Fishery Rules and Conditions - Shrewsbury Town Fisheries

Fisheries Rules and Conditions

Shrewsbury Town Fisheries manage the fishing waters of Shrewsbury Town Council and Shropshire Council and the rules set out below apply to any waters. In the event there are unique rules for certain sites these are laid out below. It is a condition that the Rules are read and understood before you fish with any Permit/Membership.
Fishing Season
1. The Fishing season as set by the Environment Agency shall be:
a. Coarse Fishing – 16th June – 14th March
b. Salmon Fishing – 1st February – 7th October
c. Trout Fishing – 22nd March – 30th September

Permits
2. Fishing Permits remain the property of Shrewsbury Town Fisheries and may be revoked at any time by a Bailiff, Club Official or an Officer of Shrewsbury Town Council.
3. Permits run for 12 months from the date of issue and are not transferrable.
4. Anglers must be in possession of an Environment Agency Rod Licence prior to purchasing a permit from Shrewsbury Town Fisheries.
5. While fishing an angler must be in possession of both a Shrewsbury Town Fisheries Permit and an appropriate Environment Agency Rod Licence and these must be presented to a Bailiff, Club Official or Officer of Shrewsbury Town Council when requested.

Junior Fishing
6. Junior Anglers Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult angler, who shall be responsible for the safety and conduct of that Junior.
Risk
7. Anglers use the Shrewsbury Town Fisheries at their own Risk. Shrewsbury Town Fisheries, Shrewsbury Town Council or Shropshire Council shall not be responsible for any loss, damage or injury whilst using these waters.
8. Wading is permitted but the angler enters the river at his own risk.

Conduct
9. All anglers must conduct themselves in a fair and sporting manner, showing respect and courtesy for other anglers, local residents, local land owners, other river users and the public at large and shall not cause any nuisance, offence, disturbance or annoyance to the same whilst fishing. Abusive language will not be tolerated.
10. Shrewsbury Town Fisheries operates a Social Media zero tolerance on any anglers being witnessed to show abusive, offensive or racial hatred towards any individual angler, angling official, club or organisation relevant to fishing. Such action will result in Permits being revoked and potentially Police action being sought.
11. Anglers shall respect the advice/ruling of the Bailiff even if disagreed with. Any appeals to the Bailiff’s ruling shall be made in writing within 7 days.
12. Noise must be kept to a minimum including radios, mobile phones and bite alarms and must not be audible by any other person.
13. All anglers must show respect for the local environment to preserve and protect the local wildlife, crops, trees, vegetation as well as any infrastructure constructed by the Shrewsbury Town Fisheries for the benefit of angling. No angler shall cause or allow to be done any damage to or remove any property, shrubs, trees, banks, fencing, crops, livestock, flora or fauna. Any requests for the removal of such must be made to the Shrewsbury Town Council abided by at all times. Any anglers seen contravening these rules will be asked to leave and risk their permit to fish being revoked. It is the responsibility of every angler (including juniors) to familiarise themselves with these rules.
14. Any infringements of these rules or any fish deaths must be reported to the Bailiff.

