Fishing Regulations

When booking fishing you need to be aware of what you can and cannot do when you fish. There are legal requirements, conservation codes, individual beat rules, and booking agency conditions that all need to be taken into account. These generally fall into three main categories:

River's conservation code

The Spey Fishery Board's Salmon Conservation Policy addresses three key issues which it hopes will maximise the number of adults spawning in the river, while maintaining an economically viable fishery.

1. Catch & release (Salmon)

• Each angler must return the 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc, fish caught.
• All hen salmon and hen grilse must be released.
• Throughout the season all stale or gravid fish must be released.
• Escaped farmed salmon must be retained.

Catch & release (Sea trout)

• Finnock: Release all fish of 16oz/35cm/14" or less.
• Sea trout: Release all fish of 3lb/50cm/20" or more.
• Bag limit: One sea trout of takeable size per calendar day. Anglers are also encouraged to release their first fish and take the second of takeable size.
• Unseasonable fish: Realease all unseasonable fish.

2. Method

• Where possible anglers should be encouraged to fish with a fly.
• All hooks should be 'pinched' or barbless.
• Where spinning is allowed only one set of barbless hooks may be used on a lure.

3. Fishing effort

Where possible the numbers of hours and rods fished should be limited.

To help prevent an outbreak of Gyrodactylus Salaris which has had catastrophic effects on some foreign rivers, all rods fishing must complete a Gyrodactylus declaration on arrival at the fishery. This states that either you have not used your fishing tackle abroad in the last three months, or you have done so and had it properly sterilised, or you have done so and NOT had it sterilised. In the latter case, you must agree to sterilisation taking place before you start fishing, and accept that there may be some delay in getting this organised.

Codes agreed to by anglers and canoeists

Set up in conjunction with the Spey 'Local Agreement'.

ANGLERS' CODE - Anglers should:
1. familiarise themselves with the days and hours when they can expect canoeists on a given stretch and keep a lookout for them;
2. remember that canoeists are entitled to use of white water and river stretches as set out in this Agreement;
3. remember that some canoeists may be out of control because of lack of experience and that even experienced canoeists can be temporarily out of control because of water conditions;
4. remember that if canoeists arrive when a fish is being played, the angler is entitles to ask the canoeist to wait upstream (if feasible) until the fish is landed; alternatively the angler can advise the canoeist as to when and how to pass him;
5. not to cast or otherwise act so as to create a hazard to canoes or their occupants;
6. not act "emulously", that is in a manner that would prevent use of the river by canoeists;
7. fully identify themselves if requested to do so by canoeists.