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3 metre rule

Dave Burr

Dave Burr

Senior Member
Now I've always been a law abiding chap, I've had a rod license every year since 1964 and used to know every by-law written on the back including all of the minimum sizes for each of our species.

In this week's Angling Times I saw a feature about someone who'd been prosecuted for fishing with his rods more than 3mt apart. When did that become law?

I can honestly say that I have never heard of that law or seen it written anywhere. The modern licenses don't have any information on them so how am I supposed to know what it what?

As I said, I am always keen to abide by the law and as a club bailiff, would be expected to know what they were and to advise others accordingly.

How many of you knew of this rule and how many didn't.
 
you shouldn't leave baited rods unattended is all i know that could come close.
so 10ft or so, you could argue that was it, you cannot be in two places at once, seems a bit mean considering the rules that are broken daily like fishing out of season....:eek:
 
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I have never heard of that either Dave.....but to be fair I cann't imagine fishing with two rods when that would be the case anyway....but that is not the point really.If you find out where that is written as law then please post it up anyway.
Cheers
Rich.
 
When fishing with multiple rods and lines, rods shall be placed
such that the distance between the butts of the end rods does not
exceed three metres.
NB. This is a national byelaw
 
This one's been active for years. I know people who fish two swims at once and stand high on the bank between them:mad:
 
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to boot, the bloke was fishing with his rods tens of metres apart...a bit of a pillock if you ask me !
 
I once saw an idiot fishing Collingham with 3 rods at least 10 meters apart. I shook my head all the way past him.
 
I saw a chap fishing on the Dove that was fishing two rods that were at least 15 meters apart.......in different swims...... :eek: ....and not for Pike either.
 
I 've seen many a time where anglers have been 100 metres away from they rods talking to they mates and having to run back to they rods when they buzzers have gone off :mad:

3 metres is nothing :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Whats the point in that...if ye fighting a barb on one rod and the other swim decides to come alive..one rod might just go...ta ta down the sodding river...bit of a no brainer if ye ask me...
 
Ian I think ' no brains ' sums up these idiots perfectly . Hundred yards away from their rods , bonkers ! It would take the Olympic champ 9 seconds to get there .As for these fellas by ,the time they got to the rod they would have probably forgot what it was they set out to do . Doh :(
 
As this is a barbel site most of you are just thinking of a barbel scenario when any distance between you and your rods is critical.

But what about those days when you are on a lake maybe fishing with a float rod but you have a 'sleeper' rod set to one side which has been cast along the margin for some patrolling carp, or when pike fishing when you have a bait either side of an overhanging tree whilst you sit in between them? I've done both of the above and the rods have been more than 3mts apart but I am still able to be on them withing seconds.

I don't think that I was putting fish in any potential harm, I think its more a common sense thing. But now that I am aware of the rule I shall have to go about it in a different way.
 
I think this rule is mostly to do with pike fishing. Possibly from the practice of leapfrogging the rods down fenland drains, etc. This practice can take up a lot of bank space and was always frowned upon by non-pike anglers.

The rule of not being away from your rods is a good one, however. though unfortunately leaving rods unattended with the alarms turned up is common practice with many modern carp anglers. In the past I've upset more than a few of them by reeling them in. I remember a popular carp water I used to tench fish where all the carp anglers would gather in one swim, then when a buzzer went off in the night there would be a stampede of feet running round the lake. Ban em all I say!
 
I'd never seen the rule in black and white but I'm pleased to see it there. It's something that I happen to agree with, even if only for good manners sake. Lets face it, it does get ignored on a regular basis by all kinds of anglers. I've seen it a few times on rivers where a single angler has had single or even double rod set ups in different pegs. Many anglers set bivvies up more than three metres from their rods so will they be liable for prosecution under the same law, even i the butts of their rods are less than three metres apart?

I'd also never seen the upper limit of four rods written down. That one also gets ignored by a few. Very loud or remoted bite alarms allow, and to some extent encourage, the walk away scenarios. Why anyone should need a remote with ranges of hundreds of yards is totally beyond me, particularly in light of such rules.

I can't recall ever fishing with more than two rods and feel that's pushing it in some scenarios. For the first time ever I'm contemplating using three or even four rods on a new still water that's huge and has a low stock density. It'll go against the grain to do it though but I'm content that the chances of actually catching on at least two of the rods will be ridiculously small and is the only reason that I'm even thinking along those lines. I still won't be walking away any further than it takes to have a pee and I'll make sure that I adhere to the three metre rule.
 
Chris Jones said:
I can't recall ever fishing with more than two rods and feel that's pushing it in some scenarios. For the first time ever I'm contemplating using three or even four rods on a new still water that's huge and has a low stock density. It'll go against the grain to do it though but I'm content that the chances of actually catching on at least two of the rods will be ridiculously small and is the only reason that I'm even thinking along those lines. I still won't be walking away any further than it takes to have a pee and I'll make sure that I adhere to the three metre rule.
Click to expand...

Don't forget you will need two licences to use 3 or 4 rods :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
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