No Book, No Ticket....

[Evan NotMightyAtAll]

If you get caught fishing without a rod licence then its a magistrates court summary offence and a financial penalty that smarts.

What if fishing without a club book or day/week/ month/ guest ticket were similarly to be made a mags court summary offence ? With an appropriately painful fine to discourage repetition and others.

If not why not ?

I don't agree with new laws for the sake of it but it did strike me that this could be the answer to quite a number of problems.

For those of our Eastern European friends canny enough to buy a rod licence but then go poaching it's a further required step towards enforcement and poaching prevention.

For landowners / clubs / bailiffs it is a hell of a lot better than the present unsatisfactory state of the purely civil law of trespass.

Trespass gives no power to do anything but require the perpetrator to leave the land, using reasonable force if he won't leave. However the Tony Martin case and others demonstrates just how risky actually exercising that theoretical entitlement to self help can be. The right to damages for trespass in the case of somone fishing is generally trivial and not worth sueing for, especially as you won't get your costs paid even if you win.

And it must be a right pain having to call out a Police Constable to attend, let alone distracting them from more useful tasks.

So why shouldn't fishing without a ticket be made a summary offence too ?

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

Evan I can,t comment on your post, As am in Scotland and we have different rules up here. Also we do not have such a thing as a rod licence.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

"Also we do not have such a thing as a rod licence."

Aye, ya see Evan, yon Jocks widny buy 'em. I was told that by my son's new grandfather-in-law, a fine Scot who wouldn't part with his breath if he could help it.

/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

How about the Theft Act? Although nothing is being removed as in goods or chattels, they are enjoying the benefits of the licence that the club has paid for only for nowt in their case. Surely it's the same a riding a bus or train and not paying the fare? How are those cases dealt with?

 

[Trisantona]

Better ask Cherry Blair./forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Should it be a criminal matter? No.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Short answer is yes. The problem might be that the magistrates would be reluctant to do anything significant.

As Evan says there is confusion especially when angling journals say no offence is being committed when it is albeit only a fixed penalty one.

Interestingly, the EA will hammer you for anything against migratory fish yet extremely reluctant when it comes to coarse fish.

As for trespass, at least one individual in my locality, a persistent poacher and rule breaker, is not only barred for life but also has been served with an injunction preventing him being on any club water.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

The EA gives no deterant with regards to the rod licence evadeers. Maximum fine £2000 yet every time you here of a court case the only get around £100 fine. So what would they give somebody fishing a private water.

AS mark says you ring them regarding coarse fish they are to busy. I always say that i have seen people poaching salmon they tend to come stright away.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I am not sure about this, from the clubs point of view having paid their rental for fishing rightsfunded bytheir membership then it would seem to only right that they have some sort of legal control over who fishes their waters.

On the other hand there a some countries such as Ireland where none of thisfishing licence, club only, day ticket only, exclusive membership only nonsense exists, where fishing is free for anyone who wishes to indulge and they manage just fine. I have often criticised those on here that advocate more expensive fishing, why for gods sake, does that make the fishing any better?

Bear in mind that its those clubs that vie for waters by outbidding one another that make the landowners rub their hands with glee because they get more and more money for something that is perfectly natural. I would rather the fishing was cheaper not more expensive andALL clubs should be made to open their water to a 'controlled' day ticket system for anyone to enjoy then you wouldn't need a law at all.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Graham,

I think Ireland is for the most part very different to the UK with much less pressure and much smaller population. I've paid for day tickets in Ireland though so it's not all free.

There is plenty of fishing that is good because it's exclusive in this country. Over fishing and the problems of litter etc. make control vital in many cases. What is happening on the remoter parts of the rivers that I fish is that if the club gives it up then it is simply unfished and unavailable - perhaps permission might be given if asked - I don't know but it is almost going back to what some old timers have told me existed in the early post-war years where it was free if you were local and behaved yourselves. That changed when coach parties started to arrive without permission on private water. That situation has again passed.

Expensive can arguably help water management which might sound wrong but there is evidence that it works whether you agree or not.

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Mark.

When you say expencive. Do you mean the cost of joining a club?

If so I would disagree on that point. surely any club depends on how good the management of the waters are? You could have the most expencive club in the country. But it matters not a jot unless they are managed properly.

 

[eel611]

chattels!! fantastic!!I'm gonna use it all the time!..wots a chattel?

 

[Wolfman Woody]

"The legal definition of chattels is: property of any kind other than freehold land. In practice it will mean your moveable items such as furniture or personal possessions."

It's a good 'un, isn't it? /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif