So how may fish can you legally take/remove from the Thames?

Good question for everyone.

Before clicking the link, what did you think, know. These are new rules that have come into force but not as widely publicised as they could have been.

here you go taking stock

Just been cheaking the rules and regs, I see the rules and regs still have not been up dated in our area,

South East region rod fishing byelaws

On 1 April 2011, Thames and Southern regions merged to form South East region. We will add the new South East region byelaws as soon as they have been finalised. For the time being, please refer to the Southern and Thames byelaws below:

Southern region rod fishing byelaws (PDF, 176KB)
Thames region rod fishing byelaws (PDF, 900KB)


why is this taken so long, if you look at the other areas, they have updated there laws (most have)

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/fishing/31465.aspx



somethink I found out last year, if I go non-migrating Trout fishing at Chertsey bridge, fly fishing, say mid July and I catch 10 5Ib non-migrating Trout, (I wish), I can take them all home to eat, there is no bag limit on Trout to take home, this should be addressed, every one goes on about the EE taking course fish, but no one is banging the drum about the poor Trout,


these rules and regs should be updated as soon as possible,

as a citizen and a law a binding person, and someone of low IQ, I find these rules and regs very confuzing




Keith

Good shout mate.

I have spoken to the EA man who is amalgamating them twice in the last month, and been assured they are being done. Time for another chase methinks.

just one other thing, somethink that should be put on things like this, is a amended number and date

if you look on the fishing regs for other areas, these that have amended theirs, there is no menchun on when it was done, all they have done is deleted and inserted words

so when the new rules and regs come out for our area, that will be version 1 dated 2020 ,

come the next year , they amend the rules and regs about taking of non-migrating trout, to "all non-migrating trout to be put back, that will be verson 2, dated 2021, that way people will know if their version is out of date or not, that way, no one can nicked, if the date/version is the same, they know then that know rules and regs have changed.

it will be down to the individual to check the regs each year when he/she/clubs/others gets his/hers/other clubs/ET new fishing licence

any amendments to the rules and regs should be done just before the new season starts

all fishing tackle shops should have copies of the up to date rules and regs on the wall or somewhere where fisherperson, male/female/others can read check them






Keith

Fair points mate, will pass them on.

The bylaws won't actually change as such, that was a question I asked. To change them it would need a full consultation which takes years.

just looked up the rules and regs, for our area, they have been updated again, not sure wot has been changed, but as off today these are the latest verson 17 dated April 2013


http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/South_East_Fisheries_Byelaws_-_17_April_2013.pdf


i wish they woood just say, go to page 5, par 4, line 2, delete 6 word along, "BIG", insert "DiXX", then once a year, bring out main verson,

Over the last few years, I have been looking at the rules and regs of fishing, they are very confusing to anyone coming into the sport, the worst one is when you can and cannot fish, the dates, you have to go to page 6 of the Environment Agency Rod Fishing Byelaws - South East Region book to find out the dates when fishing starts and finishes, even then it is a bit confusing, 15 March to 15 June (dates inclusive).  Now that may seem ok to some people, but not to a lot of people, just this year, on the 15 June, a Saturday, in-between Hampton court and Shepperton Lock, a saw 6 people fishing, including one 13yr old, they all said the same thing, read the rules or tried to, and they all thought they could fish that day, the 13yr old had just got his first fishing (£5) licence, just started fishing and he thought he could fish that day, all but one packed up, the one that stayed had come all the way from Battersea by bus, so he stayed until later.  3 of the people had got bait from the local fishing shops and they had not been informed they could not fish today, now should fishing tackle shops inform people when and when not to fish, that is up to you to decide.

Now I have been studying other events with dates and timings, and I have not yet found any major rules and regs that say “inclusive”, it is always start date, timings and finish date and timings, so why can’t fishing do the same.  

i.e.   a restaurant is open from 1800hrs to 0130hrs,  will it say on door,

1. Restaurant closed from 0130hrs to 1800hrs (timings inclusive)

2. Restaurant open from 1800hrs to 0140hrs

Now a lot of people reading this are going to be Fishing-persons who have been fishing for years and know the rules and regs, but I am looking outside the box, from someone who is just taking up the sport and trying to find out when they can fish.  The dates should be on the first page, not first mentioned on page 6.

Worded something like this

Coarse Fishing season starts 16 June
Coarse Fishing season finishes 14 March
15 March to 15 June (inclusive) closed  


(My amended version)

Something like this should be on the fishing licence, (the dates that is) not spending lots of money paying someone to paint a pic of a fish, have it on the child’s licence, but I and many other fisher-person, once we get our licence, check name, sign it and put in away, never to see it again until someone from the EA would like to see it when out fishing,  

Now, this is my version on trying to make things a lot better for people coming into the sport, if anyone can come out with a version better than this and is workable, let’s hear or read it.

what if the chub, perch, barbel etc etc happen to be longer than 20 centimetres. does that mean there are no limits to how many people can take home? the bylaw only mentions fish of less than this size.

patrick barker wrote:

what if the chub, perch, barbel etc etc happen to be longer than 20 centimetres. does that mean there are no limits to how many people can take home? the bylaw only mentions fish of less than this size.

Legal Removal of Fish

On rivers, an angler may only remove on any given day: -
• One pike of up to 65 cm.
• Two grayling of 30 – 38 cm.
• Up to a total of fifteen small fish of up to 20 cm of the following native species: barbel, chub, common and silver bream, common carp, crucian carp, dace, perch, pike, roach, rudd, tench and smelt. This is to permit the use of live and dead fish as bait where allowed by local rules.

It means the opposite Patrick. So taking the pike as an example, you can take "One pike of up to 65cm", meaning you can't take one that's any longer. The key phrase is "up to".

That said, it's a reasonable point and I'm sure we can ask them to reword it at a later date to read something like: "One pike of up to and not exceeding 65cm" for example.


Richard

simple as that.
i hate reading about removal of fish.
i just obey my rule.... none.

I just read the new Angling Trust "Essential Guide to Elementary Freshwater Fishery Law & Enforcement in England" and on page 2 there is the legal definition of the word "take".  Read that alongside section 1.7 of the byelaws which flits between the words "remove" and "take" in the same context and you will be really confused.

I have just emailed the person at the EA, suggesting that 1.7 be reworded with "remove" instead of "take" and also pointed out a few of the other confusions encountered.

William Pettigrew wrote:

simple as that.
i hate reading about removal of fish.
i just obey my rule.... none.

Well said Willie.