Back in the old days i had to purchase 4 different licences just to fullfil my club angling commitments,so ?20 pounds for 1 licence that covers everywhere actually saves me money.
?20 pounds is not an excessive price to pay (it works out at just over 5p a day)
in this day and age.
The pity is the reluctance of the courts to impose the penalties available to them.I'm sure a few well publicised fines of the maximum ?2500 would make a few evaders think twice.
Down here in the south,i've had mine checked 7 times in the last 2 seasons.
They seem to travel in pairs down this way,is it the same in other parts of
the country?
All of the checks bar one have taken place at commercial venues at weekends,
the exception being two that came strolling down a wind and rainswept
Royal Military Canal in January,and skylined everybody fishing an Angling
Times winter league match,how very considerate........NOT.
On a slightly different tack,my own club has a rule that a current rod license
has to be produced at the start of each season,No license = No membership,one
way around License Evasion.
Should it be a condition that fisheries issuing day tickets should only do so
on production of a current rod license?These fisheries are the very people that benefit from the work and facilities
offered by the Enviroment Agency,so would it not be right for them to support them in this way.
We have a few fisheries that can issue weekly licences on site which is handy for the casual angler,but it would be nice to see this more widely available .Also with the demise of the tackle dealer selling them, i think that the EA has shot itself in the foot,as they would always remind their customers of the need to renew.
Peter.