1. Permits: No member shall be on any water controlled by the Association, for the purpose of fishing, without carrying his/her current Annual Permit.
A current Environment Agency rod licence must be in members possession while fishing RDAA waters.
Senior members only may take one guest on to R&DAA waters, by first obtaining an Accompanied Guest Day Ticket. The member must accompany the guest and be responsible for the conduct of that person.
When a senior member is accompanied by their partner, then that person may fish free provided there is no abuse of the privilege, and at no time may the number of rods in use by the party exceed two (but see Rule 4). Such person must fish within the sight of the Association member.
2. Conduct of Members: All members shall pursue their angling activities in a sporting manner, having due regard to the rights of property owners adjacent to waters and property controlled by the Association. They shall conduct themselves in an exemplary
manner, not block footpaths, cause nuisance to other river users or interfere with the sport of other anglers. RDAA has produced a ‘Responsible Angling Guide’ and members shall be expected to adhere to it.
(a) Offences: The following actions constitute offences:
(i) the lighting of open fires;
(ii) cutting trees other than light pruning with non mechanised equipment.
(iii) Camping which includes overnight in car parks – other than that regulated on Night Permits.
(iv) Leaving any form of litter on a swim or venue as empty tins, bottles, discarded tackle, bags etc. whether deposited by the member fishing the swim or not, which is not contained in some manner and will be removed from the venue on departure.
(v) Entering adjacent property not controlled by the Association, damaging crops by crossing fields instead of following authorised footpaths or banksides.
(vi) any member found to have entered or exited a locked car park or locked access gate or barrier, without effectively re-securing it, if in working condition, will have committed an offence for which their Annual Permit will be immediately confiscated, and they will be automatically banned from any form of membership for a further period of three years following the end of the season in which the offence was committed.
(vii) the use of any drone, boat, punt, inflatable dinghy, or radio-controlled model (see (x)), swimming, or wading in depths which require the use of anything other than waders, is strictly forbidden. No member is allowed to have a boat or drone on any Association venue at any time, and members must not induce other parties to use a boat or drone to distribute bait, place baited hooks, free fish, or on any other pretext.
(viii) radio controlled bait boats are allowed on Sonning Eye Pit only.
(xi) using radios or similar equipment which is audible to others. This does not exclude the use of personal listening by means of headphones or portable telephones.
(xii) no fishing within 30 metres of Overhead Power Lines
(xiii) Do not fish from landing stages, permanent moorings, locks or bridge approaches on canals or within 25metres of locks or swing bridges. Other offences specifically related to venues and fishing are given elsewhere.
(ix) Dependent on the nature of the offence and other circumstances, a Warranted Bailiff may endorse the member’s permit with the date and nature of an offence which will be withdrawn automatically should the member be found committing a further offence
which would ordinarily warrant an endorsement, for referral to the Executive Council’s Disciplinary Committee
b) Disciplinary Procedure: When a permit is withdrawn by a Warranted Bailiff, membership is suspended and no access to any Association water is permitted. The Association’s Disciplinary Secretary includes the item on a Disciplinary Committee agenda
and contacts the member to advise him of the date fixed for the hearing which the member is invited to attend to present his own case. These proceedings will take place even in the absence of the member and a decision reached. It should be noted that the Annual Permit issued remains the property of the Association. No recompense will be made for any period for which any
permit is subsequently withdrawn.
Venues: Members are not permitted to fish any Association water the night before a booked match that appears on the Association’s website Water Booking Sheet, and must be off the water by one hour after sunset or 9 p.m. No member is then permitted to set up tackle, break the water or fish elsewhere on the venue prior to the match commencing. Permission
to fish after the commencement of the match will be at the sole discretion of the person controlling the booked match.
3. When, due to exceptional circumstances, a club is subsequently allocated a venue which does not appear on the Water Booking Sheet they must respect the rights of members who may already be fishing on their arrival and peg around them, and permit later arrivals to take up any vacant swims. It is an offence to hold matches on unbooked venues.
Parking at venues which obstructs the access of farming equipment or unauthorised parking on farm property is strictly prohibited and constitutes a major offence. Parking on RDAA venues is in the official car parks only and not elsewhere on the venues.
4. Regulations: Permit holders are members of the Association until the 15 th June each year when the permit is renewable. Whilst this is an Annual Permit, legislation does not at present permit fishing during the ‘close season’ on rivers or canalised rivers, of which the Kennet & Avon is one, excepting the Froxfield Canal section which is purely canal water. Your Annual Permit shows Venue Open Throughout The Year or No Close Season Fishing, as appropriate.
5. These Permits authorise the member to fish from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset or until 9 pm (darker nights) on eligible waters, see venue page on website., Senior Members only are also permitted to fish three venues at night, Moatlands Pool, Sandford Weir and Padworth Mill at no extra charge. Night fishing is also available on many other
venues to members obtaining Night Permits (see website). Any member who has tackle assembled outside the permitted hours will be deemed to be fishing. The use of bloodworm, joker and crayfish (or parts of) is banned on all of the Association waters.
Only lead weights that comply with EA Byelaws shall be used.
No member shall fish with more than two rods at any time on any venue other than Pingewood Lagoon, Sonning Eye Pit, Englefield Lagoon, Farnham Flint Pit and Whistley Mill Lake where the use of three rods is permitted to holders of the appropriate Rod Licences.
No member shall use any automatic striking device, or any form of gorge, or gaff hook Pre-baiting is prohibited. Preparing a swim such as raking and very lightly baiting is acceptable.
