Licenced anglers, get a FREE one-day fishing licence to share your love of fishing with a friend

Welcome

to the Take a Friend Fishing campaign

Be a part of a fantastic opportunity to experience angling! Getting together with a friend or family member to go on a fishing trip is the ideal opportunity to spend time together outdoors escape your screens and start a new hobby this summer.

Take a Friend Fishing is an initiative is brought to you by Angling Trades Association, Angling Trust, Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency. The partnership initiative is designed to give more people the chance to get into fishing – by allowing unlicenced anglers to try fishing for a specified day with a licenced angler.

Take a Friend Fishing registration is open during National Fishing Month this August – get registered and start creating some amazing angling memories!

Register

Anglers should be proud that just last year, over 6,000 people went fishing together – this year let’s make Take a Friend Fishing even bigger and better”.

Head of TAFF Initiative & Chairman of ATA, Andrew Race

Registration

Register to get a free one-day fishing licence

It’s easy to get into angling with the Take a Friend Fishing Initiative – if you are or know a licenced angler in England and Wales, register to receive a free one-day fishing licence from the Environment Agency (worth £6 – £12) to take a friend along for a day of fishing!

To register you will need the licenced anglers information, and the unlicenced anglers information, plus the date on which you wish to go fishing together. Follow the link below to get started… or read more about the requirements and how the initiative works in the FAQs section.

Register
FAQs

TAFF Registration is currently open for fishing on…

National Fishing Month 2022

Dates: 1st – 30th August 2022

Our Lovely Supporters and Friends

Find a Fishery

Take a Friend Fishing one-day licence only includes the licence to hold and use a rod, but not where – you’ll need to take care of that! You must check the rod licence rules and local byelaws at www.gov.uk/freshwater-rod-fishing-rules before you go fishing.

There are loads of fisheries, lakes and canals open all over the country that are perfect to visit and share with a friend. Just make sure you have permission to do so!

Note: This Take a Friend Fishing is at the same time as the close season for coarse fish on rivers, so there’s no river fishing unless you are game angling – see our FAQs

If you need help finding somewhere near you to Take a Friend Fishing, our Regional Participation Team are available to help you find the perfect place to fish.

Places to Fish
Help Finding a place

Club, Fishery or Trade? Get Involved!

If your club, fishery, shop or group want to get involved, share an offer or competition and generally support the initiative please get in touch!

Get Involved

Contact
& Help

Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section for help.
But for other enquiries please visit our contact page below.

Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about the Take a Friend Fishing campaign and guidance on registering. If you need more assistance go to our contact page.

Take a Friend Fishing was relaunched in 2020 and since then over 6,000 people have taken part – this partnership initiative is designed to give more people the chance to get into fishing. This year’s campaign aims to get even more people back out by the waterside. The initiative will show people it’s still just as easy to get into angling, especially with a friend to show you how, and a free on-day fishing licence from the Environment Agency usually worth £6 (…and £12 for salmon and seatrout when allowed!)

Here’s three great reasons…
1] The holidays are a fantastic opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy some time next to the water. Taking a friend or family member for a fishing trip is the ideal opportunity to spend time outdoors and escape your screens this holiday.

2] Getting outside in the countryside is a great way to be with family and friends and angling is the perfect fit for staying active outdoors.

3] With physical activity playing a vital role in both our health and mental wellbeing, a fishing trip with a mate or family member means you can stay active, and fish safely following guidelines on the Angling Trust website.

Use #takeafriendfishing #getfishing to share your Take a Friend Fishing pics of you and friends fishing together.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TakeAFriendFishingTAFF
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GetOutThereGetFishing
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Canalrivertrustangling
Twitter: @GetIntoFishing
Instagram: @getintofishing

At this time of year there are still loads of fisheries, lakes and canals open all over the country that are perfect to visit, and a catch-up with a friend can easily be combined with a quick ‘Take a Friend Fishing trip’ IMPORTANT: Remember though that now, during the close season for coarse fish, you cannot fish for coarse fish until June 16th so riverbanks are off-limits unless you are specifically fishing for trout and migratory salmonid (“sea trout” and salmon). The close season is explained here

Understanding about close seasons, is like having the right fishing licence, it’s an important and essential part of becoming an angler and just like learning the rules of any sport. ‘Close seasons’ are times of the year when you can’t fish for some types of fish on certain types of water. For example, you can’t fish for coarse fish on any river in England and Wales on 15th March right up until 15th June. That means that this Take a Friend Fishing the dates coincide with the annual close season for coarse fish on rivers. You might be able to fish for salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout on some rivers during the coarse fish close season on rivers using certain types of lures and baits – read the local byelaws to check what you can do in your area and remember too that some privately owned bodies of water can have their own close seasons.