Rules of operation
15. Public Rights of Way must be clear from obstruction at all times.
16. Fishing is not permitted during the hours of darkness (Anglers must vacate the fisheries once it is DARK. – (Winter Time 1st November to 14th March 18.00hrs Evening). The only exception to this is fishing on the specialist Oxon Pool.
17. Fishing is only allowed on designated pegs and on the river where no pegs are present not within 10 metres of another angler. Fisheries only extend to the centre line of the river, therefore casting must not be beyond this point.
18. No angler shall fish the same peg on consecutive days. The only exception being at the specialist Oxon Pool.
19. Anglers shall be responsible for the disposal of any waste (including litter, surplus bait and waste tackle) off the Shrewsbury Town Fisheries including the waters, carparks and land adjacent.
20. The following are not permitted on any site:
a. Any cans or tins (ie Luncheon meat, Sweetcorn)
b. The possession or use of any fireams or weapons
c. The lighting of any fires, camping stoves and barbecues
d. Camping, Sleeping/Staying in vehicles at any time.
e. All non-prescribed behavioural changing substances including alcohol. Anyone affected by such substances whether or not consumed or administered on the waters will be deemed as being in breach of these rules and will result in a lifetime ban.
f. Fishing from and the use of boats, Kayaks, Watercraft on the river; the only exception being for authorised maintenance purposes.(Bylaw Schedules14,23)
g. Guest fishing
21. Rods shall not be left unattended at any time for any reason. No more than two baited rods shall be permitted at anyone time and they should be placed at no more than 2 metres apart.
22. No fish are to be transferred to or removed from the waters and all fish must be returned alive, the only exception being Trout(River Severn) during appropriate seasons as defined by the Environment Agency. Live fish bait fishing is prohibited. The retaining of fish in any retention system other than a keep-net is forbidden. No fish may be retained in keep-nets for more than 5 hours and nets must be in sufficient depth of water. All keep-nets, landing nets, unhooking mats and weigh slings must be completely dry before fishing. All anglers must carry a mandatory landing net and Barbel/Pike/Specimen anglers an unhooking mat.
23. Anglers must park their vehicles being respectful of other users, not blocking Public Rights of Way or causing damage to property or land. Parking along the river bank is not permitted and anglers must use the designated parking provided. Anyone parking inappropriately will be asked to leave. Anglers must not park outside the provided car park at the bottom stretch of Emstrey. Anglers using Radbrook Pool must be mindful of local residents and park away from the entrance to the pool. Anglers using Monkmoor must not park or drive on the river bank. Parking is under the two road bridges. Parking at residential areas of Coseley Avenue and Rushbrook Way is not permitted.

Exception Sites
24. Reabrook Fishery has conservation status and operates a catch and release on all species of fish; this ensures fish stocks are protected. Fly and Spinning with Mepps Spinners is allowed during the Trout Season prior to 16th June. No other spinning lures,plugs or jig baits of any type are permitted on the Reabrook.
25. Mousecroft & Radbrook Pool anglers must only use barbless hooks. Floating bait of any type and Bait Boats are not permitted. The use of bread is banned. Fishing at Radbrook Pool is only permited between the hours of 8.00am till 8.00pm or dusk.
26. There are specific Rules for fishing the Weir Pool at Sydney Avenue and are displayed at the Weir. No coarse fishing is permitted at the Weir Pool between the 1st February to 7th October inclusive during the Salmon Season. No spinning, jig, lure or worm fishing is allowed on the Weir Pool and Sydney Avenue and if contravened will result in permit being revoked. The only exception is to Salmon Anglers who can Spin and fly fish. Worming for Salmon is now banned. All Environment Agency Bylaws apply to Salmon fishing. All salmon caught must be returned to the river to preserve fish stocks.
The new salmon bylaw includes the following:
No fishing for salmon and sea trout unless using an artificial lure fitted with a single barbless or de-barbed hook with a gape no greater than 13mm.
No fishing for salmon and sea trout with rod line by means of any bait (worms, prawns and shrimp).
No fishing with artificial fly unless furnished with a single barbless or de-barbed hook with a maximum gape of 13mm OR a single barbless or de-barbed treble or double hook with the maximum hook gape of any treble or double hook(s) being no greater than 7 millimetres.
We would also ask salmon anglers to refrain from salmon fishing during high water temperatures to protect the recovery during release of caught fish.
27. Oxon Pool operate specific rules which are detailed at the Pool and on the website.

Rights Reserved
28. In extreme weather conditions, Shrewsbury Town Fisheries reserves the right to close some/all of its fisheries to protect the livelihood and health of the fish stock. This shall be communicated as widely as possible through the website, social media, email and press.
29. Shrewsbury Town Fisheries & Shrewsbury Town Council shall review these Rules annually.