Freshwater fishing byelaws (Yorkshire)

[JW]

Okay, so I have been reading the byelaws for freshwater fishing in the Yorkshire region and I understand that just like everywhere up and down England, coarse fishing is prohibited on rivers from the 15th of march until the 15th of June. Now, regarding trout the law states the following:

"the close season for non-migatory trout in rivers, streams, drains, and canals, and for brown trout in all waters other than enclosed stillwaters is from the 1st of October to the 24th of march inclusive.
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.
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On waters for which the close season for freshwater fish applies, the only lures or bait which may be used during the close season are natural or artificial fly,
minnow, worm, shrimp, prawn, sandeel, and artificial lures "


Now I have a few questions regarding the byelaws, firstly:
If I was using one of the permitted baits on a river and happened to catch a coarse fish, e.g Perch on worm or Chub on a lure, am I breaking the law as my bait would of been intended for a Trout and not the former species?

Secondly, regarding the mention of worm as a approved bait, does this relate to any species of worm such as dendrobaenas or just the native species such as lobworm?

Lastly, although it is prohibited to fish with maggot on rivers during the close season can I still feed them (via hand or feeder) while fishing for trout with a permitted bait on the hook, e.g worm?

Thanks in advance.

 

[floatfish]

Maggot in the closed season as a rule is a total no no.Either on hooks or loose feed.
The Rivers with coarse fish in the majority are normally closed to all fishing during the closed period of the coarse fishing season.The Rivers with trout are normally the upper reaches, with trout as the main species. These tend to be specified in club books etc as open for trout only. You can use what you mention, but not maggot. Baits and allowed methods will be listed on tickets or in club membership books.
If by chance you catch a coarse fish, then release and return asap.
I think that just about covers it,but if anyone can add more, please do so.

 

[JW]

Maggot in the closed season as a rule is a total no no.Either on hooks or loose feed.
The Rivers with coarse fish in the majority are normally closed to all fishing during the closed period of the coarse fishing season.The Rivers with trout are normally the upper reaches, with trout as the main species. These tend to be specified in club books etc as open for trout only. You can use what you mention, but not maggot. Baits and allowed methods will be listed on tickets or in club membership books.
If by chance you catch a coarse fish, then release and return asap.
I think that just about covers it,but if anyone can add more, please do so.

Right, so I will completely avoid maggots as a whole and just stick with the permitted baits.
Regarding certain stretches being shut, as far as I'm aware the EA own all of the Dearne and I haven't seen a sign regarding no fishing. Now of course the upper reaches around Barnsley are the most prolific waters for trout but I have seen pictures of trout caught as far downstream as Bolton and Adwick just before it joins the River Don. Would it still be okay to fish these stretches?

 

[floatfish]

Sorry but I don't know the area, your best bet is to ask at the local Angling shop.
If the water is controlled by any club, if so is it members only or day ticket.?

Or if no club involved, you would need the agreement of the local farmer
landowner etc.
Maybe some other forum member who knows the River and area can fill in the
details.?

 

[sam vimes]

Loosefeeding, of any description, by hand or feeder, is a no go, no. There may be little, in law, to stop you fishing for "trout", with the permitted baits/lures, but if you are doing so in areas where trout are scarce, you are stretching the law a fair bit. I have no problem at all with trotting a worm for trout, but I'll only do so on the upper reaches of a river where non-salmonid species are thin on the ground. The odd coarse fish, as by catch, is not in itself an offence. However, if you are catching more coarse fish than trout, you need to ask yourself whether or not you are extracting the urine. The vast majority of clubs, on sections of river where coarse fish dominate, either ban all fishing in the closed season, or only permit fly fishing.

