Can I go fishing in lockdown and are tackle shops open?

Fishing has been given a reprieve from the Government and will be able to continue during the second nationwide lockdown.

Angling is now set to be the only grassroots and recreational activity permitted during the next month.

Though anglers will only be permitted to fish with one other person from outside their family or support ‘bubble’.

The Government has insisted competitive match-fishing will be forbidden during lockdown following Tuesday’s discussions with the Angling Trust, the national governing body that represents all game, coarse and sea anglers and angling in England.

Anglers have been encouraged to “focus on their local beaches and fishing marks”, while freshwater anglers must avoid travelling hundreds of miles in search of fishing, with “common sense” and “acting within the spirit of the government’s advice” required, including the Rule of Two. 

Angling in the sea, still-water, river and canal spaces can continue, including fisheries, which are not included in the list of businesses that must close under new restrictions to contain the virus.

Fishing tackle shops and all indoor and social facilities connected with the sport are still required to close from Thursday.

Martin Salter, head of policy for the Angling Trust, said: “We are delighted that the Government has recognised the health and wellbeing benefits of angling and the fact that, since we reopened in May, there has not been a single incident of Covid-19 transmission, to the very best of our knowledge, as a result of angling.”

Angling, as a naturally socially-distanced sport, was the first sport to return after the first lockdown this year.

But the government’s decision will increase pressure from sports such as golf, tennis and archery, who have all appealed over the last week for a reprieve.

The Angling Trust are set to publish full guidance following successful talks, but did not leave entirely satisfied after admitting the new rules are “more complicated than we had hoped”.

“Angling is deemed a permissible form of ‘outdoor recreation’, and a lawful reason to leave home,” said an Angling Trust statement. “It can take place, without time limits, within the provision allowing people to visit a public outdoor space.

“A public outdoor space is defined as an ‘outdoor place to which the public have, or are permitted, access’. We believe this clearly includes riverbanks, towpaths, beaches and still-waters that can either be accessed freely or on the payment of a day ticket or subscription levied by the owner or leased to a publicly available fishing association.

“Fisheries are not on the published list of businesses that the government has ordered to close and there is no reason that they should do so providing that they operate in accordance with the rules.”