Daiwa Global Communities Celebration event rules 2024

1. Canal & River Trust will organise an annual Global Communities celebration to be held in October of each year. They will appoint a small group of persons who will be responsible for management of the event.

2. The celebration will be “pegged down” event, pegs to be preferably 22 yards (20 metres) apart, or more where practicable. The draw for fishing positions will take place on Facebook Live at least 36 hours before the event on the Wednesday or Thursday evening before the event.

Participants should aim to arrive at your fishing location a minimum of 1 hour before the fishing start time. Participants must fish from where the peg number is placed.

3. Participants cannot change their peg position except as agreed by the lead section steward. Any participant fishing at the wrong peg will unfortunately be disqualified.

4. All the sections to be used in the celebration will to be closed for fishing to all participants in all age groups from midnight five days prior to the celebration.

5. Entry to the celebrations is available by selection only and will be limited aged 7-20 years of age on the day of the National Celebration. The categories are:

Cadets – 7-10 years of age on the day of the National Celebration

Young Junior - 11, 12 or 13 years of age on the day of the National Celebration

Full Junior - aged 14 or 15 years of age on the day of the National Celebration

Youth - 16- 20 years of age on the day of the National Celebration

For teams representing overseas communities and where necessary to facilitate compiling a full team of three participants, where deemed necessary by the Let's Fish organiser one over age participant may be selected to participate in the cadet category proving the total combined team age is 30 or less for cadets and 38 or less in the young juniors category.

6. The duration of the celebration will be two and a half hours for cadets, three hours for young juniors, three and a half hours for full juniors and four hours for youth. The signals to commence and cease fishing will be given by the lead stewards.

7. All participants under the age of 16 should be accompanied by a responsible adult who may also help carry their tackle to their peg. The responsible adult must typically sit to the rear of the towpath and take all reasonable steps to avoid sky lining participants. The responsible adult must not sit at the front of the towpath and overcoach the participant.

8. No participant may leave their fishing position during the celebrations other than to answer the call of nature or in an emergency situation.

9. Let's Fish! coaches will do what they reasonably can to prevent spectators unreasonably approaching or interfering with the participants fishing.

10. For the first 75 minutes of the cadet, young junior and full junior events, the maximum distance that participants can fish out from the bank is three metres and the maximum length of usable pole will be three metres. No more than three metres of the pole should overhang the water and the participants float must not be positioned more than 3 meters out from the waters edge. Further details and explanation of this rule can be found in the National Celebration of Young People and Fishing rules and guidance can be found in this video.

If a large fish is hooked during the first 75 minutes, additional pole sections may be added to facilitate the landing of the fish.

11. Maximum length of poles permitted in this event after 75 minutes has elapsed is:

• 11 metres for cadets,
• 13 metres maximum for young juniors,
• 13 metres maximum for full juniors
• 14 metres for youth.

Floating poles are not permitted. It is ultimately the responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure the participants use a length of pole which they can handle comfortably, and which does not cause injury or musculo- skeletal trauma to the participant.

12. Participants are expected to be always in sole control of their rod or pole, cast or ship in and out their rod or pole at all times, must strike, play and land their own fish from the confines of the peg, bait their own hooks and feed their own pegs with groundbait and/or loosefeed. Reasonable but not excessive help can be given to a participant by an accompanying responsible adult and appointed branded Let's Fish coaches, especially where the participant is young and inexperienced.

Examples of reasonable help would include using a disgorger to unhook fish after the participant first attempting to unhook that fish, pulling for a break when snagged, tying a new hook to line, retrieving a lost section of pole from the waterway, using a landing net to assist the landing of a bonus fish or illustrating something that the participants is then asked to demonstrate back as part of their learning process. In the unlikely event of a dispute, the decision as to what's reasonable shall be down to the lead event organiser and deemed final.

13. Loose-feeding, ground baiting or the use of a baited hook are not permitted before the commencement of the celebration. Participants are allowed to plumb the depth, test the shotting of floats etc before the all-in. A swim feeder cannot be used for any purpose prior to the starting signal or in the first 75 minutes of the celebration.

14. A participant can only use one rod or pole, one line and single hook at any one time. They may have other un-baited poles or rods and tackle assembled in a position behind or alongside them.

15. A participant must not cause annoyance to or seek to interfere with another participant during the course of the celebrations. Participants and accompanying adults must act in a sporting manner at all times.

16. Any bait subject to local rules can be used, the lead coach can provide venue specific information. Baits that are allowed in all celebrations are various species of maggots, casters, worms, bread, bread based pellets such as Fjuka and hemp. The following baits and groundbait are not permitted in any 2024 regional, national or global celebration events, bloodworm and joker, any pellets containing fishmeal, sweetcorn, luncheon meat, boilies, lures, spinners, fish or dead fish and any groundbait containing fishmeal.

17. Participants must retain all fish in a keepnet, pegged at both ends to avoid contact with passing boat traffic. All fish caught are eligible for weighing except game fish, pike, zander, wels catfish and crustaceans.

In the event of capture of a zander or wels catfish, the fish should be retained in the keepnet and managed in line with legislation by the lead coach.

18. Participants must cease fishing at the all-out signal. Should a participant still be playing a fish hooked as the finishing signal is given, they will be allowed up to 15 minutes to land the fish.

19. Participants are responsible for ensuring their pegs are clear of litter, including peg cards, and no participant shall have their catch weighed in who has litter on the banks or in their swim.

20. Participants aged 13 and over must possess an Environment Agency/Natural Resources Wales rod licence. They are available free of charge to those aged 13 to 16 inclusive.

21. All the additional rules that apply to the National Celebration of Young People and fishing event will also apply to this event and you can find a copy of these here.

22. Any participant proved to be in contravention of these celebration event rules is liable to disqualification.

23. The team result will be based on overall combined points, in the event of ties the team with the highest combined weight will finish in the highest position. In the cadet and young junior sections, team members will be pegged adjacent to each other: in the full junior and youth events team members will be pegged in sections.

24. There are more useful guidelines and support on making the most of the day here.