NORTHUMBRIAN ANGLERS FEDERATION 2023

Northumbrian Anglers Federation 2023

News, 2023 Permit Prices and Changes

Now that our fishing rods are put away and we are starting to look forward to next season, we write with some information about the Federation and the 2023 Season.

River Maintenance:  Our new Head Bailiff Keith Mather, in conjunction with his team of assistants, have been working hard on river maintenance - removing large numbers of trees, improving banks and access to some areas of our waters to make more fishing available.

      We will continue our riverside maintenance and improvement works, making our beats accessible without detriment to the countryside or wildlife. We have identified beats that need some extra attention this year, so we hope you will see an improvement as the season progresses.

Permit Prices. Keeping prices as low as possible remains the Federation’s main aim so our Board of Trustees has implemented modest increases in permit prices for next year. The 2023 prices are now on our website.  For 2023, we are also introducing a Visitor Season permit - income from which will help us keep next year’s permit price increases to a minimum. You can now apply for your 2023 permit.

Rule Changes

Angling Rule, Statutory Provisions, Rule 6. C will change:

from

c. Night fishing for Salmon or Migratory Trout is not permitted between the end of the first hour after sunset and the beginning of the first hour before sunrise unless an artificial fly is used with each hook not exceeding 10mm in diameter.

to

c. Night fishing is allowed for Salmon permit holders only and is not permitted between the end of the first hour after sunset and the beginning of the first hour before sunrise unless an artificial fly is used with each hook not exceeding 10mm in diameter.  Brown Trout fishing later than one hour after sunset is not allowed.

The Catch return rule is changed such that all catch returns are to be submitted by the 15^th November (with any fish caught on the Till after the 15th November to the end of November to be reported on a daily basis). In order we may keep a record of fishing patterns on our waters, we are also asking that all brown trout weighing 1.5lb or over be reported on the catch returns.

There is no change to our rule in respect of Concessionary season permits. However, as the Government state pension age is now 66 anglers must be aged over 65 to qualify for concessionary rates. This is in line with E.A. rod licence prices. Anglers who hold a Blue Badge or get Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment (any rate) continue to qualify for concessionary permit rates.

The Year Ahead.  During 2022, we met with the Rural Crime Police, the Environment Agency, and the Angling Trust to develop our working relationship with them and we will continue to do this in 2023. We will repeat our ‘try river fishing days’ and ‘junior fishing days’, both of which brought us new permit holders. Our Hardy’s Day will also be repeated along with another drop-in day (for prospective anglers) to be held in May. We are also arranging a series of ‘trout to salmon’ tuition days for those anglers who would like to take up salmon fishing but feel they would like some help and advice before they buy a salmon permit.

Promotion. We are having some posters produced for 2023 to encourage new anglers to take up our pastime. We hope the poster will also raise the profile of the Federation as we are aware there are a lot of anglers who have not heard of the Federation or how good value our permits are for the fishing we offer. Please contact me if you can make use of one of these posters in your workplace or where you socialise with other groups of people. We also have some promotional flyers which you could use. Encouraging new permit holders is good for the wellbeing of the Federation as we strive to improve your fishing experience, and of course the additional income they bring in helps us keep your permit prices down.

Change to Bywell Boundary (Ovington to Ovingham: River Tyne map) The Allendale Estates have decided to end the reciprocal agreement we had with them allowing our permit holders to fish a very short stretch of their water beyond our boundary at Bywell. We in turn allowed their anglers to fish our waters. Our Bywell boundary marker (shown as A – NAF Stop Sign) will be moved to its correct place, approx. thirty metres downstream from its current position. The ending of the reciprocal agreement means neither party can fish beyond the boundary marker.

Tight lines for 2023.