SILVER BREAM ANGLING ASSOCIATION RULES
GENERAL RULES
If you wish to add to or change any of these rules, your written proposition seconded by another Full SBAA member) must be with the Secretary by the January (2nd Monday) meeting.
Section A – Constitution
1. The Association shall be called the Silver Bream Angling Association (hereafter called “the SBAA”).
2. Election of Trustees of the SBAA.
2.1 The Committee may appoint Trustees as necessary with the agreement of the proposed Trustee and that of the other Trustees. There shall be three Trustees at any time, except when a place becomes available unexpectedly through death, incapacity or resignation, when the place shall be filled as soon as practicable. In appointing Trustees, the Committee and other Trustees shall be mindful of the need to avoid potential clashes of interest,
2.2 Trustees shall serve for a term of three years, after which they are eligible for reappointment.
2.3 The responsibilities of the Trustees shall be to hold land in their names on behalf of the Club,
2.4 Trustees shall be appointed from within the Committee.
2.5 No Trustee shall be liable for any loss or damage which may happen to the Club assets or any part thereof or the income thereof, or for any liability to individual members, at any time or from any cause whatsoever unless such loss or damage shall be caused by his own fraud or reckless indifference.
3. The SBAA shall be managed by a General and Social Committee (hereafter called “the committee”), which shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and shall comprise up to 15 Senior members, consisting of the Officers of the SBAA, as follows:
a) President
b) Chairman
c) Vice Chairman
d) Secretary
e) Treasurer
f) Membership Secretary
g) Match Secretary
h) Assistant Match Secretary
i) Junior Section Chairman
and the balance of Senior members
4. The Committee is empowered to amend Rules with immediate effect. Such changes shall be proposed for ratification at the next AGM.
5. If a resolution calling for the dissolution of the SBAA is passed at any Annual or Special General Meeting, the Secretary shall immediately convene a Special General Meeting to be held not later than 1 month thereafter to discuss and vote on the resolution. If, at that Special General Meeting, the resolution is carried by a simple majority of the Full members present at the meeting, the Committee shall thereupon, or at such a date as shall have been specified in the resolution, proceed to realise the SBAA’s assets and discharge all the SBAA’s debts and liabilities. After discharging all SBAA’s debts and liabilities, the remaining assets shall be given or transferred to some other voluntary organization having similar objectives to those of the SBAA.
Section B – Membership
1. The SBAA Membership Year shall run from May 1st to April 30th.
2. The SBAA shall have the following classes of membership.
a) Senior members (aged 18 to 64 inclusive on 1st May)
b) Concessionary members, who the Committee accepts have a medical condition that prevents them undertaking working parties
c) Senior Citizen members, aged 65 or over on 1st May
d) Junior members, aged 17 years and under on 1st May
e) Life members, who shall be elected by the membership at an AGM and shall be exempt from subscriptions
f) Vice Presidents, who shall be elected annually by the membership at an AGM and shall be exempt from subscriptions
g) Honorary members who shall be elected by the Committee and shall be exempt from subscriptions. Honorary membership shall be reviewed at the AGM.
Categories a) – d) above include probationary members whose membership has yet to be confirmed in accordance with Rule 8c.
Members in categories a) – c) who have completed their probationary periods, plus members in categories e) and f), shall be deemed Full Members.
3. Membership shall be limited to people living within a radius of 15 miles centred on Tortworth Little Lake at the time they are elected to membership.
4. All existing members must renew their membership by paying their subscriptions to the Membership Secretary by the April Committee meeting.
5. Applications for membership shall be:
a) made in writing, or via the Clubmate App, to the Membership Secretary.
b) processed in the following manner:
All categories: the Membership Secretary shall process immediately, subject to the conditions in Rule 8a.
Applications considered from February to April shall be considered as applications for renewal for the coming year, as required by Rule 4, as well as for membership during the current year, unless otherwise stated by the applicant.
6. The Membership Secretary shall accept for consideration by the Committee applications for new Senior members, which, if approved, would bring that category of members up to 100. If more applications are received, they shall be placed on a waiting list, pending the Committee’s decision on whether or not to consider further applications.
7. Applications shall be considered in the order they are received by the Membership Secretary.
8. Applicants for membership shall be:
a) valid immediately, subject to payment of the appropriate registration fee and subscription(s) and signature by the new member and return to the Membership Secretary of 1 copy each of the SBAA’s Code of Conduct and Health and Safety Document.
b) subject to a 12 month probationary period after which they will transfer to Full Membership provided no issues have been raised to the Committee.
