In England, Wales and some parts of Scotland (Border Esk and its tributaries), any angler over the age of 12 years old must purchase a rod license before they can legally fish for freshwater fish and eels, including salmon and trout. Those anglers who are caught without a valid license can be fined up to £2,500.

These are provided by the Environment Agency, and you can buy them in Post Offices or online at the Environment Agency’s website www.environment-agency.gov.uk. There are two different categories of rod license available:

A) Non-migratory trout, char, freshwater fish (coarse fish) and eels.

B) Salmon and migratory trout (sea trout), non-migratory trout, char, freshwater fish (coarse fish) and eels.

Category B licenses are more expensive, but they do cover you for all freshwater fish and eels. For example a full season license for category B is £70, whereas a full season license for category A is just £26. If you are a keen angler then it does make sense to purchase the more expensive license, as you cannot always guarantee which species of fish you will catch.

It is also important to note that if you are fishing with more than two rods, you will need purchase a second rod license.