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You must follow national and local rules (byelaws) when freshwater fishing with a rod and line in England and Wales.

These rules are aimed at protecting fish stocks and making fisheries sustainable.

Freshwater fish include salmon, trout, coarse fish and eels.

Find out which rules apply to your area

England and Wales are broken down into regions that each have their own rules. National rules are included in each set of local rules.

There may also be rules for privately owned bodies of water, such as private fishing lakes.

Read the rules for your area

Read the local byelaws for your area to find out the:

• areas in your region where you鈥檙e not allowed to fish
• closed seasons (when you can鈥檛 fish) which apply to particular types of water and fish within your region
• sort of tackle you can use for certain fish in your region
• size of fish you can keep

Read the local byelaws for your region - there are different .

鈥楥lose seasons鈥� are seasons when you can鈥檛 fish for some types of fish on certain types of water.

For example, you can鈥檛 fish for coarse fish on any river in England and Wales from 15 March to 15 June.

Reservoirs, lakes and ponds (鈥榚nclosed stillwaters鈥�) and canals

You can fish for coarse fish, eels, rainbow trout and brown trout on most enclosed stillwaters and canals all year.

Read the local byelaws to check your area.

Rivers, streams, drains or waterways (other than canals)

You can鈥檛 fish for coarse fish and eels on rivers from the 15 March to 15 June (you can fish for eel in some areas - read the local byelaws).

You need to read the local byelaws for close seasons for salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout on rivers.

Lock and weir fishing on the Thames

You must have an additional permit to fish locks and weirs on the Thames.

Game fishing during the coarse fish close season

You can fish for salmon, trout and other game fish during the coarse fish close season. You have to use certain types of lures and baits in some areas however.

Midlands, Yorkshire, and the north-east and north-west of England

You can only use natural or artificial fly, minnow, worm, shrimp, prawn, sand eel or artificial lures during close season.

South-east of England

You can only use artificial fly. In the Thames area, you can apply for permission from the Environment Agency to also use minnow caught in a minnow trap if used on the same waters.

Wales or the south-west of England

Read the or the south-west of England.

You鈥檙e only allowed to keep a certain amount of the fish you catch.

These fish must also be of a certain size.

You must return fish you can鈥檛 keep to the water unharmed.

Size limits

Whether you can keep a fish depends on:

• the type of fish
• where you鈥檙e fishing

Read the local byelaws for your region.

You must measure fish from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail.

Catch limits

There鈥檚 a daily limit on the number of fish you can take.

Coarse (freshwater) fish

Each day you can only take from rivers:

• 1 pike (up to 65cm)
• 2 grayling (30cm to 38cm)
• 15 small fish (up to 20cm) including barbel, chub, common bream, common carp, crucian carp, dace, perch, rudd, silver bream, roach, smelt and tench

You can also take:

• minor or 鈥榯iddler鈥� species, such as gudgeon
• non-native species
• ornamental varieties of native species like ghost or koi carp

Salmon and trout

Read your local byelaws for the local daily limit of salmon and trout you can take.

There are rules on how many rods you can use at a time, and the types of lures, bait, nets and weights.

Read the local byelaws for your region.

Fishing rods

The number of rods you can use at the same time depends on the water you鈥檙e fishing in and the fish you鈥檙e trying to catch.

You must make sure that the distance between the butts of the outermost rods isn鈥檛 more than 3 metres when fishing with multiple rods and lines.

Lures, bait and tackle

In England and Wales you must not:

• use crayfish as bait
• use another fish you鈥檝e taken as bait unless you鈥檙e doing so on the same waters where you caught it
• keep fish you鈥檝e foul hooked (caught with a hook puncturing anywhere but the fish鈥檚 mouth or throat) - these must be returned alive
• use a gaff (a pole with a large hook at the end) or a tailer (a loop of cable or wire at the end of a pole)

Before 16 June you can only use artificial lure and artificial fly to fish for salmon, which must be returned unharmed to the water.

Lead weights

You can only use lead weights if they鈥檙e .06 grams or less or more than 28.35 grams. This means lead shot weights from size 14 to size 8 and lead weights over 1 ounce.

Lead is toxic to birds, so if you鈥檙e using lead dust shot make sure the containers are spill proof.

Keepnets, keepsacks and landing nets

Keepnets must:

• have no knotted meshes or meshes of metallic material
• have holes smaller than 25mm
• be more than 2 metres long
• have supporting rings or frames less than 40cm apart and more than 120cm in circumference

A keepsack must be:

• made from a soft, dark coloured, non-abrasive and water permeable fabric
• at least 120cm by 90cm if rectangular
• at least 150cm by 30cm by 40cm if used with a frame
• used to hold no more than one fish at a time

Landing nets

You can鈥檛 use a landing net with any meshes that are knotted or made of metallic material.