can you catch and eat

[swkieran]

can you catch and eat fish on dartmoor and other places,say you bought a telescopic rod or hobo fish kit with you and you thought to yerself i fancy sonme fish steaks for dinner tonight :D

[paul standley]

I don't know Dartmoor specifically however I'm guessing there are trout in the streams/rivers but in the UK generally, you will need two things to be legal when fishing...

A rivers authority rod license for the type of fishing you are doing

Permission from the owner of the fishing rights of the water in question which might not be the landowner since fishing rights are not always tied to the land that the water runs through (or sits in for pools/lakes etc)

Paul

[Kiltie]

All British fish are edible Keiran, some of them taste better than others mind, Eels and elvers too

[comanighttrain]

All British fish are edible Keiran, some of them taste better than others mind, Eels and elvers too
yarr

Watch out for the weavers....they are still edible but make sure you remove the spines/dont get stung/cook em quite well. Luckily it looks very distinctive!

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/lesserweever.html

[swkieran]

years ago i had a close encounter with one of those lol,do they live in the sea aswell cause it was one of the first fish i caught and was well pleased until i went near it it puffed up and hissed and being nightime made it worse,good job there was some more expericianced fisherman around cause i wanted my hook back but they just cut the line and saved me from a nasty experiance

[luresalive]

Weevers are salt water fish

[IBrown]

Most fisherman do not remove coarse fish from rivers. To fish in our rivers you need a Rod Licence.
Website: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/fishing/31497.aspx

There are 2 types of Licences:
Non-migratory trout, char, freshwater (coarse) fish and eels - £27
Salmon and migratory (sea) trout AND non-migratory trout, char, freshwater (coarse) fish and eels - £72

West Country Angling Passport gives you all the info on Dartmoorand the South West.

You should return all Brown trout under 12 inches. One fish over 12 inches is allowed to be retained on Dartmoor Rivers.
Sea Trout over 6lb should be returned. Two fish allowed per day
Salmon over 10lb should be returned. After 16th June you should return the first salmon caught and retain 2 per season.

Hope this helps.
If you need any advice on fly fishing I will be glad to help
Ian

[comanighttrain]

years ago i had a close encounter with one of those lol,do they live in the sea aswell cause it was one of the first fish i caught and was well pleased until i went near it it puffed up and hissed and being nightime made it worse,good job there was some more expericianced fisherman around cause i wanted my hook back but they just cut the line and saved me from a nasty experiance

they live in the sand, I think they hide in it to catch prey leaving only their head and spines sticking out hence a lot of people getting spined by the little blighters

[Thumbcrusher]

I seem to recall being told by a mate many moons ago that a hobo fishing kit is illegal on british rivers as it's not a rod. Something to do with the licencing. I can't remember the exact details but it may be worth checking out before you use a hobo line and end up getting a fine instead of a fish!

[ian]

i bought a fishing licence a couple of years ago and found i was the only one on the river i was fishing that bothered. I was the only one that had a permit for the river too. it turns out as i remember it, the water belongs to the water orthority and thats why you need a rod licence but the fishing right's belong to who ever owns', manages or leases the river bank.
so just be careful where you fish. But if the part of the river is tidal you don't need a rod licence as long as the river back owner, manager, or lease holder does not mind you on there land. you can fish in tidal waters from publick eareas, usualy without much problem unless sighn posted not to.

[swkieran]

in other words its a no no,just go and buy a fish from morrisons,cook it in the wild and pretend youve caught it :)

[IBrown]

in other words its a no no,just go and buy a fish from morrisons,cook it in the wild and pretend youve caught it :)

If you use a rod not a hobo and If you have a fishing licence you can fish Venford Res and Avon Dam for free and take 1 brown trout.

[paul standley]

in other words its a no no,just go and buy a fish from morrisons,cook it in the wild and pretend youve caught it :)

Sorry we all burst your bubble mate...

I'm a bit of a fisherman myself and I'd love to try some non-standard wild-camp/survival fising (for trout) with a bit of line, auto-strike spring lever set-up (spring snare idea) etc but to do it, I'd have to break the law and break my own code of fishing.

Morrison's is unfourtunately your best bet and franky, it's a lot quicker and easier...Good luck.

