Angling Trust Loch Style Autumn Series 2020 Competition Rules Lake Sunday 11th October 2020

This document contains five sections. Please ensure you are fully aware of the rules. These rules are in addition to the Covid-19 Guide to Game Angling Competitions. ALL ANGLERS MUST READ AND ADHERE TO THESE RULES AT ALL TIMES.

1. General Rules 2. Match Rules 3. Rule Modifications 4. Venue Rules 5. Prizes and Payments

Section 1 General Rules

1. Betting – Competitors are not permitted to engage in any form of betting, including sweepstakes, connected with this competition. 2. Eligibility – Anglers must be aged 16 and above on the day of the competition to participate. Anglers aged 16 and 17 must have written parental consent to be emailed to Kirsty Marshall at [email protected] at the time of booking. 3. Complaints – Any complaint must be reported to the match official within 60 minutes of the end of the match. The match official will report this to the Angling Trust and a decision will be made within 7 days. 4. Disputes - Any dispute with regards to the results must be made via email to Andy Taylor at [email protected] by 12.00pm on the Tuesday following the match day. 5. Multi Entry & Qualification - Anglers may enter as many events as they wish. If they have previously qualified then their place in the final, should they be in the qualifying places, will be passed down to the next placed angler. Any placed angler who can not fish the final place will also be passed down to the next angler from the heat. In the instance where there are no anglers from the heat for the place to be passed down to then this place in the final will be null and void and not passed on to another qualifier/event.

Section 2 Match Rules

1. Flies – By artificial fly only. Depending on the venue the match will be fished to either FISHERY RULES or INTERNATIONAL RULES with regards to the flies to be used. Anglers must be aware of this before competing. This ruling will be identified on the Angling Trust booking site and below This match at Blagdon Lake (Sunday 11th October) will be fished to INTERNATIONAL RULES with regards to flies. Flies may be dressed on single or double hooks. No tandem flies are allowed. In the case of a double hook, the angle between the bends shall not exceed 90 degrees and, when viewed from the side, the bends must lie one behind the other. No more than four flies, only one of which may be dressed on a double hook, may be mounted on a cast.

Hooks must not be more than five-eighths of an inch overall including the eye. The overall length of the fly must not exceed fifteen-sixteenths of an inch. They must not be weighted in any form e.g. beads, underbody of lead etc. Flies may be dressed on single or double hooks. No tandem flies are allowed. In the case of a double hook, the angle between the bends shall not exceed 90 degrees and, when viewed from the side, the bends must lie one behind the other. No more than four flies, only one of which may be dressed on a double hook, may be mounted on a cast. The Bung must be a fish-catching fly and attached to the leader via a dropper. It is counted as one of your three/four flies. Hooks must be barbless, manufactured barbless or crushed barbs. If it goes in and out of a garment without impediment, then it is legal. Suspected illegal flies should be put into an envelope and signed over the seal by the anglers in the boat. The envelope should be presented to a Match Official at the end of the session. Attractor chemicals and light emitters may not be used on flies. 2. Lines & Leaders – Lines, casts and leaders shall not be additional weighted. No form of shooting line, metal core line, or metal core braided leaders are permitted. 3. Rods – A competitor may use one rod not exceeding 12 feet in length and may have a spare rod of the same maximum length with them in the boat. Only one of these is to be mounted. A rod is considered mounted if any two sections are joined together or if a reel is attached. The roly-poly retrieve is permitted. A competitor’s rod must be above water level. 4. Drifting – Boats must be allowed to drift freely during fishing and must not be held on oars, drogues, or engines in such a manner as to interfere with, or gain advantage over, any other competitor. Flies must be out of the water whilst the engine is running, or the boat is in a forward or reverse motion. Trolling of flies behind the boat is not permitted, whether the boat is drifting or being driven by motor or oars. Side casting is permitted but flies must not be allowed to trail behind the boat. Anchoring is not allowed. Casting and/or fishing behind the boat is not allowed. 5. During a match, no boat may encroach within 50 yards radius of any other boat engaged in fishing, nor disturb the water in front of or around any such boat by the indiscriminate use of the motor. The water between the boats may be shared. The match organiser may extend the 50 yard separation as befits the venue. 6. Fishing zones - Traditional loch-style fishing zones apply whereby anglers must not cast across and fish in the other angler’s zone whilst they are fishing. 7. Out of Bounds Areas – Whilst a competitor may cast into an ‘Out of Bounds’ area, the boat may not enter these areas whether fishing or not. 8. Sitting & Standing – Boat seats, thwart boards, and the use of tackle boxes as seats are allowed provided the height of the seat is not more than five inches above the gunwales. Note ‘backrests’ are also allowed on boat seats. Competitors must not stand in the boat when casting or retrieving line. Only when playing or landing a fish is standing in the boat permitted. 9. Command of the Boat – A boat draw will be done prior to the start of the match. The first named angler out of the draw will have control of the boat for the first two hours. Control will then switch for the second two hour session. The final time of the match i.e. the last three hours will be switched equally- 1.5 hours each.

