Portland Angling Club

Portland Angling club

Affiliated to the SWFSA and EFSA

Club ruleS


The Rules of the Club
1.		The name of the Club is Portland Angling Club.
2.		Objects of the Club:
	(a)	To encourage the sport of Sea Angling,
	(b)	To promote interest in the conservation on the marine environment
3.		Membership:
	(a)	The Club shall consist of Full Members; persons of either sex shall be eligible for membership.
	(b)	All members are subject to the condition that they agree to abide by the Rules and Bye-Laws of the Club for the time being in force.
	(c)	Candidates for membership shall be elected by the Committee at its sole discretion.
4.		Subscriptions
	(a)	Full members shall pay fifteen pounds per annum (juniors free). Subscriptions are due on the first day of January in each year or on joining the club. A member whose subscription is not paid by the last day of December shall cease to be a member. No person shall be deemed a member of the club until the appropriate subscription has been paid. No weight sheets will be accepted unless membership has already been paid.
5.		Committee
	(a)	The entire management of the Club shall be vested in a Committee consisting of the Chairman, Hon. General Secretary, Hon. Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Fish Recorder and five other members of the Club. All to retire for re-election at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.
	(b)	The day chosen for Committee meetings shall be decided at the first meeting of the incoming Committee (generally the first Wednesday in the month).
	(c)	In the event of a vacancy on the Committee arising between two Annual General Meetings the Committee may fill such a vacancy.
	(d)	The Committee shall appoint working committees to organise Festivals, Social Events, Open Competitions etc. The Chairman or Hon. General Secretary shall be members of these Committees.
	(e)	A quorum of the Committee shall be five.
	(f)	The current Committee shall be empowered to make fixtures, fix the date for the Annual Presentation Dinner and invite guests thereto, for the season following their term of office.
6.		Annual General Meeting
		The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in the middle of November each year and 15 months shall not elapse without a general meeting. The Hon. General Secretary shall give twenty one days notice in writing thereof to each member for the following reasons:
	(a)	To receive from the Committee a Report and Financial Statement in respect of the said year.
	(b)	To elect the officers and members of the Committee for the ensuing year.
	(c)	To elect Hon.. Auditors for the ensuing year.
	(d)	To decide on any resolutions which may be duly submitted to the meeting. Any member desirous of moving any resolutions shall give notice thereof in writing to the Hon. General Secretary not less that fourteen days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.
	(e)	Only members of the Club shall be invited to attend.
	(f)	No proposals shall receive the sanction of the Annual General Meeting unless it has two thirds of the voting on the said item at this meeting.
	(g)	The quorum at any Annual General Meetings shall be twenty percent of the members.
7.		Special General Meetings
		The Committee may at any time for any special purpose call a Special General Meeting, of which seven days notice in writing shall be given, and they shall forthwith call such a meeting upon the requisition in writing of any twenty percent of the members stating the purpose for which the meeting is required. No other business shall be transacted at these meetings.
8.		Voting Powers
		At all meetings of members the Chairman, or in his absence, a member selected by the meeting, shall take the Chair. Every person entitled to vote shall have one vote upon every motion, and in case of equality of the votes the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. If the majority of members so decide the voting on any question shall be done by ballot.
9.		Accounts
	(a)	Proper books of accounts shall be kept and an up-to-date cash account produced at the monthly Committee Meetings.
	(b)	All cheques are to bear two signatures.
	(c)	At the discretion of the Committee the funds of the club may be invested.
	(d)	Audited accounts shall be produced at the Annual General Meeting.
10.		Dissolution
	(a)	The Club shall not be dissolved while there are sufficient members to furnish officers.
	(b)	In the event of dissolution the Club assets shall be made over to trustees of the Portland Angling Club, appointed at the meeting, who shall hold the assets of the Club until the Club is revived.
11.		Bye-Laws
		The committee form time to time make, repeal and amend such rules and regulations not consistent with these rules, as they shall think expedient for management,
12.		Expulsion
		The Committee shall have the power to call for immediate resignation of any member and failing compliance, to expel him of her if, in the Committees opinion his or her conduct is such that it is in the interest of the Club to do so. The person under expulsion shall be able to present their case at the next available committee meeting.
13.		Club Property
		Any member ceasing to belong to the Club shall have no claim on its property or effects.
		Trophies held by members should be covered by their own Home Contents insurance.
14.		Newsletters
		These are to be published at regular intervals to keep you up-to-date with local and national events and results of the club competitions, also available on this website, see Results & Tables.