9. Full Senior members may bring a maximum of 2 Junior non-members, aged 15 years and under, to Association waters to fish, free of charge.
Section C – Fishing
1. SBAA waters shall be closed:
a) for ALL matches, from 2 hours before the start time advertised in the Membership Card until the contest is finished, with the exception of;
SBAA organised Carp matches at Gall Pond, where pleasure anglers may fish before and during the Carp match on unreserved pegs.
SBAA organised Tuesday daytime matches at Gall Pond, where pleasure anglers may fish before and during the match on any unoccupied pegs.
b) for the duration of working parties scheduled in the Membership Card.
2. At Gall Pond Junior members aged 12 years and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
At Pope’s Gully Junior members aged 15 years and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
3. All SBAA members shall comply with relevant legislation including Environment
Agency by-laws.
4. Members shall only fish by fair rod and line angling for pure sport.
5. Members shall only fish between daylight and dusk i.e. one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset, with the exception of;
SBAA organised Carp matches at Gall Pond.
6. At Gall Pond no member shall use more than two rods at a time except when using floating baits, then, only one rod at a time shall be used.
At Pope’s Gully one rod only is permitted at all times.
7. Members shall not leave baited hooks in the water unattended.
8. Bait boats are not allowed on Club waters.
9. Members shall take into account the welfare of fish at all times.
10. Fish must never be handled with gloves or towels.
11. (i) Keepnets, landing nets and unhooking mats must be dry when arriving to fish.
(ii) At Pope’s Gully keepnets are not permitted except in SBAA organised matches.
Only keepnets supplied by SBAA shall be used (which will be Carp safe).
(iii) At Gall Pond keepnets used must be of knotless micromesh (or smaller), fish-friendly mesh type.
(iv) No carp to be kept in keepnets, except in SBAA organised matches.
(v) Carp sacks are not to be used.
12. Anglers and, in matches, the Scales Steward MUST ensure that the correct procedure for transferring fish from keepnet to weigh net or back into the water and from the weigh net back into the water is followed:
Keepnet to weigh net or water
a) swim the fish from the bottom of the keepnet to the top, ensuring that the top ring is out of the water, and gather the rings up from the bottom as the fish move up. Once the fish are between the 2nd or 3rd ring (depending on the number of fish in the net), remove the keepnet from the water and gently slide the fish into the weigh net or water, or
b) remove the keepnet from the water collapsing the net down until the 2nd or3rd ring from the bottom can be reached from the inside. Pull the chosen ring through the top ring and then gently slide the fish into the weigh net or water.
Should the number of fish require more than one weigh, only slide sufficient fish into the weigh net for the first weigh. Whilst the weigh is taking place, hold the remaining fish back in the water until required for weighing and repeat until all fish have been weighed.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES must the keepnet be removed from the water and fish tipped down from bottom to top.
From weigh net back into water
Fish shall be lowered carefully into the water and emptied from the weigh net. If the water level is too low to reach with the keepnet or weigh net as applicable, the fish shall be transferred to the water using a landing net. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES shall fish be dropped or thrown back into the water.
13. Fishing is only permitted from designated swims on all Club waters.
14. Fixed leger rigs are banned on all Club waters.
15. Braid main lines are banned on all Club waters.
16. At Pope’s Gully members shall use Barbless hooks only.
Section D – Meetings
1. SBAA shall hold an Annual General Meeting at the SBAA Headquarters on the 2nd Monday of February of every year for the purposes of:
a) electing
1) the SBAA Patron
2) Life Members and Vice Presidents
3) Officers of the Club
4) other Members of the Committee
b) reviewing Honorary members
c) considering the Accounts for the preceding calendar year
d) setting subscriptions and discounts for the following Membership year
e) approving amendments to the SBAA Rules
f) other business agreed by the Committee at its January meeting.
2. Members’ proposals for amendments to the SBAA Rules to be considered by an AGM (other than the Treasurers proposals regarding the acceptance of accounts and subscriptions and surcharges, which shall be made at the AGM) shall be made in writing to the Secretary by the preceding January Committee meeting. Each proposal shall be moved by a Full Member and seconded by another Full Member.
3. Special General Meetings may be convened by the Committee or on receipt by the Secretary of a request in writing from not less than 6 Full Members. SGMs requested by members shall be held within 4 weeks of the written request.
