artificial baits in matches?

[NoCarpPlease]

Prompted by the caster shallow thread ...

as a self-confessed "natural" water matchman - it has always been my understanding that artificial baits are not generally allowed, as per AT model match rule no.11
"Any bait, subject to local rules, can be used except live or dead fish, frogs spinning baits or artificial lures. "

I always took this too mean that you couldn't use rubber or plastic hemp, casters or sweetcorn - but that pellets (from "natural" materials) are allowed.

Wise owl raised the interesting point of "varnished pellet" on the other thread. I pretty much only use pellet on a lassoed hair for Barbel - so it doesn't really affect me personally. Speed of rebaiting is not a top priority in that scenario.

What do the other match anglers think?

 

[tipitinmick]

Well, If we were to take this to the letter of the law I guess we would all be fishing bloodworm in ponds and joker on rivers. Maggots and casters aren't exactly readily available to fish are they ? Bolies and pellets are definitely artificial unless fish have learnt how to roll their own.

 

[ukzero1]

The match rules on our lakes are..

No artificial, rubber or plastic baits allowed. Abusers of this rule will be disqualified.

 

[Paul22]

I started using rubber corn in winter matches because it floats and I could fish it on the bomb at different depths...... I also did quite well framing quite a lot......... it never once occurred to me that plastic baits may be banned until I read somewhere it’s not allowed on a lot of matches.
Me been me just stopped using it and used bread instead.......
I would use it if allowed but won’t knowingly flout the rules.

 

[Somersetlad]

I don't match fish, but it seems like most of the rules have been brought in, by people who are jealous of anybody who can catch because they are willing to try something else, or because a potential winning method might be a bit difficult. If 300lb+ of mud pigs on a single rubber caster does it for you, good luck, I prefer places where 300lb would be considered an outstanding season.

 

[Maesknoll]

I don't match fish, but it seems like most of the rules have been brought in, by people who are jealous of anybody who can catch because they are willing to try something else, or because a potential winning method might be a bit difficult. If 300lb+ of mud pigs on a single rubber caster does it for you, good luck, I prefer places where 300lb would be considered an outstanding season.

The rule about artificial baits has been in as long as I have been match fishing, so I doubt it was brought in out of jealousy, it was part of the NFA model rules for many years.

 

[map]

Personally I'd ban all plastic baits. If you crack off on the cast, it will always be fishing and depending on the set up - potentially a death rig

 

[Ken the Pacman]

Fake baits are generally frowned on in match fishing but are often used because lets face it nobody is going to check so to be on the safe side check the venue rules yourself then ask the match organiser.
The old NFA model match rules were poorly written at best and really only became applied at National Championships and things like Fishomania were they had some imput.

 

[rudd]

You cant use plastic / rubber baits but can hold bait in place with rubber bands and plastic spikes or hair stops???

 

[tipitinmick]

You cant use plastic / rubber baits but can hold bait in place with rubber bands and plastic spikes or hair stops???

I guess when the rules were written none of us even considered artificial baits. I remember seeing paste for the very first time up in Scotland some 40 years ago and thinking .... That'll never catch on. How wrong was I ?

 

[Peter]

When it comes to match fishing artificial baits are primarily used for speed (less time wasted rebaiting) hence the idea behind the varnished pellet which is also banned by some fisheries. (Lindholme being one of them up here).

 

[grey]

The definition of Coarse fishing has been largely forgotten, but originally referred to the use of actual bait on the hook, i.e. real food to catch the fish, rather than Game fishing where carefully handcrafted lures and flies are skilfully cast and retrieved to fool individual fish.

Hence its name, Coarse in the sense of: unrefined, crude and even (in the eyes of Game Anglers) unsporting!

Personally, I believe any rules that religiously respect this old definition of Coarse fishing are now well outdated: yes we may occasionally put a piece of artificial bait on the hook, but not without chucking a handful of real stuff around it! Isn't that coarse enough? And if we opt for a lump of plastic on the hook, it is because we want to catch more fish, certainly not to give them a sporting chance

 

[G0zzer2]

The reason the ban is in place (as it is on Decoy) is probably because fishery owners do not like the idea of a fish ingesting a lump of plastic. Sounds fair to me.

 

[ukzero1]

The reason the ban is in place (as it is on Decoy) is probably because fishery owners do not like the idea of a fish ingesting a lump of plastic. Sounds fair to me.

Exactly the reason they're banned on our waters.

 

[Paul.P]

I suppose all wafters & probably boilies, although made of digestable food, are actually artificial baits !

 

[Fred Davis]

the angling trust no longer endorses model match rules as most match/commercial fisheries have their own set of rules, you will no longer find them on their site and as for the NFA that no longer exists replaced by the angling trust, so what ever rules the fishery imposes or the match organiser adds (no floating baits, no riddled meat etc) apart from this anything goes.

 

[The Runner]

Pretty sure also that at one point the old NFA or AT clarified that the rule was only meant to apply to the use of spinners/ lures etc rather than say artificial hemp

 

[ukzero1]

Ours is a 'blanket' cover. All artificial baits are banned (spinning not allowed either).

 

[smiffy]

I always thought artificial related to spinners and alike. Mainly to stop people fishing for pike when you used to be able to weigh them in on nationals. Maybe a more apt word would be “fake”. Possibly reword it so as to ban,or allow,fake baits. Any bait that is organic,made up of edible substances,I’d regard as natural.
The rules have become a real mess. On my old circuit everybody knew the basic rules and there were hardly any problems. Maybe someone would wade a touch too far but something was always said,just a gentle reminder. The only big rule change I remember was bloodworm bans on some venues.
Otherwise,we all knew where we stood. No plumbing up with feeders. No wading above the knee. No upstream fishing on a river. No using two rods at the same time. Nowadays you’ve got people wading about in chesties to do a bit of gardening. Ridiculous.
Fish welfare rules are fine and I understand those but rewriting the basic model rules just for a bit of convenience is silly. Unless it’s the same for every venue in the country.

 

[smiffy]

the angling trust no longer endorses model match rules as most match/commercial fisheries have their own set of rules, you will no longer find them on their site and as for the NFA that no longer exists replaced by the angling trust, so what ever rules the fishery imposes or the match organiser adds (no floating baits, no riddled meat etc) apart from this anything goes.

Isn’t every AT run event fished to their model match rules with the exception of bait bans and fish welfare rules?