NFA MODEL MATCH RULES 3007

Some new ones, from 16 onwards!!


NATIONAL FEDERATION OF ANGLERS
MODEL MATCH RULES
Effective from January 1st 2007
THESE RULES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR UNIVERSEAL USE BY MEMBER CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FEDERATION. THEY ARE THE COPYRIGHT OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF ANGLERS. THEY MAY NOT BE USED, COPIED OR PUBLISHED OTHER THAN BY AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS WITHOUT THE PRIOR CONSENT OF THE FEDERATION.
1. The starting and finishing times for the match must be prominently displayed at match headquarters and on all literature relating to the match.
2. The recommended duration for a contest shall be five hours.
3. The match must be a pegged down competition. Pegs, preferably twenty yards apart and not less than fifteen yards, must be staked out and numbered prior to fishing. All pegs used under normal conditions must be of a state to give competitors a practicable and reasonable chance to fish his or her swim.
4. All officials participating in the organisation of the match must wear some kind of insignia, ie an armband, as clear evidence of their authority.
5. Each competitor on drawing his/her number shall proceed to the corresponding number on the bank and this will be considered his/her fishing ground where he/she will fish. The peg must remain in position until the weigh-in is completed.
6. Every competitor must fish from within one metre either side of his/her designated peg. On flowing water, the competitor may fish in the direction of the flow as far as the next peg. On still water, he/she may fish as far as half the distance between his/her peg and the pegs on either side. Where competitors are drawn on opposite banks, the limit of the swim is the line midway between each bank.
The competitor will restrict their activities completely to these boundaries, neither his/her person, his/her tackle, his/her hookbaits or groundbaits may intrude into his/her neighbours swim.
In an extreme situation eg snagged tackle of a snagged fish, an angler must seek permission from his/her neighbour/s before moving from his/her designated peg to try and remedy the situation.
A competitor must not cause annoyance to, or seek to interfere with another competitor or use mobile phones during the course of the competition, and must act in a sporting manner at all times.
7. No competitor may move his/her peg or exchange his/her peg or draw card with another without the organiser?s official consent.
8. No competitor shall buy more than one entry ticket for himself/herself from which it follows that all competitors must be strictly restricted to one draw.
9. Competitors must retain all fish in keepnets which comply with the relevant EA Byelaws. Competitors must take every practicable step to keep their fish alive and, after weighing them, must ensure their careful return to the water. If, for any reason fish are seen to be in distress, a competitor or match official has the right to demand that they be weighed immediately and returned to the water during the course of the match.
10. A competitor shall have in use one rod or pole, one line and one single hook at one time, but may have other rods or poles and tackle assembled for use in position behind him/her, if possible, providing that no such other tackles are baited.
11. Any bait, subject to local rules, can be used except live or dead fish, frogs spinning baits or artificial lures.
12. No competitor shall have live or dead fish in his/her possession before a match. All competitors must submit to a search if requested by a contest official.

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13. Before the starting signal no competitor must on any account groundbait or loose feed the swim but will be allowed to wet a line, plumb the depth and test the float, mix and wt groundbait, clear his/her ground of weed or obstructions and position his/her equipment. On no account must a feeder be used before the starting signal. A ledger weight may be cast to find depth and distance etc, but a no time must the line be left in the water whilst continuing to set up other tackle.
14. Competitors may receive assistance to or from their peg, or both, for themselves or their tackle, or both.
15. All groundbait may be thrown in by hand, or by use of one or two handed catapults, throwing sticks, swim feeders, bait droppers and bait cups, but no other mechanical means of projecting groundbait is allowed. No bait shall be introduced with a pole cup or bait dropper attached to an extra rod/pole whilst continuing to fish.
16. All hooks on all waters should be Barbless (Maximum size 10)
17. Braid Hooklengths are not allowed
18. Maximum permitted length of poles is 16 metres
19. Floating poles are not permitted
20. Floating baits either hookbait or feedbait are not permitted
21. A competitor must strike, play and land his own fish.
22. Hand lineing fish is not permitted ,this includes handling elastics and line , also not allowed is the practice of trapping stretched elastic with the hand down the length of poles sections. Fish should never be bullied like this.
23. Keepnets should be dry when arriving to fish as dry nets do not spread disease. Fish must never be handled with gloves or towels.
24. Carp over 2lbs and silver fish must be kept in separate nets . no more than 100lbs in a net .. Common Sense must prevail when net weights are verified.
25. No bait, equipment or information can be given to any competitor during the course of the match. Competitors withdrawing from the match are not allowed to give their groundbait or hookbait to or approach another competitor during the duration of a match.
26. Any competitor who abandons his/her peg having decided to cease taking part in the match but who decides to continue fishing must do so outside the confines of the length being used for the match.
27. All competitors shall, as far as possible, prevent any persons other than match officials from entering the fishing ground.
28. A competitor may wade provided that the water does not extend above the knees unless he/she can touch the bank with fingertips, in which case the water can extend above the knees. When platforms are used, the water must not come over the knees when standing on a river / lake bed.
29. No competitor shall leave his/her peg at any time during the course of the match other than to answer the call of nature and then he/she must not leave his/her baited hook in the water. At the end of the match, a competitor must remain at his/her peg until his/her catch has been weighed unless he/she has been detailed for weighing duties. Any competitor so detailed must have a witness to the weighing of his/her own catch.
30. A competitor must cease fishing at the finishing signal. Should he/she still be playing a fish hooked before the signal is given, he/she will be permitted no more than fifteen minutes after time has been called to land the fish.

