Rod Licenses
Please note that where a rod license is required the license does not grant you the right to fish in any given location, you still have to buy a permit from the fishery owners. Rod licenses are required for fishing in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. You do not need a license for sea fishing.
Scotland | England and Wales | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland
Moving to England in 1998 I knew I needed a rod license and like a good boy I bought one in June, stuffing it into my wallet unread. On the first of April 1999, at Dever Springs in Hampshire, I discovered the importance of reading the terms and conditions.
I was approached by a decent enough chap who enquired how the fishing was doing. After some pleasantries he produced an identity card and asked to see my Rod License, which I produced. He was apologetic and pointed out that the license had expired on the 31st of March. He then cautioned me – the Full Monty – "anything you say blah, taken down, blah, evidence, blah used against you in a court of law". My jaw dropped, 'but I just bought it last June'. I felt like a criminal by being about 11 hours overdue.
OK so he had caught me, scared the living sugar out of me, now I expected a ticking off and a "well if you pop down to the local post office and get a License we will let you off this time, after all its less than 24 hours out of date". Did he Nelly, a few months later I was fined the cost of a license, £16 if my memory serves me right.
I still get a cringe at the thought of being cautioned. You might have guessed that I am Scottish and in Scotland we do not have rod licenses. While I had complied with buying a License I hadn't read the small print which states that a License is valid for a fixed period 1st April to 31st March. I was undoubtedly an April Fool.
My misfortune in England serves as a good reason to take advice about permits and licenses when you go fishing anywhere in the world.
Scotland
A rod license is not required in Scotland you only need a permit to fish. The one exception is the Border Esk and its tributaries including those sections in Scotland for which you will need an Environment Agency Rod License
The Tweed.
The Tweed straddles the border between Scotland and England but Teed and it's tributaries on both sides of the border are exempt from the requirement to have an EA Rod License. If a fishery ultimately flows into the Tweed from Northumberland, Scottish regulations apply.
River Boards or Trusts.
In Scotland entire river systems come under the control of a Board or Trust which manages some aspects of the fishery (policing, hatcheries, issuing local bye laws and guideline.
Many River Boards employ full time bailiffs in addition to those employed by beats and fisheries and these bailiffs have legal powers to have you charged with offences such as poaching, fishing without a permit, taking fish by illegal means or methods, taking kelts or unseasonable fish and please note - selling salmon. Fines can be quite high for serious offences and can include confiscation of gear as many poachers have found to their cost.
Protection Orders
Until 1976 when the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act was introduced it was generally the case that you could fish for wild brown trout for free in any river or loch in Scotland with the exception of man made fisheries (designated as stanks) that had been stocked and in some cases, rivers that had been stocked. The new law allowed for protection orders to be applied for by river systems e.g. the entire river Tay and its tributaries and associated lochs could be covered by one protection order making it illegal to fish without a permit anywhere on the entire system.
This law has proved to be a double edged sword, on one hand it makes anglers pay for fishing that was once free, on the other hand it has made riparian owners give access to waters, at reasonable costs, that they once excluded trout anglers from. As a consequence rivers like the Don were fully opened up to trout anglers for the first time.
The Act has been effective in general although it is uncertain to me at least how some rivers systems manage to enjoy the protection of the Orders and still effectively exclude trout anglers. On the Spey below Aviemore you will not get a trout fishing ticket anywhere even on an angling club water. If you want to fish for trout you must buy a salmon fishing permit which will set you back anything from £40 a day to hundreds of pounds. I do not consider this to be reasonable. Such charges are, in my view, cynically designed to exclude trout anglers, leaving the rivers sparsely populated by salmon anglers. Such a pity because there are some fantastic trout on the Spey and the Deveron (where again you will not get a trout permit). Its about time this issue was addressed, lets face it if you can fish the Tay and Tweed for trout for just a few quid why can't you fish the Spey on the same basis?
England and Wales
A rod license is required to fish for any freshwater fish in England and Wales. Licenses can be bought for one year for the period of 12 months from 1st April to 31st March, for 8 days and for 1 day. There are different rates for trout and coarse fish 2 rods or 3 rods and for salmon and sea trout.
