Speed hooks and Yoyo reals are legal in UK

[pango]

I can't speak for the rest of the UK but in Scotland it isn't a case simply of leaving a rod unattended. It's against the law to lay a rod down or use a rod-rest, as that is seen as a set line!

As Bushwhacker has said, not every fish requires an instant strike and some need to be left to run. In fact, I'm pressed to think of any British freshwater fish worth eating that requires an instant strike. Furthermore, I'd be surprised if a spring-loaded hook didn't result in more missed fish than an ordinary barbed and baited hook left for a fish to swallow in its own time.

The greatest concern of a fish is to get the goodies before a bigger boy comes along and nicks his meal... or worse, nicks him and his meal!

 

[Whittler Kev]

I know Globetrotter found a good source for YOYO's and I'm told the trigger is brill.
One point though, can a pole be called a rod and if so is a branch a pole (may have to cut it off the tree of course)?

 

[wingstoo]

I know Globetrotter found a good source for YOYO's and I'm told the trigger is brill.
One point though, can a pole be called a rod and if so is a branch a pole (may have to cut it off the tree of course)?

I would say that if you use a pole as a fishing rod with a Yo-yo reel attached and you have a rod licence available then it should be OK, my old Dad, in his late 70's now, used a hazel branch as a rod for many years as a youngster, couldn't afford proper tackle in the thirties and forties, he had a centre pin bakalite reel as well.

Wings

 

[demented dale]

I have been in contact with the Environment Agency over the last few months about the use of Speed hooks and Yoyo reels.

I think you will be surprised by what I have been told.

Here is the email I received today, read it carefully and you will see that you are legally allowed to use both items on UK inland waters.

As usual there is a big "BUT"



So providing you attach either item to a licenced and closely monitored fishing rod it would certainly appear that both items can be used.

Perhaps a note of the above should be carried next to your rod licence with Heidi Stones name and position highlighted.


Tight lines


Wings

good info , thank you. i now use my hobo line like that. Just tape it to a hazel pole or anything that is 5 foot in length. i fell foul to a fisheries enforcer that busted me for using a hobo line, he was insistent that, to fish, you could not legally fish with a rod under 5ft. i wondered why as the fish has no idea and it really doesnt make any difference. i looked into it and lo and behold it appears to have emerged around the time just after the Napoleonic wars and at the exact same time the vagrancy laws were passed in the UK. After the war there were many homeless soldiers who were drifting and many were fishing with hand lines. So it was banned. And so a law still stands today that has nothing to do fish welfare and everything to do with criminalizing the poor. So now, to stay within their law, I just use an elastic band or string to tie my hobo reel to any random stick i find. Which is pretty much what the Gov agent said in her email to you. All interesting stuff xxx

 

[Falstaff]

ahh, that's where the 5 ft thing came from. Thanks Dale. The UK legal length definition of a Pole is 5 feet. I had (a long while ago, when I went fishing a lot), wondered why there weren't any short rods in the uk.
Pole fishing itself is a very common form of fishing widely used in the uk and Europe - basically a standard usually fibreglass set of interlocking rods well over 5 ft, typically 12-14 ft total length, with a fixed length line on one end. If the line is shorter than than the pole then sections are either taken down until the angler can reach to the hook/fish, or just slid back behind them.

 

[Broch]

It is my understanding that there is no minimum legal rod length for freshwater fishing unless defined in local byelaws and/or riparian owners rules - if you have a link to UK legislation that does, I'd be very keen to see it please.

 

[Kepis]

Pole fishing itself is a very common form of fishing widely used in the uk and Europe - basically a standard usually fibreglass set of interlocking rods well over 5 ft, typically 12-14 ft total length, with a fixed length line on one end. If the line is shorter than than the pole then sections are either taken down until the angler can reach to the hook/fish, or just slid back behind them.

Poles are typically made from carbon fibre these days including the budget ones, although glass does still appear in really cheap junk from aliexpress and the like, lengthwise a typical pole these days will be a minimum of 14.5m ranging up to 16m and beyond.

The short ones i think you are referring to too with a length of line equal to the length of the pole are called Whips and have a solid flick tip in the tip and are used for catching lots of small fish very quickly, whereas proper poles have a length of elastic set in the tip to cushion the play of the fish, the elastic comes in various grades to suit the fishing you are doing, light stuff like a 3, 4 or 5 for roach bashing up the canal up to 16, 18 and above for carping on commercial puddles, althugh i never felt the need to go above a 12 laccy through the top two.

 

[Falstaff]

Thanks for the update Kepis, its been along time since I went fishing and things have moved on. 16m? Phew! you could get right across t'other side of some of the places I used fish.

 

[Falstaff]

I've just seen the Gov.uk site guidance on takle etc permitted - nearly all of my old kit is now banned - knotted keepnets, gaff hooks etc. No mention of rods though, only their max distance apart and not to be left alone.