If you are new to fishing and want to try it during Take a Friend Fishing, but are confused by all this, the best thing to do is ask the angler you are going with, and make sure you both understand what the close season on rivers mean – it’s all explained here on the Environment Agency website.

Due to its massive success since 2020, Take a Friend Fishing is on during National Fishing Month, August 1st – August 31st 2022. During the dates, existing fishing licence holders can register for a FREE one-day fishing licence from the Environment Agency to take someone they know fishing – Register here for the current campaign! Future dates to be announced.

Yes. You both have to have a working email address. This offer is only available online via this web page. You cannot register anywhere else. The free one-day fishing licence can only be issued by email. Both you and your friend need a separate email address and it must be working. This is a condition of the offer and there is no other offer or alternative available. If you or your friend need to get an email it’s quick and easy to get one free by using a service such as Gmail from Google – using this example it takes less than 5 minutes to setup a free Gmail email address here at www.accounts.google.com/signup – of course, other free email services are available!

You’ll receive an email with your free licence. You need to bring a copy with you on your phone or device so that you can show it to any Environment Agency Officer, Fishery Owner or Club/Syndicate Bailiff if requested.

Please DO not contact any of the Regional Contact people on this website – they are not technical support and will not be able to help – go to the technical help form on our contact page and please include your most accessible telephone number. You might not receive a reply immediately – it can take 48hours.

If you did not receive your free one-day fishing licence email it is because of email or email/server settings. Firstly please check your junk or spam box. Then the most common issue is caused by not entering your own or your friend’s email correctly. Check that you have both the email addresses right. If needed please reapply and double check your entry.

Issues with email accounts are beyond our control and you might need to check your inbox or contact your internet service provider. We cannot help with your email settings, how your service provider manages emails or emails not arriving. Angling Trades Association is not responsible for problems caused by confirmation emails not arriving. This form has been thoroughly tested.

You should always follow the most up-to-date Government information on social distancing when encountering others. Current guidelines and any restrictions can be found at www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Take a Friend Fishing is a partnership between the Angling Trades Association, Angling Trust, Canal & River Trust, and Environment Agency. The Angling Trades Association (ATA) is the voice of the British Angling industry, aiming to unite the industry, promote and protect our loved sport. The ATA represents angling manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, fisheries, publishers, and distributors. www.anglingtradesassociation.com. The Environment Agency funds the Angling Trust to provide more opportunities for people to go fishing and encourage sales of rod fishing licences. Money from rod fishing licence sales is spent on improving fisheries habitat and angling infrastructure through projects like the Angling Improvement Fund and Fisheries Improvement Programme

The TAFF campaign focuses on making it as easy as possible for an existing angler to take someone they know fishing. TAFF is supported by the Angling Trust the national representative and governing body for angling in England, Canal and Rivers Trust and by the Environment Agency rod fishing licence income which helps to introduce thousands of people to fishing each year. Find out more at www.anglingtrust.net, www.canalrivertrust.org.uk and www.anglingtradesassociation.com

You normally need a valid Environment Agency rod fishing licence if you are aged 13 or over and fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel in England (except the River Tweed), Wales, and the Border Esk and its tributaries in Scotland. An annual fishing licence only costs £30 for up to 2 rods to fish for coarse fish & trout. For a salmon and sea trout licence it’s £82. Concessionary, short term and three rod coarse fishing licences are also available. Visit www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/buy-a-fishing-licence to buy one online. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency Income from licence sales helps fund a range of activities, read the Environment Agency’s annual fisheries report to find out more.

Have you heard about our sister initiative National Fishing Month?
It’s in August this year!

During National Fishing Month this Summer there are loads of fishing events going on across the UK. Events covering coarse, game and sea angling will be available for anglers of all ages and abilities. Give fishing a try and ignite your passion for angling this summer!

Find out more

A FREE one-day fishing licence for licenced anglers to share with a friend – register here!

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