Rod license checked!!!

Nearly fell in I was so shocked!!! EA bailiff came around the little park lake and checked my rod license - for the first time ever - in over 27 years!!!!!

He caught 2 anglers fishing without a rod license......

Better still caught two ENGLISH anglers fishing the river last weekend out of season. My mate said he arrived within half an hour of calling the EA hotline!!!!!

When I mentioned the fixed lines and crayfish traps I have had the displeasure of finding (only two this year - its getting a lot better), The Bailiff suggested ringing up and reporting any item and they will collect it from my house.

It was a very informative discussion - due to the area that a Bailiff has to cover, they rely on anglers being the eyes and ears. They may not react immediately in every instance, but by reporting the EA can plan to deploy resources on an intelligence based way....

That's good to hear Chav, we should all be the eyes of the E.A.
We should all have the right phone numbers on our mobiles.
I've got E.A incident,Defra,My river bailiff,Manager,Foreman,Rspb,Local Police and Environmental health.
Oh and Anglers Mail for that record fish.

beerweasel said:

We should all have the right phone numbers on our mobiles.

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Would be better if it were NOT a 0800 number, you pay for them whereas if you have a contract with free minutes, normal land lines come free. There is talk of forcing mobile companies to make 0800 number free and even include 0845 numbers. In the meantime, I have our bailiffs number and our area team leaders number stored in my phone.

In general, the bailiffs do sterling work.

Alot more seems needed to improve the relationship of the EA and anglers. I was there when Chav had his licence checked for the first time. Second only occasion for myself, the first 4/5 years ago at a local commercial.
I never expect to be challenged to show my licence at a club water, tho sometimes I have been asked to show my membersip card.
Should we be contemplating risking annoying each other by asking to see another anglers licence on the bank? Maybe it's time to have to bite the bullet and find an acceptable way to display a current licence publicly whilst fishing. It would have to be a bit more sturdy than the flimsy return we get for our £27 quid now.

Ive only ever had mine checked once, and that was in 1999 - two big built balifs, both of whom were very nice and had a good chat. Never seen one since.