[garethw]

Hi
I can't remember all the UK laws as its 25 years since I've fished there.. But basically the licence is a ROD licence to a hobo kit would break the rules... naturally in an out of the way place you probably won't get caught as in over 15 years fishing in the UK I only ever got checked once by the river authority bailiffs.
Some rivers and streams do though have their own private bailiff so you might find you get caught poaching...
Anyway back to the original question... All the fish will be edible. But some are better eating than others...trout obviously are great and not hard to catch. Coarse fish are not generally eaten in the UK, although you do see them in Cardiff market.
The predator species are better eating, ie: pike, perch and zander. So I'd advise anyone who wants to dabble to get a small spinning rod and a few Mepps lures and try for a predator. Its a much more active style of angling, and one anyone can get into quickly. You can be mobile and enjoy a walk along the river or lake as well. It gets over the image people often have of fishing being boring, just sitting there with nothing happening. You have to grow into the static approach.
cheers
Gareth

[comanighttrain]

Hi
I can't remember all the UK laws as its 25 years since I've fished there.. But basically the licence is a ROD licence to a hobo kit would break the rules... naturally in an out of the way place you probably won't get caught as in over 15 years fishing in the UK I only ever got checked once by the river authority bailiffs.
Some rivers and streams do though have their own private bailiff so you might find you get caught poaching...
Anyway back to the original question... All the fish will be edible. But some are better eating than others...trout obviously are great and not hard to catch. Coarse fish are not generally eaten in the UK, although you do see them in Cardiff market.
The predator species are better eating, ie: pike, perch and zander. So I'd advise anyone who wants to dabble to get a small spinning rod and a few Mepps lures and try for a predator. Its a much more active style of angling, and one anyone can get into quickly. You can be mobile and enjoy a walk along the river or lake as well. It gets over the image people often have of fishing being boring, just sitting there with nothing happening. You have to grow into the static approach.
cheers
Gareth

Agree. Most exciting fishing I have done so far was Pike and Conger. Conger get the andrenaline going thats for sure. Evil looking beastie!

http://www.electricbluefishing.com/images/FredHaywardConger007.jpg

[garethw]

You should try catfish too mate...this one went 140lbs from the Ebro in Spain.

http://www.croixblanchelakes.com/catfishpix.jpg

Cheers
Gareth

[fish]

yarr

Watch out for the weavers....they are still edible but make sure you remove the spines/dont get stung/cook em quite well. Luckily it looks very distinctive!

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/lesserweever.html

lucky you mentioned that,dartmoors infested with them! lol

[comanighttrain]

You should try catfish too mate...this one went 140lbs from the Ebro in Spain.

http://www.croixblanchelakes.com/catfishpix.jpg

Cheers
Gareth

whoah thats a best....good fight?

[comanighttrain]

lucky you mentioned that,dartmoors infested with them! lol

Really? It doesnt look that close to seawater... be careful!

[garethw]

whoah thats a best....good fight?
Yes indeed... That's my son in the photo right... it was about three years ago and he was only 15... Didn't want to catch any more fish coz his arms hurt too much LOL!!
Cheers
Gareth

[Aaron Rushton]

you dont need anything to fish for sea fish and there are hardly any laws governing how use choose to take them (but if your a good fisherman you will not take breeding size fish) i go spearfishing in pembrookshire every summer, now that really gets your adreanalin going!

[comanighttrain]

you dont need anything to fish for sea fish and there are hardly any laws governing how use choose to take them (but if your a good fisherman you will not take breeding size fish) i go spearfishing in pembrookshire every summer, now that really gets your adreanalin going!

I always wanted to do that.....you have much luck?

[Aaron Rushton]

when i started i went on a 5 day course (once a week) with my local scuba club which gave me an insight into the many dangers of freediving. it really lengthened my submerged and taght me to paddle silently. i would highly recommend you go on a freediving course before trying it out as theres a whole number of things which can kill you (shallow water blackout, rip tides, hypathermia ect) and its pretty scary. over the first 3 days i spent there i learned from the locals which areas to avoid and on my first trip got 1 pollock. i got 2 more pollock and a bass over the next week. its a very exhilarating sport and so worthwhile, but extremely hard and i probably missed/spooked about 20 or so fish to get those meager helpings there was an old guy there who had been doing it for 20 years with an old rusty speargun and fins. he knew how not to spook fish and how to old his breath longer and got a least 1 plump bass every time he went out! i'm still pretty much a novice, but i've gotten better since then!

[myotis]

Although a few months old, it may be still worth mentioning that while there have been references to UK Law and British Rivers, the law in Scotland is not the same as in England and Wales.

There is no such thing as a "rod licence" in Scotland, you only need an appropriate permit from who ever owns the fishing rights.

Graham

[fish]

"A rivers authority rod license for the type of fishing you are doing

Permission from the owner of the fishing rights of the water in question which might not be the landowner since fishing rights are not always tied to the land that the water runs through (or sits in for pools/lakes etc)"

very true to an extent,the laws regarding fishing are infact 'acts of parliament' and 'statutes' and are not law,if you consider yourself a freeman on the land then only common law applies to you,an act of parliament only has the power of law if you chose to give it the power of law.

so go fishing my piscatorial friend!