The new EA rod licensing system will go live from March 2.

There are some big changes planned, which the EA hopes will be appreciated by both anglers and the taxpayer!

The new licenses will look like a credit card and will be water resistant (this is a much needed improvement in my opinion). They will feature pictures of perch or salmon depending on the type of license.

The licenses will be available for purchase from the usual places. The EA will also be sending anglers a renewal letter each March, which should make it quicker to renew. Anglers will also be able to get concessionary rod licenses online from this year.

I'm looking forward to getting mine!

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http://wanderingangler.blogspot.com/

Cheers Mike,
That's good news; making them smaller and water-proof, makes it much easier to carry with you, and less of a worry if you get it wet!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting mine!

Regards.

Mostyn

Personally I'm not looking forward to spending £25 on nothing!

I don't really think we should have to pay for a rod licence...you don’t in Scotland and I think their water systems are every bit as good as those in England & Wale (if not better)

We all ready pay for a day/season ticket so why should we pay for a rod licence just to hold a rod?? It’s not like a shotgun cert. Where you have a visit from the firearms officer and there is an obvious need for control and traceability so costs are involved, to me it’s just a money making exercise.

Rather than bringing new anglers into the sport I think this unnecessary cost will just put them off?

I accept that any income is” ring fenced”, with profits ploughed back into conservation and restocking etc…but I’m not convinced the average angler ever see's the benefit

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Mock me, vilify me, but don’t ignore me!

Hi Rob
I suspect you are right in respect of anglers who fish exclusively or mostly on large, stocked trout reservoirs - river anglers paticularly will probably have a different view when you consider the benefits provided to these environments by rod licence money, which you alluded to in your post. As for Scotland - is it true to say that their fisheries are less pressured, generally ie via population density/urban area's etc than many area's of England/Wales? and therefore in less need of management/improvement in the same way that rivers say, in the midlands of England are?? Are many of the Scottish fisheries taken care of management-wise by estates/landowners etc?? Not sure how true this is - but just a few thoughts

I read something that inferred (coarse angling press possibly) that the new style licence would not be available from all sources, and that you could still end up with a giant paper one.

Anyone alse heard this, or have I just made it up (not entirely out of the question)?

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Matt Gregory
mattgregory.freeblogit.com

I don't mind paying 50p a week for a license.Down here the EA do a fair bit of work on the rivers, including restocking.By every angler being seen to contribute to the upkeep of the rivers it gives us ammunition against the antis, or the likes of canoeists, who want unlimited, free access to our rivers.
In Scotland, lochs apart, you effectively pay much more for the upkeep of the river systems.Fishery boards exact a levy on fishery owners that is passed on to the rods, and it adds up to a lot more than 50p a week.

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Behold the fisherman
He riseth up early and disturbeth the whole household.
MIGHTY ARE HIS PREPARATIONS!
He goeth forth full of hope and when the day is far spent he returneth
Smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him

Mike. could you point me in the direction of where they say that? I'm fed up with having to traipse to a major P.O. to get mine .. Cheers

.

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Duirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite

Nature is by and large to be found out-of-doors, a location where, it cannot be argued, there are never enough comfortable chairs. Franz Lebowitz

I have worked with a number of people in the EA and I have found them enthusiastic, helpful and responsive to any reports of pollution etc.Knock them if it makes you feel better but I have no complaints and the rod licence is bloody peanuts anyway compared to what most people spend on their sport.

I still pay my licence fee every year, and I accept that to me £25 is a small price to pay for a leisure activity.

But is is not to others, ie the elderly, young, unemployed etc... surely we should encourage more into the sport ?

It's something that I pay every year, and I once viewed as a good excuse to go to the tackle shop (as you always buy something else) but now you get it from the post office or over the phone etc...I feel that the E.A has distanced itself from the angler, and short changed the tackle shops.

Anyway..it wasn't much of an objection really......just my personal thoughts, that on the whole were not really based on fact or well thought out.

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Mock me, vilify me, but don’t ignore me!

rob,they dont charge us just for the fishing with a rod ,our fees cover a multitude of actions by the EA, RESTOCKING,FIGHT AGAINST POACHING,RIVER HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS ETC ETC,AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST(damn caps lock) what if your fishery goes short of oxygen in the water (now to the tune of ghostbusters)
WHO YA GONNA CALL "THE EA" !!!

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!