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31. All fish caught are eligible for weighing with the exception of game fish and crustaceans. It will be the responsibility of the scalesman to return all live fish to the water after weighing. Dead fish, handed to the competitor by the
scalesman, must be returned after the match, to the headquarters by the competitor concerned and placed in the receptacle provided.
Any fish suspected of being weighted or any fish considered suspicious by the weighers must be laid before the match organisers and the angler?s weight be not confirmed until a ruling has been obtained.
If stewards recommended the disqualification of a competitor they will weigh his/her fish in case the ruling is not upheld.
32. All catches will be weighed to the nearest quarter of an ounce or ten grammes rounded up.
33. Each competitor will be responsible for ensuring the correct weight of their catch is recorded by the Steward and sign the sheet to that effect. In any dispute the decision of the weighers and the organisers will be final.
34. All fish must be weighed at the competitor?s peg. Unless the bankside terrain renders impossible, no catch shall be carried more than ten yards to the scales.
35. Competitors are responsible for ensuring that their pegs are clear of litter and no competitor may have his/her catch weighed in who has litter lying on the banks of his/her swim.
36. Any objection to an angler?s conduct, for whatever reason, must be lodged in writing with a match official or weigher within one hour of the end of the match. In all cases the objector shall inform the offender of his/her intentions at the time in order that he/she may speak in his/her own defence. Should an offender after receiving such a warning leave the match scene, the objection shall be deemed to have been sustained and the match organisers must inform him/her of their findings and punishment (if any) within seven days.
37. All the foregoing rules are subject to the byelaws of the Environment Agency, and any local rules applicable to a fishery.
38. All holders of trophies must, on presentation of them, give a written guarantee for their safety and shall undertake to return same (when applicable) in a clean and presentable condition when asked by the organisers. In the case of a team trophy, all members of that team are obliged under this rule.
39. Any angler proved to have been in contravention of these rules will be disqualified.
40. Any association or organisation wishing to deviate from these recommended NFA rules must advertise the fact and list the deviation on the match entry ticket and other literature.
THE FOLLOWING RULES WILL ONLY APPLY WHEN A TEAM COMPETITION AS WELL AS AN INDIVIDUAL EVENT IS BUILT INTO THE MATCH.
41. Details of each angler making up the team must be entered on a team card (or sheet) which must be handed in before the match begins. No alterations in the make-up of a team will be permitted once the draw has begun.
42. A team competition may be decided in two ways, by means of aggregate weight or by means of points. Where the latter is preferred the NFA recommend that the system to be adopted be the same as that set out in Rule 48 of the Federations Nationals Championship rules.
43. The use of lead, including any alloy or compound lead, in the form of split shot or any other suitable thing for weighting fishing lines is prohibited. The prohibition does not apply to weights of lead, alloy or compound lead, less than 28.35 grms if such lead, alloy or compound lead, is incorporated in the construction of swim feeders or self cocking floats.
National Federation of Anglers
National Water Sports Centre, Adbolton Lane,
Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, NG12 2LU
Tel: 0115 9813535 Fax: 0115 9819039
E-mail: office@nfadirect.com
www.nfadirect.com

Unless it's me there are some pretty curious rules amongst that lot!

Pole fishing will be interesting with no split shot, styls or Stotz below 0.06grams for a start (the legal size 8s and below).

No barbed hooks?

No hooks over size ten?

As you say some interesting rule changes. I can see some problems with and 6) A competitor must not cause annoyance to, or seek to interfere with another competitor or use mobile phones during the course of the competition.

Most anglers have their phones with them. If they get a call they could be disqualified!

25)No bait, equipment or information can be given to any competitor during the course of the match.

The end of "runners" at team events!

31. All fish caught are eligible for weighing with the exception of game fish and crustaceans.

Pike and Zander return to the catch as do minnows. Not to everyones liking I am sure.

Comments?

16. All hooks on all waters should be Barbless (Maximum size 10)

Mark, doesn't that mean the biggest hook you can use is a ten, not the smallest?

I believe you're right Paul.


19. Floating poles are not permitted
20. Floating baits either hookbait or feedbait are not permitted

These two could cause some interesting changes. I've already seen a floating feeder rig, where the bait is about 2" below the surface.

I worded it badly; it seems curious that I can't use a size 8 or bigger. I've used a 4 with floating crust in matches before now.

Whilst many of the rules are solid enough, others seem to be pandering to someone's bugbears. I don't have a proble with barbless on stillwaters but on running water generally fish micro/whisker barbed. The pegging sounds good but on many commercials it is less than described.

I am not convinced anyone would want to fish to the rules as described to the letter at all. I fished to the no lead one in 1985 on Longleat - it was hard work with no microshot, both pole and waggler fishing.

We'll get Swordsy designing the insignia; Malcolm (I recognise that name) will relate to some of the National stewards of old! Nothing about jackboots...

Stipulating hook size restrictions always seems daft, as they can still vary in actual size.

I remember seeing hooks by one very well known manufacturer that were literally 3 times bigger than most of that size and they'd been produced to get round a similar problem.

so, unless there are some measurements to govern hook sizes, what is there to stop someone bringing out a size 10 that's actually the true size of a normal size 4?

similarly, you could just put some size 4's into a size 10's packet