Go to: EA rod licenses for England and Wales, buy online
or
You can pop into a local post office and buy one over the counter if the license is for someone over 16 years old.
Don't even think about fishing without a license, if you are caught the fines can be quite severe. The money raised through the licensing system goes toward improving the fishing habits so it is money well spent (the license money, heck knows what they do with the fines).
The Rod License is free for 13 to 16 year olds. There are also concessions for Blue Badge Holders, persons in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and for person over 65 years of age, you will need to take proof of your status when buying.
12 or under you do not need a license at all, so ask mum and dad to a get free one for you when you get to 13.
Northern Ireland
Please note that like in England you are required to hold a license to fish in Northern Ireland if you are over 12 years old (including for the sea if you are fishing for salmon and sea trout, otherwise no license required)
There are 2 licensing authorities in the North, DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) and Loughs Agency (Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Agency).
DAERA
Now this might sound a bit complex but what a deal you get in Northern Ireland.
First off you need a License which is for coarse fishing only or game and coarse fishing. The license is for the use of one rod at a time, you need to pay extra for additional rods. To buy on line go to:
DAERALicense Online Coarse Fishing
DAERA License Game / Coarse Fishing
There are number of options available for residents (including concessions for juveniles, anglers over 60 and anglers with a dsability).
For visitors to Northern Ireland there is a 14 day and a 3 day license available on line:
Permits
In addition to the license you will need a permit to fish, these can off course be bought from fisheries direct.
Northern Ireland however has a fantastic deal for anglers. The government is acquiring fisheries for their Public Angling Estate, they also have fishing on the River Bush. All you need to do is buy a DAERA fishing permit to give you access to 70 great fisheries all for one very reasonable price.
For DAERA permits go to:
DAERA Coarse Fishing Permits This gives access to over 50 venues
To buy day tickets for the river Bush go to:
If you do not want to buy on line and prefer to buy locally when you go to Northern Ireland here is a list of the local distributors:
DAERA License and Permit Distributors
Disabled Anglers, Accessible Fisheries
For disabled anglers Northern Ireland beats the pants of the rest of us with a DAERA guide to fisheries accessible to disabled:
DAERA Fisheries Accessible to Disabled
You will see from the pamphlet that Northern Ireland has addressed the issue of giving disabled anglers access to river fishing by building ramps, pathways and platforms something done so rarely seen in the rest of the UK
Loughs Agency
The Lough Agency covers 1,300sq miles on the productive Foyle system and 340 sq miles on the Carlingford system. Some of the best water in the UK and Ireland.
You will need a Lough Agency License and permits to fish on these waters. Licenses are available for a season, 14 days or 3 day and a juvenile license. Register on Line at:
Permits
There are a number of distributors for licenses and permits for fishing in the Foyle and Carlingford districts. They say that as a guide the average permit to fish will cost you about a tenner. Ye canny whack it!
For a list of distributors go to:
Lough Agency License and Permit Distributors
All DAERA and Lough Agency Licenses are digital, you won't recieve a paper document just a registration number.
Endorsement
Fishing in both licensing authority waters with a season license is easy. When you buy your license you can have an endorsement added for a quid that allows you to fish on both authorities waters.
Republic of Ireland
The Central Fisheries Board has taken action to promote a recovery of stocks of fish in Ireland and as a result has introduced measures to control the number of salmon and sea trout killed by anglers, including completely banning salmon angling on some rivers.
You do not need a license to fish for course fish, trout, pike or for sea fishing in Southern Ireland however you do need a license to fish for salmon and sea trout.
You will also need a permit to fish on any of your chosen venues whether it be for trout, coarse or migratory fish.
For further information please go to the Inland Fisheries Ireland website:
You can buy a license for the whole country or for a specific area. There are also 1 day and 21 day all district licenses and an Extension to cover the Foyle System which forms the border in some areas.
The above is intended as a guide to the legal requirements related to fishing in the UK and Southern Ireland. Please verify the requirements for your own sake when plannig a trip.
For a wide selection of places to go fishing visit:
Spinfish Where to Fish Directory for information on a couple of thousand places to cast a line.
Tight Lines, Loidhnichean Teann, Llinellau Tynn, Linte Dochta
