies.co.uk/our-full-collection/cats-whisker-shaggy-black 

anyway, my cat has white whiskers.

Athur has had an eye op, but can see fine, he once caught a mouse!

594555f4c4cc7_2002-01-0100_00_00-84.jpg.a7daa3beff4390cca4a6118d1769592f.jpg

Edited by LadyG
catseyes
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11 hours ago, Jerra said:

I am no fisherman but as an introduced species it is probably illegal to put them back.

Once perhaps, but it seems they're more widely accepted now. I was chatting to a Zander specialist on, iirc, the T&M north of Burton a year or two ago. He was wandering in the same direction as we were cruising and took 3 good Zander whilst we were around. They all went back to my surprise, but he explained their elevated status mostly brought about by a better understanding of how they affected the ecosystem which was far from creating the havoc they were previously suspected of. Of course, that was just one side of the argument and I don't know how widely accepted that view is.

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10 hours ago, LadyG said:

You could do worse than trap the American crayfish, its illegal to return them,  as they are killing the native crayfish with a disease they are carrying, 

There are strict rules and regulations about catching American Crayfish.  You require IIRC an EA licence, permission from the owner of the fishing and nets/traps which conform to certain sizes and patterns (so they don't harm other wildlife).  Then you are required to send in details of your catch so that the populations can be monitored.

It also assumes you can tell UK Crayfish from American Crayfish.

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4 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Once perhaps, but it seems they're more widely accepted now. I was chatting to a Zander specialist on, iirc, the T&M north of Burton a year or two ago. He was wandering in the same direction as we were cruising and took 3 good Zander whilst we were around. They all went back to my surprise, but he explained their elevated status mostly brought about by a better understanding of how they affected the ecosystem which was far from creating the havoc they were previously suspected of. Of course, that was just one side of the argument and I don't know how widely accepted that view is.

I suspect it may go on but Zander are still listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and so it is illegal to return them to the wild.

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39 minutes ago, Jerra said:

There are strict rules and regulations about catching American Crayfish.  You require IIRC an EA licence, permission from the owner of the fishing and nets/traps which conform to certain sizes and patterns (so they don't harm other wildlife).  Then you are required to send in details of your catch so that the populations can be monitored.

It also assumes you can tell UK Crayfish from American Crayfish.

Yup, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout

I looked into it once, thought a couple of pots might be handy to carry around after seeing quite a few Signal Crayfish on the L&L, set overnight and next morning see what was in.

But seeing as you have to specify exactly which bit of canal/river etc. and then seek permissions its just not possible legally if you're moving about.
Yes, I know you could just do it on the sly and probably never be rumbled, but I just don't have that kind of luck :D

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1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

Yup, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout

I looked into it once, thought a couple of pots might be handy to carry around after seeing quite a few Signal Crayfish on the L&L, set overnight and next morning see what was in.

But seeing as you have to specify exactly which bit of canal/river etc. and then seek permissions its just not possible legally if you're moving about.
Yes, I know you could just do it on the sly and probably never be rumbled, but I just don't have that kind of luck :D

I suspect the specifying the exact stretch of river is to do with using the catch reports for monitoring.

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Last week I fished the rod over side of the boat using bread and got a 2lb brown trout. It went back.

My advice is get a rod licence but don't take anything for the pot as:

 

a) it's not allowed (other than very limited circumstances) and will wind up other fisher people

b ) tastes crap

 

 

 

Edited by mark99
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18 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Last week I fished the rod over side of the boat using bread and got a 2lb brown trout. It went back.

My advice is get a rod licence but don't take anything for the pot as:

 

a) it's not allowed (other than very limited circumstances) and will wind up other fisher people

b ) tastes crap

 

 

 

c) its proably stuffed  full of heavy metals and pcb s , possibly DDT.

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