Fishing in Germany

I am thinking of seeing my brother in Germany this summer, and he has a place near a lake ( the Max See in the Brandenburg Forest), fancied fishing it but know they have a written test to get a licence.

Has anyone done this and is there an English version as my German is appalling.

Thanks
Mike

This is what I know about fishing in Germany for what it is worth.

In most provinces you can get a 3 month tourist fishing licence as long as you can show evidence that you are an angler. Take your British licence with you.

Germans have to pass a written and practical examination to enable them to fish. It's all done in German of course.

Remember that you are not allowed in most areas to return the fish you catch. You must kill them. Anglers returning fish can face heavy fines and banning, or even imprisonment.

Although I have never fished in Germany, I have been there a number of times and met a few local anglers who actually despise these laws. A lot of them jump over the border to countries such as Holland, France, Belgium and Denmark to fish. And of course there is always Austria and Switzerland.

Remeber that you are not allowed in most areas to return the fish you catch. You must kill them. Anglers returning fish can face heavy fines and banning, or even imprisonment.

Ron, do you know whether that's a national law or whether it's applied Land by Land, as it were? (You did say that it's the case in "most" areas...) I've so often seen anglers quoting it, but I've always suspected most of them were just repeating something they'd read on the internet, written by someone who'd read it on the intenet, etc (so it must be true!).

Im not sure about the licencing regulations but i do know that when the dreaded Green party got a foothold in government a good few years back they virtually killed what was a very good match scene overnight by banning keepnets so bringing the thriving tackle trade to its knees and also damaging its small but busy tourist fishing trade. Not sure of the situation now as things may have changed.

John, as I have said in my post, that is what I know. I hope I am wrong.

And Mike you are quite right. Match angling, keepnets and in fact any form of competitive angling is taboo. There is no doubt in my mind that the German Government is anti-angling. It is also anti most other field sports.

i am not sure if the no return policy is for rivers ,as i know a guy in a carp syndicate near munich who catch and release all

Mith I have fished in Germany for years. You need to have a licence called a (Blauscheine) thinks thats spelt right, you can go to the local Stadt (council)offices, your brother will know where it is and sit the written test. The test is really quite simple and anyone with a modicum of fishing sense can pass. In fact when I went to get mine I told the chap that id been fishing for years and he just showed me the papers and I ticked a few boxs and he gave me the bluey. Yes you will have to kill all white fish that you catch but the likes of Carp and Cats can be returned. In fact I dont think I ever killed any whilst I was fishing, they just accidentally fell back in when no one was looking. German tactics will seem a lot cruder than ours and dont be surprised if you get locals asking you for the fish to feed their cats. Ask your brother if he knows anyone in his unit who fishes, most Army and RAF units will have an angling club and they will be only too willing to help you out.

Thank to you all for the advice. I will see if my brother can get the papers for me and send them over, he is not too well so I do not like to bother him.

I think I will accidentally "drop" a few back whilst unhooking, Goes against the grain to knock them on the head for no reason.