No matter what your age, ability or experience level, Fishing or “angling” is a great way to get active outdoors and has many proven health benefits. Whether it’s just for a quick hour at your local lake, canal or river or spending a whole day with friends and family by the sea – give fishing a go and join the millions of people who enjoy it each year.
• Involves a whole range of low, medium and high intensity physical activity
• Helps recovery from and prevention of mental health issues
• Is brilliant for relaxation and aids concentration
• Helps build up your relationships and confidence which can reduce isolation
• Allows you to become more physically active at a pace that suits you, whatever your age
• Can be incorporated with other activities such as walking or cycling to a fishing venue
• Is a good way to spend time with family and enjoy an activity together
The Get Fishing campaign is run by the Angling Trust and funded by the Environment Agency and Sport England to get more people out fishing, more often.
As part of this, angling clubs, fisheries and organisations run taster sessions which give beginners the opportunity to try fishing for the first time or to return to angling after a break.
Most of these sessions are free or very low cost and include the use of tackle, bait and a rod-licence for the day. After that all you’ll need is some low-cost tackle, a rod licence (see below) and a day-ticket or club membership to access some fishing venues.
Basic requirements:
• You can enjoy fishing with the most basic equipment available – ask your local club, fishery or tackle shop to help you pick what you need to get started
• A pair of sunglasses, a hat and waterproofs or a brolly can be useful if the weather changes
• When you start fishing you’ll need to buy a rod licence if you are 17 or over and want to fish in freshwater, but for junior anglers rod licences are free. If you fish in the sea you don’t need a licence
Once you’ve got the fishing bug it’s quite possible to get the basic tackle and bait you’ll need for less than £25 or you might be able to borrow kit from clubs, family members or other anglers who’ll want to encourage you to go fishing. Fishing can be as easy or complicated as you want it to be – just keep it simple to begin with!
