Cracking article, Stewart!
All the rules on my own fishery come from the following two principles:
1. Every member must do his or her utmost to avoid damage to fish, wildlife or the site.
2. Members must not interfere with the enjoyment of others.
Anyone breaking these principles is deemed to have broken the fishery rules. This works very well in stopping "stroke pulling"!
In an ideal world these two principles would be sufficient. In practice specific rules are needed. However, I hate restrictions and try to have as few rules as possible.
I believe they should be for a specific reason, not because I don't do that sort of fishing myself, or because members are jealous of the success of others.
However, I've learnt from experience that fishery rules have to be laid out in black and white and be unambiguous.
They must be seen to be fair and reasonable, and also I think apply equally to all members - including bailiffs, and not forgetting the owner!
Finally, they have to be both enforceable and enforced. If not, why have them?
Do you find that the rules on your local waters are enforced fairly, or even at all? What happens to rulebreakers such as litter bugs or those who wander away from their rods?