Club Rules

RULES & CONSTITUTION

THE LYME REGIS SEA ANGLING CLUB

  1. OBJECT

The aims of the Club are to promote competitive and non-competitive boat and shore angling amongst all its members and young persons, to preserve fish stocks and to protect the sea environment. The Club may also provide other recreational and social events and information for its membership.

  1. MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the Club will consist of adult anglers, senior anglers and junior anglers. In this context senior anglers shall mean any member who has attained the age of 60 on the 31st of December in the previous club year. A junior shall mean anyone under the age of 16 on the 31st of December in the previous Club year.

3.ELECTION OF MEMBERS

The membership of the club is open to anyone who subscribes at the formation of the Club on the 13th of November 2001 (to be known as founder members) and thereafter by being proposed and seconded by existing members and securing a majority vote at a committee meeting.

  1. OFFICERS & COMMITTEE

The affairs of the Club shall be administered by the following Committee and Officers. The Chairperson shall at all times have a casting vote in the event of a tied vote.

THE COMMITTEE

Chairperson
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Treasurer
Boat Secretary
Shore Secretary
Junior Secretary
Membership Secretary
Fish Recorder
Trophy/Cup secretary
Website Secretary
Boat steward
Shore steward
Junior steward
Safeguarding Officer
Committee Members

  1. ELECTION OF OFFICERS & COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Officers and committee members shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall serve for a term of one year unless re-elected. The Committee shall have the power to add to their numbers or fill any vacancies that may occur during the year for that year only.

  1. FINANCIAL YEAR

The Club’s financial year shall run from the 1st. January to the 31st. December. A record of the Club’s financial transactions shall be maintained by the Hon. Treasurer and examined by an independent auditor when a new Hon. Treasurer is elected.

  1. MEETINGS

The Annual General Meeting will be held as soon as possible after the close of the financial year and the date shall be posted on the Club’s web site at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting.

Minutes of the Annual General Meetings are to be recorded and read for approval at the following Annual General Meeting.

Committee meetings shall be held as required. The date, time and venue to be arranged by the Hon. Secretary and notified on the club website/ Face book/ WhatsApp committee group

Minutes of committee meetings are to be recorded and read for approval at subsequent meetings.

These will be available on the club website. A record of attendance shall be kept for each meeting.

  1. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened by no less than 5 Members by an E-mail or written request sent to the Hon. Secretary, giving at least 21 days clear notice and by 14 days’ notice being given to members on the Club’s web site and Face book page also WhatsApp committee group

  1. TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

The membership of any member may be terminated by the committee at a meeting called to consider the question of such termination of membership, due to misconduct, or any other causes, which the Committee may consider to be just and sufficient reason. The member in question will be given reasonable opportunity to make any representations to the committee by email or in writing.  The majority required to execute such termination shall be two-thirds majority of those members present.

  1. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEES

Membership fees are due when membership is approved. Usually, this will coincide with the first day of the Club’s financial year. Membership, payment of subscription and club number will be confirmed by the Membership Secretary/ Treasurer by Email (or post if specifically requested).

Membership fees to be as follows: –

Full adult member – £15

Senior Member – £10

Junior member – £5

BACS is preferred as the method of payment.

  1. ALTERATIONS TO RULES & CONSTITUTION

Club rules and Constitution may be added, amended, or deleted, during the current year with a two-thirds majority of the committee members using electronic means of communication – E-mail or WhatsApp.

  1. MATTERS NOT COVERED BY THESE RULES & CONSTITUTION

The committee shall have power to decide any matter not specifically provided for in these Rules and to give decisions as to the interpretation of any Rule should the occasion arise.

  1. COMPETITION AND EVENTS

Members shall be entitled to participate in competitions and events organised by the Club, upon payment of the competition entry fee.

  1. LIABILITY TO MEMBERS AND GUESTS

The Club does not and will not hold itself in any way responsible for accidents, personal injury (whether fatal or otherwise), loss of property, loss of income, or consequential losses to members or their guests whilst engaged in club activities.

  1. TROPHIES

Winners of challenge trophies will give a satisfactory guarantee to the committee as to its safe custody and return when requested. These will be presented to the winners at a presentation evening held in the first quarter of the following year.

  1. DECISIONS ON AWARDS

The decision of the committee on the award or otherwise of prizes and trophies will be final.

