Total ignoramous needs advice

[Mandybstorm]

My son had his 13th birthday today and knowing about our recent boatshare purchase someone has bought him a fishing rod. A 3m robson green float rod? Now we have not the slightest clue about fishing! So I need to know everything!!! We need a licence from Post Office I believe but other than that we know nothing. how much do they cost?

 Advice on bait, whether you have to put your catch back, good places to fish on the broads, what you can eat and what is not a good idea to eat. Are there certain dates you can not fish at all?

Thanks everyone

[quo vadis]

You will need some maggots I believe

[mickfreakley]

I would suggest you get a few maggots, a pink is about right. Set up with a float on around 4lb breaking strain line as the main line, then get some size 16 hooks to nylon, sit the weights on the line to cock the float so about a half inch is showing. Put a couple of maggots on the hook, fish close too or out of the back of the boat about a rods length, and keep feeding 6 or so maggots around the float, be patient and the fish will come. One important thing is to plumb the depth and fish on or just off the bottom. Any questions just ask. Good luck. Oh, get yourself a little disgorger, it will help unhooking the fish.

[quo vadis]

And maybe some worms

[MBA Marine]

This should cover it, you need a boat, rod, and hat!  now for the most important bit, dont bother trying to catch fish just pretend to and drink beer! 

[Timbo]

I would add a small pair of long nosed pliers to the list of equipment to help in unhooking fish. I'd also take a look at this video

 and don't forget to wet your hands before handling a fish and wash your hands after handling a fish...above all...have fun!

[littlesprite]

At 13 years old your son will need a junior licence (12 to 16 years) and this will be £5 for a full year.

Most of the practical fishing has already been covered so enjoy.

 

As for a close season on fishing this now varies around the country, in Norfolk it's March to mid June.

[littlesprite]

I should have specified 15th March to the 15th of June inclusive.

[Gracie]

I have always been taught by my dad to never wrap a fish in a towel when you unhook it as it damages the scales, have seen this on a number of occasions, never done it myself but is this correct?

 

MBA Marines description sums up fishing pretty well in my opinion lol

 

Grace

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

This should cover it, you need a boat, rod, and hat!  now for the most important bit, dont bother trying to catch fish just pretend to and drink beer! 

 

 

I seem to remember somebody on the forum had a "strapline" saying "Give a man a fish and he`ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he`ll sit all day in a boat drinking beer".

 

I can`t remember who it was, but i thought it was a great saying, and i would imagine quite true for some?.

[quo vadis]

And some hooks and swivel

[webntweb]

Don't have the reel tension too tight. Reasonable size perch are fairly common and will give a good fight. In the same vein a landing net with extending handle should be used for anything over a few ounces. You can get one on Amazon for less than a tenner including p&p.

 

Roy

[Mandybstorm]

Got him a junior licence from the PO but do we need any other sort of permit to fish on the broads?

Also what are the rules on putting fish back or can we eat them?

[MauriceMynah]

No, the rod license is the only ticket he needs to fish the broads. All fish should be returned to the water, Don't eat them, they get really upset if you do, ask any pike!

[mickfreakley]

Got him a junior licence from the PO but do we need any other sort of permit to fish on the broads?

Also what are the rules on putting fish back or can we eat them?

I hope the comment about eating them was a joke, if not I would certainly not offered you any advise on how to catch them in the fist place.

[MauriceMynah]

Mickfreakley,

I fully understand how one can forget that other peoples knowledge can be lacking in what we, experienced in the sport, take as "obvious", but we should be grateful that the question was asked.

The matter may even be more confusing where nearer Breyden Water, sea fish may be caught. Is one frowned upon for eating a flounder caught there? (Rhetorical question)

 

No. When someone explains that they know nothing about the matter, then it is we, who should give ourselves a gentle slap for not thinking to answer important questions, even those that had not been asked.

[Gracie]

Dave

 

I would just like to say what a lovely and helpful offer, this is what makes this Forum stand out from the rest in my opinion, to offer your time to help a young lad to fish is bloody nice, well done Malteser 

 

Grace

[watershed]

No one person can,or ever will,know everything about fishing.

It's a vast subject and after 40 years at it i doubt if i know 10%!

The John Wilson books are very informative and full of good advice.

Be prepared for the unexpected!

My 10 year old(at the time) daughter caught an 18lb carp from a farmers pond while fishing for tiddlers with a whip.I've never been allowed to forget that.

And the other half had a near 4lb perch while carp fishing.same pond,same result!

[Polly]

Coarse fish are not eaten in the UK and are always put back. Please don't let him use a keep net, they kill the fish.

Many Eastern Europeans do eat river fish, and this is a point that is causing friction with anglers in the UK.

I hope your son enjoys the hobby. It's not for me, a) maggot drowning and b I hate actually catching the fish. Not really a basis is it? Dad was a very good angler though so I saw a great deal of fishing whilst being told not to upset the fish! Lol

[Wussername]

The other day I decided to cruise up the Thurne.

On the left hand bank there were an inordanate number of quite large gentleman, it has to be said, snoozing in the mid - day sun. Gently flatulating.

They all had umbrellas. Without exception, they were all sitting on very large boxes.

Would they have been anglers?

More importantly...........what is in these "very large boxes"

Old Wussername

[BroadScot]

Ah, possibly copious amounts of bottled ales, or pre heated bean tins (insulated), hence the flatulation

 

Iain.

[watershed]

@Polly,totally agree re keep nets,horrible things.

Around here( ne Essex) the Eastern Europeans tend to target carp,they set baited multiple hook lines and come back next day to take the catch.

Mind you,one did get a bit of a wallop from a couple of locals when they caught him at it!

[webntweb]

While most people do not take the fish they catch for eating, the following is an extract from the Environment Agencys booklet "Taking Stock".

Rivers

On any given day, you may only remove:

• 15 small fish (up to 20 cm from tip of snout to

fork of tail) of the native species listed in Box 1;

• one pike of up to 65 cm;

• two grayling of 30–38 cm.

If you remove more fish than this, you are committing

an offence under the new byelaws – you risk a

substantial fine.

You can still take:

Non-native species such as Zander.

The byelaws also apply to some natural lakes:

• Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and

Derwent Water (all in Cumbria);

• All the waters in the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads

that are subject to the coarse fish close season;

[webntweb]

Apologies I didn't include Box 1.

 

"Box 1: the bylaw applies to:

Common Bream, Common Carp, Crucian Carp, Silver Bream, Barbel, Chub, Dace, Perch, Pike, Roach, Rudd, Smelt and Tench.

It also includes hybrids of any of these species."

 

The bylaw seems to miss out Mirror Carp and Grass Carp unless it sees those as a variant of Common Carp.

[Polly]

I should have said, 'can kill the fish' . Properly set out you would be right, but too confined against the mesh and without adequate movement will not be good. If it's not a contest, why use one anyway?