Before you start fishing you need to make sure that you are legally allowed to fish!
To fish in freshwater fisheries in England & Wales you will need to have the following:
1. An Environment Agency (EA) Rod Licence – These can be obtained online at :
https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/buy-a-fishing-licence
2. Permission from the owner of the fishery rights. The owner of the fishery rights is usually the owner of the land unless the rights have been sold or leased to another individual/club/syndicate. You may be required to pay a fee to fish for a day or you may be required to join the club/syndicate with an annual membership. If there are no signs and you are unsure who to ask then usually the local fishing tackle shop will be able to help.
If you do not have permission to fish and/or an EA Rod licence then you can be prosecuted for theft of fishing rights by the Police.
Scotland – Point 1 is not applicable.
Northern Ireland – Point 1 – EA is replaced with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (DAERA) rod licence, available from: https://angling.nidirect.gov.uk/citizen