10. Drogues – A single un-weighted drogue is permitted of no more than 60 x 60 inches or 25 square feet. It may be fitted with functional metal fittings such as small link rings and swivels. The only control device allowed in a ‘G’ clamp. The drogue may be fixed on either side of the boat such that the drift is square to the wind. The drogue must trail no more than 15 feet behind the boat. Sliding drogue ropes are not allowed. 11. Respect for Other Anglers – In congested areas boats must not deny reasonable access to other boats by undertaking repeated short drifts. Special care must be taken in such circumstances, specially when manoeuvring the boat. Boats are to keep at least 50 yards from bank anglers. 12. Electronic Devices – Competitors may not use electronic devices such as echo- sounders, fish finders, or radios during the competition. An angler may carry a phone in the boat, but it must be switched off. The use of mobile telephones is only permitted in the case of an emergency or to report a breach of rules to an official. 13. Hours of Fishing – One seven hour session. In the event of dangerous weather, the organiser may make appropriate changes to session duration, start and end times. Competitors shall not fish before the start time and must begin from the designated start/finish zone. They must return to the start/finish zone in the boat in which they set out, no later than the session finish time. 14. Species & Size of Fish – Trout are the only permitted species. The competitor must be fully aware of the specific format at each venue. The matches will be either Catch and Release (timed) or three fish retained to be weighed with limited catch and release. For this heat this will be three fish retained and then catch and release (first three fish retained, with limited catch and release up to 8 fish maximum, making a total of an 11 fish catch) This specific information will also be on the Angling Trust Booking site and will be highlighted at the start of the match. 15. Score cards – Each angler will have a scorecard. Based on the Angling Trust Covid- 19 Guide to fishing game matches anglers will score one another’s card. These scorecards must be checked and signed by both anglers adhering to social distances rules and handed to the organiser immediately after the match has finished. Scorecards not submitted will be deemed to have a nil return. The time of the ALL fish caught and released will be recorded on the scorecard. 16. Placings – These will be determined as follows: Three Fish Retained Then Catch and Release matches. The first three fish caught by the angler will be retained for weighing at the end of the match. The fishery will identify how many brown trout can be retained in the first three fish. Any brown trout which are released within the retained first three fish rule, will be counted on the scorecard as a returned fish. E.g. if the anglers first five fish are a brown trout and the fishery stipulates only one brown trout may be retained- the other four are counted as returned fish and marked on the score card. Each fish returned after the first three fish retained will be given a weight set by the fishery based on the current fishery average. E.g. 2lb 8oz. Some fisheries will cap the number of fish to the released e.g. eight fish to be released after the dispatched three. Some fisheries will operate a time bonus for anglers. This time bonus will 2lb per hour. Placings will be determined by the total weight of the fish caught and recorded on the score cards. The winner will be the angler who has the largest weight. In the event of a tie the heaviest fish out of the dispatched three will be used to separate the placings. If there is still a tie the second and then third fish will be used.

17. Boat Pairings – A boat draw will be done prior to the event adhering to the Angling Trust Covid-19 guide to Game Angling Competitions. The first angler out of the draw (the angler on the left hand side of the boat draw document and first out on the boat pair draw) will have control of the boat for the first two hours as mentioned above. 18. Emergencies – If assistance is required, anglers may use their mobile phone to call for assistance. If your mobile phone cannot be used, an oar should be raised to alert officials. During competition hours a boat may be beached only in an emergency such as medical, boat, or severe weather problems. 19. Safety – Lifejackets are compulsory from the moment competitors step onto the jetty, enter the boat, and exit the jetty. We strongly recommend competitors use eye protection when either travelling in, or fishing from, boats. 20. Cancellation- For each qualifier to run a minimum of 16 anglers is required. The fishery may also cancel the event due to the weather or other factors and we will either reschedule the event or refund the angler. 21. Curtailment – If the match is abandoned for safety reasons within 2hrs of starting the match it will be deemed as being cancelled. If the match is abandoned after 2hrs then the results will be collated at this point and will stand. The fishery staff will notify anglers via the Safety Boat of any curtailment.

Penalties 1. Failure to submit scorecard at a time given after the end of the match by the event organiser will result in a nil return. 2. Failure to arrive at the finish area by end of each session will result in a disqualification. 3. Out of Bounds areas. Disqualification 4. Distance from bank and bank anglers a. First offence is a warning b. Second offence is a three fish penalty 5. Drifting too close to other boats a. First offence is a warning b. Second offence is a three fish penalty

Section 3 Rule Modifications

There may be modifications made to the above rules prior to the match commencing due to health and safety, fish welfare, restricted areas, weather, other users etc. These modifications will be announced by the fishery prior to the match giving anglers as much notice as possible.

Section 4 Venue Rules

Anglers must be fully aware of the fishery rules associated with each venue. The rules for can be found at www.bristolwaterfisheries.com/lakes/blagdon-lake or by contacting the fishery at: Tel: 01275 332339 or Email: [email protected]

Woodford Lodge, Stoke Hill, , , BS40 8XH

Section 5 Prize Money and Payments

The prize pot will be split as follows: First place 40%, second 30%, third 20% and fourth 10%

The top 20% of anglers from the maximum number of event places at each venue will progress to the final next spring on Saturday 3rd April 2021 at Grafham Water. These are listed on the booking site for each venue. This heat has a maximum allocation of 40 anglers and therefore the top eight will progress to the final.

Payments will be made to anglers placed first to fourth via BACS within two weeks of the match. The Angling Trust will contact anglers after the match for their relevant bank details.

The anglers progressing to the final will also be given details on how to book on to this event. If an angler cannot make the final, then their place will be passed down to the next qualifying angler until the place is filled. If this does not naturally occur, then this place(s) will not be passed on to another qualifying venue and this allocation will be null and void.