4. All members shall be informed of the date, time and venue of Annual and Special General Meetings and the matters to be considered in agendas, which shall be posted or e-mailed to their home address and posted on the SBAA’s notice board at Tortworth Little Lake not less than 14 days before the meeting.
5. Proposed alterations to the SBAA Rules may only be considered at an Annual or Special General Meeting that has been convened with the required written notice of the proposal. Such alterations shall be passed if supported by a simple majority of the Full Members present at the meeting, provided that a quorum has been achieved.
6. The Committee shall meet on the second Monday of every month, except February and August, to manage the business of the SBAA. Committee meetings shall be open to all SBAA members, who may participate in the debates but do not have voting rights.
7. At Annual and Special General Meetings only current Full Members attending the meeting shall be entitled to vote.
8. The Secretary is empowered to convene additional Committee meetings as business dictates.
9. Five Members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for Annual and Special General Meetings and Committee meetings.
10. In all meetings The Chairman has up to 2 votes in respect of each proposal. The 1st is as an ordinary Committee member. Having exercised the 1st vote, the Chairman may then use the 2nd (discretionary vote) in the event of a tie.
Section E – Finance
1. The SBAA Financial Year shall run from January 1st to December 31st.
2. The Treasurer shall keep the SBAA’s monies in account(s) in the name of ‘Silver Bream Angling Association’, with a reputable bank or building society. Payments from the account(s) shall require the signatures of at least 2 authorised signatories, who shall be the Treasurer, Chairman and Secretary.
3. A stamped addressed envelope must accompany all correspondence to SBAA that requires a reply.
4. All cheques and postal orders shall be made payable to the “Silver Bream Angling Association” and not to any individual.
5. All new members shall be liable for a pro-rata subscription based on the month of joining:
– May – Jul shall be 100% of the annual subscription
– Aug – Oct shall be 75% of the annual subscription
– Nov – Jan shall be 50% of the annual subscription
– Feb – Apr shall be 25% of the annual subscription
Section F – Conduct
1. Members shall not enter the SBAA’s Leased land unless they are in possession of a valid membership card or Clubmate App Active Membership, which they shall show when requested by another Member, employees of Tortworth Estate Company or members of Lord Ducie’s staff at Tortworth Little Lake.
2. Audio devices may be played only by the use of ear plugs.
3. No fish shall be taken away at any time.
4. Members shall remove all litter and discarded tackle from the vicinity of their Pegs on completion of their fishing session.
5. All vehicles must be parked tidily in the designated parking areas.
6. Members shall adhere to safety notices and abide by published safety precautions.
7. All trophies must be returned by the following Annual General Meeting.
8. Members shall not interfere with game.
9. Only individuals named on SBAA’s licenses held under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and acting within the terms of the licence may carry a gun at Gall Pond. No guns are allowed at Pope’s Gully.
10. At Gall Pond dogs must be kept on a lead at all times. You must clean up after your dog, bag it and take away for disposal. Dogs are not allowed at Pope’s Gully.
11. Climbing of trees is banned on all SBAA waters.
12. Smoking is not permitted within the farmyard at Pope’s Gully.
Section G – Discipline
1. SBAA will report all instances of unlawful fishing and similar offences to the Police and fully support any prosecution.
2. The Committee will use the following process in respect of any member who refuses or neglects to observe the Constitution or General Rules of the Club, or who is deemed by the Committee as having engaged in behaviour unworthy of a member or otherwise injurious to the interests of the Club.
2.1 The Committee will act upon any rule infringement reported to the Committee
2.2 The Committee will open an investigation to gather any evidence required to enable a decision to be made, this could be physical evidence or reports from members.
2.3 The Committee will consider the evidence collected at the next committee meeting or may convene an emergency meeting for a serious case.
2.4 The Committee may, at its discretion, invite the member who is the subject of an investigation, or other party to the issue of the investigation, to the meeting to provide evidence. The results of the investigation and direct submissions will be used by the Committee to determine an outcome.
2.5 The result of the investigation will be provided to the member as soon as possible, normally within seven days.
2.6 The sanctions available to the Committee will be:
2.6.1 No case to answer
2.6.2 Verbal Warning
2.6.3 Written warning
2.6.4 Suspension from the Club
2.6.5 Expulsion. If expelled from the Club a member will forfeit their joining fees, subscriptions and surcharges. The sanction chosen will be determined by the seriousness of the rule infringement. Expulsion is normally reserved for the most serious offences such as breaking a fishing related law, violence towards another member, theft etc.