  1. CLUB WATERS

For club competitions

Club waters are defined as: –

Shore – From Preston Beach (Weymouth)in the east to Branscombe in the west.

Boat – Club waters are determined by the boat being able to leave Lyme Regis Harbour or a secondary port and return within a twenty-four-hour period. Axmouth, Beer and West Bay are classed as secondary ports.

  1. SPECIMEN WEIGHTS, SIZES AND BOUNDARY AREAS

In 2013 the Angling Trust published changes to the regional areas and altered some of the sizes and specimen weights of various species of fish for both Shore and Boat. For the club the boat regional area would remain as “D” but because of Shore boundary changes, Monmouth beach was split into two areas “C” and “D”.

The committee of the club considered these changes at length and decided on the following course of action.

For all club matches and fish caught by members out of competition we retain the sizes that were used in 2012 and are published on the club website. In this we have all decided to retain the original “D” regional area and specimen sizes for both Boat and Shore fishing.

We have specimen weighted competitions and awards and it would be unfair to recalculate fish that were previously in the Top 20 competitions and Best aggregate specimen awards.
For events that are open to all sea anglers, The Big Bream Competition and any other open competition that the club decides to run we will adopt the new sizes and specimen weights initiated by the Angling Trust for area “D” only. Winners and placings will be judged on this format.

Any fish submitted to the Angling Trust, Wyvern Regional and West Bay Sea Angling Club for individual Shore and Boat awards would be subject to their rules of the sizes and specimen fish for either “C” or “D” regional areas.

A list of these agreed sizes and weights is available in a laminated A4 sheet which also details the current records for the preceding year.

 

  1. RULES FOR WEIGHING-IN OF FISH

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  1. NEW RULES FOR THE WEIGHT ASSESSMENT OF SHARKS, TOPE, COMMON SKATE AND BASS (during periods of restrictions)

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  1. CLUB FINANCES

All club monies shall be held in a bank account determined by the Committee and one authorised signatory (the Treasurer or in the absence of the treasurer an authorised signatory,) shall be necessary for withdrawals or payments from the account. The Committee shall have the power to put surplus funds on deposit

  1. OFFICERS’ OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES

The Committee shall have the power to reimburse officers for any reasonable out of pocket expenses actually incurred by officers provided they were authorised and wholly, necessarily and exclusively expended on the Club’s business.

  1. BEST FISH AWARDS – IN OR OUT OF COMPETITION.

Forms must be received by The Fish Recorder no later than 7 days after capture.

To qualify for these awards the following criteria applies:

For shore fishing:

Up to TWO rods with no more than THREE hooks attached to the terminal tackle (i.e. one rod with three hooks or two rods, one having one hook and the other rod having two hooks).

A treble hook when attached to a lure, un-baited, counts as one hook. A two hook pennel rig counts as two hooks.

For boat fishing:

Only ONE rod can be used at any time, any other rods to be un-baited and unrigged, preferably held in boat rod holders. A maximum of THREE hooks only to be used and for the avoidance of doubt an un-baited treble hook will count as a single hook.

There is an exemption for big game fishing when fishing using multiple rods.

If a member believes they have caught the best (heaviest) fish of a particular species, they can submit a catch return form. Any award can go towards individual cups and trophies which are awarded at the club presentation evening.

Those fish exceeding a 100% specimen size will be entered for annual Wyvern awards.

If you decide to fish outside the criteria above i.e. fish with multiple hooks, use more than the stated number of rods for fishing of bait etc, then you immediately disqualify yourself from being able to enter a catch return form. The individual angler must make these decisions when commencing to fish; either to compete for club awards or to fish without award restrictions.

RULES FOR FISHING L.R.S.A.C. BOAT AND SHORE COMPETITIONS

(RULES 24 to 44)

  1. ENTRANCE FEES

Entrance fees shall be paid to the match stewards or any committee member. If none are available another member must be advised that you are competing PRIOR to commencing to fish.

  1. PRIZE MONEY

All Shore and Boat matches – the entry fee will be £1 with an optional pool fee of £4.The pool total will be split as follows, winner 50%, runner up 30%, third  20%. Any award not made will result in the money being rolled over until the next match in the series and added to that pool. Pool money will be awarded by either the Boat/Shore Secretary or Steward at the end of the days competition. (In the event of a multiple day’s competition, e.g. “5 Go Fishing”, Prize money will be paid at the end of the whole competition.)