General Fishing Rules
1.		For all competitions, including the merit cups, a maximum of TWO rods with not more than THREE hooks can be used.
2.		Mackerel are NOW included in ALL competitions.
3.		All weights sheets to be handed to the Fish Recorder within fourteen days of capture, if at the end of the month then by the seventh day of the following month (this allows the Fish Recorder to then submit these to the SWFSA and/or EFSA within their fourteen days of the following month).
4.		Weight sheets will also be accepted from Bona Fida Angling Clubs/Shops whose scales have a current Weights & Measures certificate of accuracy.
5.		Fish may also be weighed at the following locations: Punchbowl Inn (Portland AC Headquarters) Ian Burden (contact by phone) Dave McCune (contact by phone)
6.		For people who have their own certified scales and wish to release fish unharmed a witness is ideally required. How-ever in the absence of a witness a photo (or even better a video of the fish/weighing) is required. The photo/video ideally should show the fish against a measure (as best as possible) and on the scales. Please note in Shore & Boat competitions all fish are to be bought back to the weigh-in (with exception of Tope, Smoothounds, Bass & Silver Eels which can be measured or in the case of Silver Eels just released) and weighed on the supplied competition scales, Only the weighed weight will count towards the competition, pre-weighed fish will have to be re-weighed and the new weight accepted!
7.		Fishing from pontoons is prohibited, though an angler may use the pontoon to land a fish BUT the rod MUST remain on the land.
8.		Mini-species may be weighed in for merit points, however they must reach a minimum size (i.e. 8”), a specimen weight of 1lb will apply. Non mini-species not on the specimen list (e.g. Sunfish) will be awarded merit points based upon their British Record size.
9.		Anyone caught cheating shall be subject to Club Rule No 12.
10.		Smoothounds should only be retained if breaking Club records or for specimen purposes (exception – see shore specific rule 5). * No pregnant fish to be killed. * All smoothounds are to be measured in centimetres, measuring from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail (and rounding down to the nearest CM). A formula will then be applied to establish the weight back at the weigh-in. This weight will then be used for establishing specimen points only! At least one picture to be taken of the fish.
11.		Tope MUST be released un-harmed. All Tope are to be measured in inches, measuring from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail (rounding down to nearest inch) also measuring the girth (taken in front of the dorsal fin, again rounding down to nearest inch). A formula will then be applied to establish the weight back at the weigh-in. This weight will then be used for establishing specimen points only! At least one picture to be taken of the fish.
12.		All Bass are to be measured to count for merit points, comps. etc.
13.		For purposes of competitions the following Catch and Release weights are as follows:
		Smoothounds derived from measurements
		Tope derived from measurements
		Bass derived from measurements
		Silver Eel 1lb (regardless of size)
14.		Any late bags brought to the scales, unless a valid reason is given, will not be eligible. This will be at the discretion of the fish recorder, or in his absence the weigher-in.
15.		Undersized fish weighed in during any competitions will be removed from the bag and the weight of the fish deducted from the total weight of the remaining bag.

Shore Specific Rules
1.		Fishing can only take place where the shore is accessible to the general public.
2.		No angler may fish/stand on anything that floats (i.e. pontoons) – see General Fishing Rule No 6.
3.		A craft may be used to cross the Fleet to gain access to Chesil Beach. (Note: the Fleet has some specific areas where fishing is not allowed boat or shore)
4.		All shore competitions will be at the advertised time and date unless otherwise notified by the Shore Director or this website, see Fixture List.
5.		During all shore competitions, a FIVE fish limit (of any one species) applies, but all fish must be bought back to the scales except for Bass, Tope Smoothounds and Silver Eels where a photo will suffice, see General Fishing Rule Nos 10, 11, 12 and 13.
6.		An angler may fish up to one hour before the start of the competition in order to catch bait, a maximum of one rod may be used during this time.
7.		During all shore competitions, Smoothounds are to be bought back to Scales with the exception of pregnant fish which must be photographed and measured (including picture of fish & measure), see General Fishing Rule No 10.
8.		The Frank Read Memorial Trophy competition will be fished as a Chesil Beach competition, boundaries being the pier at Westbay to the rocks at Chesil Cove (note the pier may not be fished, nor may the rocks).
9.		Shore competition entry fees are set at; £10 entry fee, split into; £3 payable back at end of year, (Based on number of points won through-out the year) £2 nominated fish entry (Won when fish caught) £5 Split pool, payable on the day, split into; 50% 1^st Weight 30% Best Specimen 20% 2^nd Weight

Boat Specific Rules
1.		All boat competitions will be at the advertised time and date unless otherwise notified by the Boat Director or this website, see Fixture List.
2.		During all shore competitions, a THREE fish limit (of any one species) applies, but all fish must be bought back to the scales except for Bass, Tope, Smoothounds and Silver Eels where a photo will suffice, see General Fishing Rule Nos 10, 11, 12 and 13.
3.		An angler may fish up to one hour before the start of the competition in order to catch bait, a maximum of one rod may be used during this time.
4.		During all boat competitions, Smoothounds are to be bought back to Scales with the exception of pregnant fish which must be photographed and measured (including picture of fish & measure), see General Fishing Rule No 10.
5.		Boat competition entry fees are set at; £10 entry fee, split into; £3 payable back at end of year (Based on number of points won through-out the year) £2 Pool 25% Best Specimen 25% Most Species 25% Most Numbers 25% Heaviest Weight £5 Split pool, payable on the day, split into; 50% 1st Category 30% 2nd Category 20% 3rd Category (Category by random envelope selected on day, if category not won then money passes onto the next category!)