2.7 An explanation of the determination will be provided to the member who is subject to an investigation.
2.8 A member subject to a disciplinary sanction will have the right to appeal to the Committee. Any appeal will need to be made in writing within seven days of the original determination. Any appeal will be heard at the next Committee meeting.
SENIOR MATCH RULES
1. All SBAA matches shall be subject to the SBAA General Rules, except where there is a conflict, when the Senior Match Rule takes precedence.
2. The venues and draw, start and finish times of SBAA matches shall be published in the SBAA Membership Card.
3. The SBAA Match Secretary or his nominee shall act as Match Organiser.
4. All competitors in SBAA matches shall be SBAA members, except for:
a) opposing teams in inter-Club matches
b) guests invited with the agreement of the Match Secretary.
5. No competitor shall fish any SBAA match unless his/her entry fee has been paid.
6. Draws shall be held:
a) at Gall Pond – in the car park.
b) at other venues – as decided by the Match Organiser.
7. Competitors may only draw once.
8. SBAA matches shall be pegged down:
a) at Gall Pond – using designated pegs.
b) on other venues – using pegs that are at least 15 yards long (subject to local Rules), are marked and numbered by the Match Organiser before the draw and, under normal conditions, give competitors a practicable and reasonable chance to fish his/her swim.
9. Competitors shall fish from within one metre either side of their peg markers.
The extent of the pegs shall be:
a) on flowing water – from 1 metre upstream of the peg marker to 1 metre upstream of the next downstream competitors peg
b) on still waters and canals – mid-way between the adjacent competitors’ peg markers
c) where competitors are drawn on opposite banks – midway between each bank.
Competitors shall restrict their activities completely to their pegs. They, their tackle, their hookbaits and their groundbaits shall not intrude into their neighbours’ swims.
If, exceptionally, a competitor needs to enter an adjacent peg e.g. to free snagged tackle, he/she shall secure his/her neighbour’s permission before leaving his/her peg.
10. No competitor may move his/her peg or change his/her peg for another without the Match Organiser’s consent, which shall be granted only if in his/her opinion the competitor’s original peg is unfishable.
11. Peg markers shall remain in position until the competitor’s catch is weighed.
12. Before the starting signal, competitors shall not:
a) groundbait or loose feed their swims,
b) cast swimfeeders or baitdroppers e.g. to plumb the depth or test loading, but may break the water to:
a) test floats and other tackle. A ledger weight may be cast to find depth and distance etc. but at no time must the line be left in the water whilst continuing to set up other tackle.
b) plumb the depth,
c) mix and wet groundbait,
d) clear his/her ground of weed or obstructions,
e) position his/her equipment.
13. All fish caught are eligible for weighing with the exception of game fish, pike, zander and crustaceans.
14. Competitors shall take every practicable step to keep their fish alive and, after weighing them, return them carefully to the water. If a competitor’s fish are in distress, he/she shall request the Match Organiser to weigh them in and return them to the water immediately.
15. No competitor shall have live or dead fish in his/her possession before a match.
All competitors must submit to a search if requested by the Match Organiser.
16. Competitors shall not receive any outside assistance during the course of a match.
17. Any sinking bait, subject to local rules, can be used except live or dead fish, frogs, spinning baits or artificial lures. Floating baits, either hookbait or feedbait, are not permitted.
18. Competitors may wade or position platforms in water up to knee-deep or deeper, provided they can touch the bank with their fingertips.
19. No competitor shall present their baited hooks into their swim by any other means than the pole or rod to which the line is attached.
20. The maximum permitted length of poles is 16 metres.
21. Competitors shall minimise disturbance to other competitors.
22. A competitor shall have in use one rod or pole, one line and one single hook at one time, but may have other rods or poles and tackle assembled for use, providing that other tackles are not baited.
23. Hand-lining fish, including handling elastics, is not permitted.
24. Groundbait, including loose feed, may be introduced by hand, or by using one or two handed catapults, throwing sticks, swim feeders, bait droppers and bait cups only. No bait shall be introduced with a pole cup or bait dropper attached to an extra rod/pole whilst continuing to fish.
25. The use of electronic fish finders is forbidden.
26. No competitor shall leave his/her peg at any time during the course of the match other than to:
a) answer the call of nature and then he/she must not leave his/her baited hook in the water
b) undertake weighing duties for which he/she has been assigned.
