Moving to UK from USA Need Fishing Advice

I will be moving to the UK for work in the next few months from Minnesota in the U.S. Minnesota is a fantastic fishing state and I am an avid fisherman. As a result, I have a bunch of questions on how best to start pike fishing once I get to the UK. Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to give me.

1. Are licences required for pike fishing in the UK?

2. I will be living near Crawley. Are there any good fishing spots in that area? Are they rivers or lakes? Do most people have fishing boats?

3. Would you recommend that I bring my fishing poles and tackle over, or are there plenty of fishing stores that I could go to purchase tackle.

4. Any other advise on how best to get into fishing once I am moved over?

Thanks!

You will need an Environment Agency licence to fish anywhere in the UK,on top of this you will generaly need to pay for any fishing by day ticket or yearly subscription as there is very little free fishing available.
I cant help with that location but others may be able to do so.
Some of your tackle may be suitable for UK methods but tackle is readily available at shops throughout the country as well as online.
Forums like this are a great source for help and information on methods,equipment and tactics but you will find exact locations are rarely given out on open forums.
Hope this helps for starters and you can post any further questions and be sure you will get helpful replies.
A fair number of anglers especially pikers do make use of boats.
Regards Peter.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=p%20a%20c&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFcQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pacgb.co.uk%2F&ei=OYYkT5jNOsnO0QXZ2b3OCg&usg=AFQjCNHxqQM7gOieqFIhj8f__uQUnlSRwg
Here is a link you may find useful for rigs and general pike fishing tips.

Great. That is very helpful. I am really looking forward to it. I have two younger boys that also love to fish, so when we told them we were moving, they were obviously interested in how we would still be able to fish. Thanks.

Also -- is there a season for pike? What are the dates?

You may find our methods and attitude towards fishing very different from what you are used to but it is widely practiced throughout the country,fishing over here has many varied options from fishing in competion,tageting big fish of specific species,fly fishing to fishing from the shoreline or out to sea in a boat.
I"m sure once you get into it you will enjoy the wealth of options on offer.

Griffin21 wrote:Also -- is there a season for pike? What are the dates?

No there is no official pike season,but many pikers still limit thier pike fishing to between October and March,and river fishing is in the main closed to coarse fishing between March 15 and June 15 inclusive.Most stillwaters are open all year for fishing.

Have a look at these articles Griifin

http://www.pikeangler.co.uk/articles/pikeseason.html

http://www.pikeangler.co.uk/articles/getting_started_1.html

http://www.pikeangler.co.uk/articles/whatarepike.html

Andy Webster

Howdy Griffin and welcome to the forum.

I used to work for a private american college and took several of the students fishing during their semesters over here. The biggest thing they found different was the static deadbaiting and hours of sitting and waiting for a bite, they much preferred working lures jigs and crankbaits.

Hi Griffin. The only advice i can give about coming here is DONT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOST OF US ARE TRYING TO GET OUT OF THIS COUNTRY CAUSE ITS GONE DOWN THE PAN !!

We do however have quite good fishing here though !

doug6364 wrote:Hi Griffin. The only advice i can give about coming here is DONT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOST OF US ARE TRYING TO GET OUT OF THIS COUNTRY CAUSE ITS GONE DOWN THE PAN !!

We do however have quite good fishing here though !

what a welcome note.. . But you got a point doug.. But the fishing is good..

Hiya mate welcome to the forum, I don't really have a lot more to add to what the others have said except I aint far from Crawley bout 30 miles so once you are here I can give you some pointers to local waters that you may be interested in.

Thanks for all of the help! I will look over the links and notes. I may take you guys up on an afternoon trip once I am over there. I'm looking forward to it!

Griffin21 wrote:Thanks for all of the help! I will look over the links and notes. I may take you guys up on an afternoon trip once I am over there. I'm looking forward to it!

if you go outwith doug dont let his mate weigh your fish:lol:

what gear do you use?

weight ranges on the lures sort of thing?

id bring stuff as its far more expensive over here just working on something like a burt they are what $9 in your neck of the woods (plus whatever sales tax) over here they are £19 which is what nigh on $30

and dont look at the petrol prices you will cry

one other major difference is we are catch and release as we dont have the biomass of lower end predators like bass etc that allows the harvest mentality of the US (no offence meant in that bit btw as no doubt if i had a lake that i fish and eat as many of the fish as i could without denting the population i would take them as well)

ea licence is a starting point for england and wales, clubs nearby to where you move will be a good start as would the lure anglers society and pike anglers club of GB.

bring me some lures over or at least a berkely dough rod

oh boats are a minority pursuit over here as not a lot of venues allow them. if your over here and travel about a bit should you end up in the north west (liverpool is easiest to look for ) then id happily have a day out up this end playing with lures

[/quote] if you go outwith doug dont let his mate weigh your fish:lol:[/quote]

Ok you lot, youve had your laugh so let it go !

Just cause my mate cant read scales