New to angling?

New to angling?

If you have just started fishing, or have returned to the sport after a few years’ break, then you will want to know where are the best places in your area to cast a line, details of local fisheries, where your local tackle shops are, and what licences and permits you will need.

All of this information is available in one easy-to-read guide, available from your local tackle shop – the new ‘Where to go fishing’ guide, published by the Environment Agency.

The new pocket-size guides cost £ 1 and have been distributed to nearly 900 tackle shops and cover most of England. They include a large detailed map showing the location of fisheries and tackle shops and contain information on:-

• Local fisheries
• Key fish species in your area
• Types of permits and rod licences available
• Regional byelaws and fishery rules
• The River Call automated telephone service that will give you daily river level information
• Local tackle shops

“Our research shows that a lack of information on local fisheries and tackle shops is one of the main barriers to people taking up angling or, having started, remaining in the sport,” explained Environment Agency Fisheries Manager Guy Mawle.

“Last year, as an experiment, we sent out local angling guides to rod licence holders and tackle shops across half the country. Follow-up research found that they were popular with anglers and the tackle trade. What’s more they stimulated angling activity, encouraging anglers to fish new waters and to fish more often. Licence sales increased faster in those areas where we sent the guides out.”

The new guides do not cover Wales and the South West of England as these regions already have their own ‘Fishing Wales’ and ‘Get Hooked’ guides to angling.

Looking to next year, if any tackle shop, angling club or fishery would like to be in the guide they should telephone 08708 506506 and ask for the FAST team. Copies of previous regional guides, with slightly older information, can be bought over the telephone for £ 1.99. Again, call 08708 506506.

An interactive guide to fisheries has also been set up by the Environment Agency and British Waterways. Comprising around 4,000 angling sites on rivers, canals, lakes and ponds across England, the guide on www.waterscape.com/fishing is the first to provide anglers with a wealth of information on nearby fisheries by simply typing in a postcode or nearby town.