 

[JW]

Loosefeeding, of any description, by hand or feeder, is a no go, no. There may be little, in law, to stop you fishing for "trout", with the permitted baits/lures, but if you are doing so in areas where trout are scarce, you are stretching the law a fair bit. I have no problem at all with trotting a worm for trout, but I'll only do so on the upper reaches of a river where non-salmonid species are thin on the ground. The odd coarse fish, as by catch, is not in itself an offence. However, if you are catching more coarse fish than trout, you need to ask yourself whether or not you are extracting the urine. The vast majority of clubs, on sections of river where coarse fish dominate, either ban all fishing in the closed season, or only permit fly fishing.

Right, thanks Sam. I will stick to the upper reaches if I decide to get on the river. However, I may just stick to lakes/canals until June as I don't want to risk pushing the limits of the law/harming any coarse fish.

 

[Phil Heaton]

JW, nip up the A1 to Boston Spa on the Wharfe you can fish worm there for trout during the closed season.
The upper reaches of the Don can be productive as well, with free sections available
YouTube
I've had trout to 3.5lb out of the Dearne at Bolton on trotted worm.
I believe the general rule is that if you start to catch coarse fish, you should move on to another area and start again rather than taking advantage.

 

[JW]

JW, nip up the A1 to Boston Spa on the Wharfe you can fish worm there for trout during the closed season.
The upper reaches of the Don can be productive as well, with free sections available
YouTube
I've had trout to 3.5lb out of the Dearne at Bolton on trotted worm.
I believe the general rule is that if you start to catch coarse fish, you should move on to another area and start again rather than taking advantage.

I can't actually drive so unfortunately the Wharfs is out of bounds for now. However, the Don and the Dearne are both available.
I didn't know the trout went to that size around Bolton, that's definitely somewhere to consider.
Cheers Phil

 

[keora]

I know an angler who fished a match on a length of the middle Wharfe in winter, during the closed season for trout. He caught lots of trout. After wards he contacted the EA (it might have been called the NRA at that time) and asked what he should do if he caught trout again during a match. The response was that he should stop fishing. He was then successfully prosecuted for taking trout during the close season. He believed he didn't take trout as he returned them alive to the river. The magistrate disagreed - legally, taking trout means to catch them.

A few times I've fished for trout with lures in the Wharfe during the close season for coarse fish. I once phoned the EA and asked how they could distinguish between an angler who is genuinely fishing for trout and one who is exploiting the rules by using lures to catch coarse fish. He said the EA bailiffs would closely question the angler to see what his true motives were.

The best approach is to change swims if more than two or three trout are caught when fishing for coarse fish in a river during the close season for trout.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I know an angler who fished a match on a length of the middle Wharfe in winter, during the closed season for trout. He caught lots of trout. After wards he contacted the EA (it might have been called the NRA at that time) and asked what he should do if he caught trout again during a match. The response was that he should stop fishing. He was then successfully prosecuted for taking trout during the close season. He believed he didn't take trout as he returned them alive to the river. The magistrate disagreed - legally, taking trout means to catch them.

A few times I've fished for trout with lures in the Wharfe during the close season for coarse fish. I once phoned the EA and asked how they could distinguish between an angler who is genuinely fishing for trout and one who is exploiting the rules by using lures to catch coarse fish. He said the EA bailiffs would closely question the angler to see what his true motives were.

The best approach is to change swims if more than two or three trout are caught when fishing for coarse fish in a river during the close season for trout.

Two of my local Dorset clubs rather stupidly started listing trout as a viable out of season target quite recently until I pointed out the error of their ways and they have fortunately started to take a hard line on those who think it OK to photograph out of season trout, seatrout and salmon to put the pictures on social media; still get a few such pictures on FB and the angling press do no-one any favours by occasionally printing such pictures. One idiot seems to think it OK to publish his keepnet of out of season trout mixed in with coarse fish from the Bristol Avon on FB.

A few years back a well known angling artist, now dead, was targeting out of season chub on the Avon on the fly and published articles about his method though didn't mention it was out of season but the half-grown Norfolk reed was a bit of a giveaway!