Any member leaving his/her swim must remove any bait from the hook and all tackle, except the keepnet, from the water.
Any weighing of fish must be done at the swim and the fish released with the minimum of stress.
No fish shall be placed directly onto hard surfaces
No member shall introduce any species of fish to Association waters. It is illegal to use live bait not caught on the water being fished or crayfish at any time.
No fish shall be taken away from Association waters including trout. All fish must be returned alive to the fishery from whence they came.
Where the Association controls both banks, no member may fish from the bank opposite to that being fished during a booked match.
On lake venues 'your' water is marked out as an imaginary arc, 50% of the width to adjacent swims. ‘Cutting off’ any adjacent swims is forbidden.
Keepnets less than 35 centimetres diameter and 2 metres long with no knotted or metallic mesh or holes larger than 25 millimetres will not be used on Association waters (EA Byelaws).
These Rules may be subject to variation in order to comply with Environment Agency Byelaws.
A maximum of approximately 50lbs of fish per keepnet. Any retained fish must be released within 5 1/2 hours.
Braided mainline and leaders are banned for the purposes of carp and pike fishing on all venues. A short length (120cm max) of rubbing leader material is acceptable, i.e leadcore or equivalent.
The only exception to this is lure fishing and marker/spoon use.
No bait fishing for Pike between 1 st April and 1 st October Crayfish Trapping Will require the written consent of the Association and an Environment Agency trapping licence. Without these you are acting illegally and will be dealt with accordingly.
Night Permit Rules River Venues - The RDAA Bronze and 24hr permits allow for anglers to fish at night on our river venues, including shared venues where applicable. On these venues no bedchairs, bivvies or open fronted shelters (except brollies) can be used except for Whistley Mill Lower River. This provision is to facilitate fishing after dark rather than sleeping. Please adhere to venue rod limits, see website.
Anglers are permitted to leave their swim for a maximum 90 minute period in any one single 24 hour period.
Anglers are not permitted to stay on a single venue for any one period that exceeds 120 hours.
No angler is to be in possession of or introduce more than 5kg of bait/ground bait per 24hr period.
Pre-baiting and post-baiting is prohibited Bait must be removed from the hook when the angler is not in the swim.
Swims cannot under any circumstances be reserved by placing buckets etc in to the swim.
Fish retaining sacks must not be used on any Association waters.
Suitable landing nets, unhooking mats, line and end tackle are required for your target species. If your tackle etc is deemed to be inadequate by an Association bailiff you will be reported to the Fishery Officer and asked to leave and then only return with upgraded tackle.
Tackle, including rigs and end tackle may be inspected by Fisheries Officer at any time whilst on Association waters.
Night anglers are reminded that they need to vacate a venue booked for a match on the following day by 9pm the night before (see water booking sheet).
Pike Fishing Guidelines
Suitable tackle must be used. Minimum main line of 15lbs bs for mono. Wire trace of a minimum 20lb b.s. for bait fishing of at least 18" in length.
Unhooking equipment must include long forceps (or long nosed pliers), a means of cutting hooks or wire and an unhooking mat.
No more than two treble hooks per trace
You must be within 5mtrs of any baited rods
‘Chinning’ fish from the water is ok but no ‘beaching’ of fish, use a suitably sized landing net Fish must be returned to the water they came from, quickly with the minimum of fuss. Fish must be supported in water to allow recovery before releasing
No fixed leads and no freelining
No bait fishing between the dates 1st April & 1st October lure fishing only
If using ‘multi hook’ lures they must be barbless Unhooking equipment and terminal tackle must be made available to a warranted bailiff when requested to do so.
Lures must be of a maximum size of 75mm between the dates 1st April & 1st October
If targeting species other than Pike a fluorocarbon trace/leader of an appropriate breaking strain can be used. However, if targeting Pike a 20lb b.s. wire trace must be used.
Responsible Angling Guide
This guide has been produced in order to preserve the rights of any RDAA member to enjoy their fishing experience on our venues, while also protecting the environment surrounding our fisheries and our stock.
Please ensure you are aware of ALL rules and you have checked the ‘water booking sheet’ for any booked venues.
Treat all other RDAA members and RDAA, officials with the respect you would expect to receive yourself. RDAA prides itself on offering varied angling opportunities, please respect any other angling disciplines different to yours.
Use bait sensibly and not to excess, take any unused bait away with you.
Ensure any nuts, beans, pulses are prepared in the correct manor before use.
Ensure any ‘rigs’ give the fish an opportunity to break free of tackle if in the unfortunate event of a loss.
Ensure any nets bought onto RDAA property are dry. CLEAN, CHECK, DRY.
Please use any toilets provided, where not provided ensure you have a means to contain any waste to then be disposed of at home (not on our venues). Any member suspected of not adhering to this will have their permit immediately confiscated pending a disciplinary hearing.
ANY litter within the scope of your swim is YOUR responsibility and must be taken away upon leaving.
While we appreciate angling can be a social pastime, any drinking of alcohol should be in moderation. BBQ’s must be raised from the ground as to not leave ‘scorch’ marks and any resulting coals to be disposed of properly.
Any anglers deemed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol will be escorted off our property and will not then return until a disciplinary meeting is held.
Dogs should be cleaned up behind and kept under control via a lead at all times. Any member found to have an aggressive animal or one not under control will be asked to leave our property.
Please read the Countryside Code https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/countryside-code-full-online-version.
We now have a Youtube Channel where you will be able to find such things as fish care guides, beginner guides and general fishing related videos.