MORE people are being encouraged to try the sport of freshwater fishing with the introduction of cheaper licences by the Department of Food and Agriculture, announced today.
The Department (DEFA) revealed today that it has introduced a new type of fishing licence for the forthcoming fishing season as well as reduced fees for day licences to fish reservoirs.
Juan Turner MLC, member for fisheries, said it was hoped that by reducing the cost of a day’s fishing, “more people will be encouraged to try out the sport.”
The Combined Season Licence is available to adult anglers, allowing them to fish in both reservoirs and other waters using a single licence, at a cost of £210 – a saving of £17 on the purchase of the two separate licences.
This new licence is being trialled in 2011 and it is hoped that it will encourage more anglers to try their hand at both reservoir and river fishing in the Island.
The reservoir fishing season opens on the traditional date of 10th March, and the river season commences on 1st April. Heavy fines and confiscation of tackle are amongst some of the penalties for anyone found fishing in Manx rivers and reservoirs without a licence.
DEFA says it hopes anglers will be “delighted” by the news that the cost of both adult and student day reservoir licences has been reduced by almost 20% on the 2010 cost, to a duty of £15 and £8 respectively. At the same time, the day licence rate for ‘Other Water’ licences has remained unchanged from the 2010 duties of £9 and £5.50.
Juan Turner added, “The new Combined Season Licence is also a great chance for anglers who may usually only purchase one type of licence, to try out a new type of fishing in 2011 and as an incentive, the combined licence is being offered at a reduced rate – less than the price of purchasing two season licences.”
Reservoir fishing has increased in popularity over the years, with the government spending considerable sums on breeding rainbow trout which are released throughout the season into all the Island’s main reservoirs. 22,792 trout were stocked to reservoirs over the 2010 fishing season. Trout are not stocked to the rivers.
A total of 2193 licences were issued in 2010 – 1628 reservoir and 565 Other Water licences (including free child licences). 90 winter reservoir licences were issued for the 2010/11 season.
The Manx record for a wild salmon caught on rod and line is just over 17 lbs, captured in 1993 by Stephen Lester of Peel who caught his fish in the River Neb at Peel. The Isle of Man’s sea trout record has stood at 15 lbs since 1973 and no one has caught a fish close to this size for many years.
The record for a trout stands at 20lbs 2.25oz, captured in January 2009 from Clypse reservoir by Geoff Thomas.
• Combined season licences will only be available for sale via the Government’s Online Services website from 24 February 2011.
