THESE RULES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR UNIVERSEAL USE BY MEMBER CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FEDERATION. THEY ARE THE COPYRIGHT OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF ANGLERS. THEY MAY NOT BE USED, COPIED OR PUBLISHED OTHER THAN BY AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS WITHOUT THE PRIOR CONSENT OF THE FEDERATION.
1. The starting and finishing times for the match must be prominently displayed at match headquarters and on all literature relating to the match.
2. The recommended duration for a contest shall be five hours.
3. The match must be a pegged down competition. Pegs, preferably twenty yards apart and not less than fifteen yards, must be staked out and numbered prior to fishing. All pegs used under normal conditions must be of a state to give competitors a practicable and reasonable chance to fish his or her swim.
4. All officials participating in the organisation of the match must wear some kind of insignia, ie an armband, as clear evidence of their authority.
5. Each competitor on drawing his/her number shall proceed to the corresponding number on the bank and this will be considered his/her fishing ground where he/she will fish. The peg must remain in position until the weigh-in is completed.
6. Every competitor must fish from within one metre either side of his/her designated peg. On flowing water, the competitor may fish in the direction of the flow as far as the next peg. On still water, he/she may fish as far as half the distance between his/her peg and the pegs on either side. Where competitors are drawn on opposite banks, the limit of the swim is the line midway between each bank.
The competitor will restrict their activities completely to these boundaries, neither his/her person, his/her tackle, his/her hookbaits or groundbaits may intrude into his/her neighbours swim.
In an extreme situation eg snagged tackle of a snagged fish, an angler must seek permission from his/her neighbour/s before moving from his/her designated peg to try and remedy the situation.
A competitor must not cause annoyance to, or seek to interfere with another competitor or use mobile phones during the course of the competition, and must act in a sporting manner at all times.
7. No competitor may move his/her peg or exchange his/her peg or draw card with another without the organiser’s official consent.
8. No competitor shall buy more than one entry ticket for himself/herself from which it follows that all competitors must be strictly restricted to one draw.
9. Competitors must retain all fish in keepnets which comply with the relevant EA Byelaws. Competitors must take every practicable step to keep their fish alive and, after weighing them, must ensure their careful return to the water. If, for any reason fish are seen to be in distress, a competitor or match official has the right to demand that they be weighed immediately and returned to the water during the course of the match.
10. A competitor shall have in use one rod or pole, one line and one single hook at one time, but may have other rods or poles and tackle assembled for use in position behind him/her, if possible, providing that no such other tackles are baited.
11. Any bait, subject to local rules, can be used except live or dead fish, frogs spinning baits or artificial lures.
12. No competitor shall have live or dead fish in his/her possession before a match. All competitors must submit to a search if requested by a contest official.
13. Before the starting signal no competitor must on any account groundbait or loose feed the swim but will be allowed to wet a line, plumb the depth and test the float, mix and wt groundbait, clear his/her ground of weed or obstructions and position his/her equipment. On no account must a feeder be used before the starting signal. A ledger weight may be cast to find depth and distance etc, but a no time must the line be left in the water whilst continuing to set up other tackle.
14. Competitors may receive assistance to or from their peg, or both, for themselves or their tackle, or both.
15. All groundbait may be thrown in by hand, or by use of one or t

Yes, we do fish to AT rules, they are the same as the NFA rules, they havent changed.

Some fisheries have there own rules too, such as net limits, weight limits in nets, there own pellets etc, i just fish to the rules above here, no other rules.

Quick question Nigel, – point 13 – no line may be left in the water whilst continuing to set up other tackle.

I was under the impression that it was accepted that you could cast a bomb/empty feeder in order to try to detect liners prior to the all in? I don’t fish commercial matches so I haven’t got first hand experience either way – can you clarify

Ta ~think ~think

You certainly can’t cast out an empty feeder!

You can cast a bomb JUST to get distance and depth. At no time can a feeder be cast out before the start of a match. This is clearly stated in rule 13.

Our club rules combine our own club rules and a selection of the NAF/AT modle match rules. We also include a few rules concerning fish welfare such as not using cloths to handle fish and rules to help protect the waters we fish such as ensuing keep nets are thoroughly dry befor hand etc. In all cases the rules of the fishery take presidence.

J

Yes pike count unless the match organisors says not.

Barbless hooks yes, bought in around 5 years ago, along with the 16m rule.

Mobile phones are not alowed to be used during a match. Yet no one takes any notice of this rule!(Exept nationals, and fish ‘o’ mania final)

You cant cast a feeder as said, you can clip up with a bomb, but you cant keep casting it to attract fish, or leave it out looking for liners.

@Nigel. wrote:

Mobile phones are not alowed to be used during a match. Yet no one takes any notice of this rule!(Exept nationals, and fish ‘o’ mania final)

If that’s the case, is it OK to take no notice of any of the other rules?

J

Thats down to the match organsor Jon.
I run a lot of matches, and at the UK Champs rounds i do say you can use your phone!

I’d agree with that Nigel.

Don’t get these rules mixed up with the rules for National Championship’s these are quite different.
With no mention of barbless hooks and braid hooklengths for a start!

I believe the rule 13 is intended to say the NO FILLED FEEDER……..can be cast into the lake etc, and not that an empty feeder can not be cast to check for distance etc.

Sorry mickey’smate the rule is quite clear and been in force for a number of years.

Its the one rule most often broken, especially on Nationals on the Trent

Last year in one of the British Waterways qualifiers the guy next to me kept casting out a pellet waggler, 5 mins before the all in. He said it was to get rid of a small tangle in his reel line? On his first cast he had a carp straight away. I told my mate and said the bloke next to him aswell as about 3 others must of had this small tangle?
Is this cheating?

I would say it was Bear. Just as it would be to catapult out pellets. The guy was attracting fish into his swim and getting them to look for feed.

Its not cheating, but it is bending the rules!
It happened on the Sensas final last year, an angler kept casting a bomb to the far bank, more than is needed just to clip up, he was obvioulsly trying to attract fish, and there was complaints to the match organisor (Mark Downs) who put a stop to it the following day.

I also agree, that is dam anoying to see someone casting a feeder before the match starts, they should know the basic rules!

Nigel,

This doesn’t seem to mention allowing smaller sizes in shot, styl’s etc only feeder weights
is lead and its composites totally banned and if so who enforces it.

“43. The use of lead, including any alloy or compound lead, in the form of split shot or any other suitable thing for weighting fishing lines is prohibited. The prohibition does not apply to weights of lead, alloy or compound lead, less than 28.35 grms if such lead, alloy or compound lead, is incorporated in the construction of swim feeders or self cocking floats.”

what about pole tapping is that allowed before the match????

Lead is alowed for shot size 8 and smaller. Larger than 1oz (i think, Keith will know), is also allowed,
Its to do with the old lead shot tubs, where they got knocked over, and swans were dying of lead poisening afer eating it.

Pole tapping, catapulting stones whatever you can think of to attract fish is allowed,

but would soon get stopped if it was done!!!!!!~naughty ~naughty ~naughty ~naughty ~naughty

Nigel, surely they would fall under the “not breaking the surface fo the water other than to plumb up or mix groundbait” rule?