  1. POINTS ALLOCATION

The points allocation towards the end of the year trophies/adult league points will be as follows:
The winner will get a 100% score each other angler will get a percentage derived from the difference between his or her score and the winner’s score. This is for all competitions be it Weight, Specimen or Points Based.

Junior competition points allocation will be notified by the Junior Shore secretary and recorded here at a later date.

 

 

 

  1. RODS AND HOOKS

For shore fishing:

Up to TWO rods with no more than THREE hooks attached to the terminal tackle (i.e. one rod with three hooks or two rods, one having one hook and the other rod having two hooks).

A treble hook when attached to a lure, un-baited, counts as one hook. A two hook pennel rig counts as two hooks.

For boat fishing:

Only ONE rod can be used at any time, any other rods to be un-baited and unrigged, preferably held in boat rod holders. A maximum of THREE hooks only to be used and for the avoidance of doubt an un-baited treble hook will count as a single hook.

  1. CASTING AND NETTING

Hand lines or casting other than with a rod are forbidden. The competitor must cast the line, hook the fish and land the fish. Assistance may be received by means of a chin gaff or net and in unhooking the fish. Junior members may receive assistance in casting and retrieving (Only supporting the rod and not reeling in on behalf of the junior angler).

  1. WEIGHING IN

Shore match competitors must bring their own fish to the scales. In all shore and boat competitions, no fish shall be weighed in of less size and weight than that shown in the club’s schedule of minimum sizes. (Please refer to rule 18, 19 and 20 of the club rules for detailed information.)

  1. WEIGHING IN TIMES

No catch will be accepted for weighing in after 30 minutes from the advertised time that the competition ends. Boats not in the harbour at the end of the specified fishing time may be disqualified. Catches must be weighed in at a specified venue.

  1. MATCH CANCELLATION OR CHANGE OF VENUE OR CHANGE OF DESIGNATED FISH

The committee or its appointed match stewards reserve the right to cancel or alter the venue, type of fishing or times of any competition before or during the competition should conditions dictate.

 

 

  1. MINIMUM PARTICIPANTS

A shore competition cannot take place unless a minimum of three members are taking part. A boat competition cannot take place unless a minimum of four members are taking part.

  1. UNDERSIZED FISH.

Any competitor bringing undersized fish to the weigh in may be disqualified.

  1. DISQUALIFICATION

Any competitor not adhering to the competition rules may be disqualified.

  1. UNLISTED FISH

In the event of an unlisted fish being weighed in, the current specimen weight for the purposes of allocating the winner of any pool prize and points will be regarded as 75% of the current British record (excluding mini species).

  1. SHORE MATCH REGISTRATION

Registration for all Shore Rover matches will not be accepted more than one hour before the start of the competition. Registration for shore matches will close 15 minutes prior to the schedule start time of the match.

  1. SENIOR AND DISABLED MEMBERS

During Club matches any reasonable adjustment shall be accommodated at the request of the member at the match venue where possible. Where no facilities are possible, they may fish at a mutual place to be decided on the match day. The weigh in will be at the normal venue.

  1. 38. BAIT

All competitors are responsible for bringing their own bait except in boat species competitions where bait packs will be supplied at cost from The Tackle Box.

  1. INSURANCE

It is advisable that all those taking part have third party liability insurance or are individual members of the Angling Trust.

  1. WELFARE OF FISH

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  1. SHORE FISHING BOUNDARIES

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  1. BOAT FISHING BOUNDARIES

All boats in LRSAC competitions must not exceed a distance of 20 miles radius from Lyme Regis Harbour.

  1. NUMBER OF SPECIES TROPHY

There are two separate trophies, one for shore and one for the boat, it is the responsibility of the member to record all the species of fish caught and inform the boat skipper or the shore steward of the in-size fish they have caught in the day’s competition fishing.

  1. KAYAK’S

For the purposes of qualification for the Boat Competition, Kayak’s will be classified as boats.

 (Consolidated Rules and Constitution into one document on 1st October 2015)

(Amended 9th January 2020)

(proposed amendment 26th February 2024)/ Updated 2024)

(further amended 9th October 2024)