27. A competitor must cease fishing at the finishing signal. Should he/she still be playing a fish hooked before the signal is given, he/she will immediately call “Fish On” and be permitted no more than fifteen minutes after time has been called to land the fish.
28. Any competitor who abandons a match shall not continue fishing within the match length.
29. Any competitor undertaking weighing duties shall have a witness to the weighing of his/her own catch.
30. All catches will be weighed to the nearest quarter of an ounce or ten grammes rounded up.
31. Each competitor shall ensure the correct weight of his/her catch is recorded. In any dispute the decision of the weighers and the Match Organiser will be final.
32.A net weight limit of 50lbs shall apply, a weight between 50lbs & 60lbs gets knocked back to 50lbs, any weight over 60lbs will be disqualified.
33. All fish shall be weighed at the competitor’s peg, unless the bankside terrain dictates otherwise, in which case the catch shall be carried the least practicable distance to the scales.
34. Any fish suspected of being weighted or otherwise considered suspicious by the weighers must be weighed, pending investigation, and the Match Organiser informed. The Match Organiser shall determine whether or not fish shall be counted or, conversely, the competitor disqualified.
35. Any objection to an angler’s conduct, for whatever reason, must be lodged with the Match Organiser not later than when the alleged offender is weighed in. In all cases, the objector shall inform the alleged offender of his/her intentions, so that he/she may speak in his/her own defence. Should an offender leave the match scene after receiving such a warning, the objection shall be deemed to have been sustained.
36. Any angler proved to have been in contravention of these rules will be disqualified. If the offence constitutes a contravention of SBAA’s General Rules, the Match Organiser shall advise the Chairman and SBAA General Rules Section G – Discipline Rule 2 shall apply.
37. Matches counting towards SBAA trophies shall be scored on a points system as follows:
a) 1st place – 11 points, reducing by 1 point per place to 10th place – 2 points
b) unplaced competitors who weigh in – 1 point
c) unplaced competitors who do not weigh in – 0 points.
THE FOLLOWING RULES WILL ONLY APPLY WHEN A TEAM COMPETITION AS WELL AS AN INDIVIDUAL EVENT IS BUILT INTO THE MATCH
38. Details of each angler making up the team must be entered on a team card (or sheet) which must be handed in before the match begins. No alterations in the make-up of a team will be permitted once the draw has begun.
39. A team competition may be decided in two ways, by means of aggregate weight or by means of section points. The method shall be decided before the draw is undertaken.
40. Aggregate scores counting towards a trophy in either the Club match series, or inter-club match series shall be an aggregate of all a contestant’s scores.
Aggregate scores counting towards the D. Lavis Cup for the evening series shall be an aggregate of all a contestant’s scores minus their 2 worst scores, a non attendance scoring 0 points.
SENIOR TROPHIES
Trophy Name For
The Presidents Cup Highest total for Club matches
The Silver Bream Challenge Cup Highest total for inter-club matches
The Dave Lansdown Trophy Highest total for winter matches
The Canal Trophy For the heaviest fish caught in a match fished on the Sharpness Gloucester canal
Heaviest Fish For the heaviest fish caught in a match at SBAA club waters
Pairs Trophy Awarded to the pair with the highest aggregate weight caught in the Pairs Match
Dave Bennett Cup Highest total for the Charity match
D Lavis Cup Highest total for the evening series
JUNIOR MATCH RULES
1. Junior matches shall be fished to the same Rules as Senior matches, except where Rules below apply.
2. The SBAA Junior Section Chairman or his nominee shall act as Match Organiser.
3. Draws shall be held;
a) at Gall Pond – on the dam wall closest to the entrance gate.
b) other venues – as decided by the Match Organiser.
4. Competitors may be given limited assistance to cast, feed their swims, land fish and disgorge their fish.
5. Competitors who have fished one other SBAA match shall be eligible for the Grand Tackle Match.
6. Points are awarded for all matches except the Cotswold Championship and the Grand Tackle Match and the totals used to decide the presentation of the trophies.
JUNIOR TROPHIES
Trophy Name For
Perrett Brothers Trophy Highest total for home matches
R. Brain Trophy Highest attendance with lowest total
M Shellard Trophy Highest aggregate of fish
Jenkins/Lansdown Cup Highest total by competitors 13 years or under at the start of the Membership year
Tom Wedlake Trophy The heaviest fish caught in a match
