Now we all know (or those who fish do) that it is a legal requirement to purchase a rod licence for £27 (or £72 for salmon and sea trout )
(Read more at http://www.postoffice.co.uk/rod-fishing-licence#i7CcqX5V9gY1k8jH.99 )
Is that all? I hear you say, £27 may not be a lot of money to some folk but to someone on a low income it's the difference between staying warm, eating or paying household bills.
On top of this most areas in the UK also require you to buy a local "book" or day ticket to fish certain waters (sea fishing is a different matter) Some of these can cost upto £40 for the season and you are limited as to what baits and type of fish you can catch, my local Angling club have bought up nearly every stretch of water in the vicinity.
I have been fishing most of my life (from around 8yrs old) and don't class myself as an expert at all in fact over the years I've probably caught no more than 10 fish from rivers (again sea fishing is another thing) I have had a rod licence in the past but as I don't get out much now to go fishing I haven't bothered recently.
To me the joy of fishing is the relaxation, sitting by a river watching the world go by and nature do taking its course is what it is all about, if I catch a fish then that's a bonus but majority of the time I've come home without having caught anything.
The places I have fished have always been unmanaged wild locations where it is obvious that the national rivers authority haven't done any work, the tackle I use is always light weight and I don't go in for all the gadgets and special tactics a lot of anglers use, a rod, reel, sinker, hooks and sweetcorn is my usual set up, I always catch and release other than the odd trout which makes for a nice meal.
But back to the article and the (in my opinion) ridiculous fine, it seems to me that the licence (and local day tickets/books) are just a way to make money and make a relaxing sport unobtainable to those who can not afford it, I for one can't afford to pay for a licence and book now and the fear of getting a large fine means my fishing tackle is now shoved into the back of a cupboard never to see the light of day again until I can afford one.
Is it right that we must give up something we love doing just because we can not afford it? fishing is something our ancestors have done for thousands of years until someone came along and said "this is my stretch of river and you can't use it unless you pay me".
If someone were to use a branch and tie a line to it would that come under the laws of fishing without a rod licence? at least sea fishing is free and I have caught many more fish from Bridlington's harbour pier than I ever have from a river ( I don't do lake fishing) unfortunately not many can afford to go to the coast to go fishing or in my case don't have the transport.
I don't think the rod licence should apply to unmanaged stretches of river, if you are fishing in a location that has obviously been stocked by a fishery, has pitches carved out or made from wood for you to sit/camp then obviously someone had to do that work and they should be paid but what are you actually paying for if you only fish unmanaged waters? simply the right to do something which our ancestors had the freedom to do.
Perhaps even lowering the cost of the licence would help, or extending the length the licence is granted for? after all a season of fishing to someone like myself doesn't mean I am able to go fishing every day for that season in fact I would be lucky to get out more than 3 or 4 times to do this in a year.
There are concessions for the disabled so if you claim DLA (PIP as it is now) you are eligible for a discount but this doesn't apply to those on Employment Support Allowance which again means we are excluded from being able to partake purely because we cannot afford it.
What difference is there between a disabled person who claims DLA and a disabled person who claims ESA? other than what the dss decision says? both are limited in abilities and many who claim ESA are worse than the dss will admit and should be claiming DLA, this wasn't meant to be a rant about the benefits system but for someone in my circumstances the affects of their decision to put me on ESA and not PIP (DLA) means I would have to pay full price for a rod licence.
I am not saying we should scrap the licence completely, on the contrary, the licence is needed to manage certain waterways and lakes but there must be a way to make it more accessible to EVERYONE and not just those who work, why should fishing be a hobby for just those people?
Food for thought.
