OLAC RULES

General Rules

1.      Access to be gained to Club waters via official access points only.

2.      Litter and discarded tackle shall be taken home by the individual angler. “The Management Committee” shall be empowered to withdraw individual membership if failing to comply.

3.      Members are reminded to be in possession of a current Environmental Agency Rod Licence.

4.      For club matches, no practice /angling practises shall take place on the relevant match stretch, after two hours, prior to time of draw.

5.      Baited tackle must not be left unattended.

6.      Any member found to be breaking or aiding any other person to break the Rules /Constitution of the Club, will be asked to appear before “The Management Committee” to explain their actions. 

7.      Anglers with special needs should notify these to the match organiser before the draw.

8.      Any bait bans will be directed solely by the fishery and as an affiliated club a club member will respect   these implicitly.

9.      Any member caught using bait or method that is banned in a club match, will be subject to a disciplinary action.

10.   No person fishing club matches shall be under the influence of alcohol, or any illegal substances, rendering them incapable of fishing in a sensible and responsible manner.

11.   Only use Barbless hooks, failure to comply with this rule will render this person subject to a disciplinary action.

12.   No treble hooks to be used.

13.   Groundbait may only be introduced via the feeder or cupping kit, as per the fishery rules

14.   All Keep Nets used in club matches shall conform to the minimum requirements of the EA bye-laws relating to their design and construction.

15.   All fish must be weighed and returned in a humane manner. Fish shall not be thrown or dropped back from a height back into the water.

16.   Any objections must be lodged with the match organiser, not later than one hour after the end of the match. Irregularities brought to notice later, may be dealt with only at the discretion of the committee.

17.   All matches will be fished to local Fishery Rules, where they apply.

18.   Maximum line strength will be 8lb on the Match Lake and 10lb on Main, Tench and Aikins.

19.   Hook lengths will always be no more than equal breaking strain to that of the main line.

20.   Maximum hook size will be 8 on all Lakes.

21.   All matches are undertaken at the members own risk and no liability for any damage to person or persons and or equipment/belongings will be undertaken by “Orchard Lakes Angling Club”.

Match Rules

1.      Entry to matches will only be by, placing your name on the entry list available on the club notice board or by telephone during office hours only, to the Club Match Secretary or Hon Secretary.

2.      Please Note: ALL match entry lists will be Closed on the evening prior to the match taking place.

3.      All persons who put their name forward to fish a club match will be expected to be booked in at least 15 mins prior to that draw. Failure to do this may deem that person disqualified from taking part. However if you are running late and wish to take part, you should contact the Match Secretary who may allow you to have a peg drawn for you.

4.      A “No Show” regards attendance when having entered a club competition will result in that person being subject to paying the full peg fee. That person may also if this occurs regularly (i.e. more than 3x per year) be subject to a suspension.

5.      Failure to reimburse the club with any outstanding “none attendance” fees, will render that person illegible for future competitions till these outstanding fees are paid.

6.      On all waters, members will fish as far as half the distance between his peg and the next angler on either side. Where competitors are drawn on opposite banks, the limit of the swim will be the half way mark between each bank. The competitor will restrict his activities completely to these boundaries.

7.      Competitors must strike, play and land their own fish.

8.      No feeding of any kind will take place before the commencement to start has been given.

9.      At least 3 Keep Nets shall be utilised in all club competitions by the member, unless otherwise informed by the Club or Fishery. The Silver fish and small carp to approx 1lb are to be kept in one net. In the other two nets, larger carp are to be retained in as an even a split, regards weight, as possible. When there is a “Silver Fish” pool, all carp will be split evenly in the 2 remaining nets; however this may be reviewed at a later date.

10.   ** Please Note: Failure to use 3 nets when required to do so, will result in disqualification from that match.

11.   Groundbait or loose feed must not be introduced to the swim before the starting signal.

12.   Whilst fishing you may loose feed by hand only, no bait may be introduced by way of cupping kit or feeder etc.

13.   The signal to commence fishing will be given by the match organiser or a person nominated by him and repeated in each section.

14.   A competitor shall have in use only one rod, one line and a single hook at any time, but he may have other un baited rods or tackle assembled ready to use.

15.   Competitors must cease fishing at the signal. Should a competitor be playing a fish hooked before the signal was given he will be permitted no more than 15 minutes after ‘time’ has been called to land the fish.

16.   Competitors are responsible for making sure their peg is clear of litter and no competitor may have his catch weighed who has litter lying on the bank of his swim.

17.   Each competitor is responsible for ensuring the correct weight of his catch is recorded.

18.   It will be the intention whenever possible, to have equal pegged sections.

19.   The sections for all “Orchard Lakes Angling Club” matches will be a maximum of 6 and minimum of 3.

20.   If a match has less than 5 competitors, it will be deemed void and will therefore be cancelled.

The Committee        5^th Dec 2008

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