12 Let's Fish! principles

1. Where possible, bring the fisheries to the people, not the people to the fisheries

2. Don’t just market the sport at existing angling families. Expose angling to the non-angling public. Numerous canal festivals and events where non-anglers can be exposed to fishing

3. Children of a certain age are still fascinated by fishing. Focus primarily on the young, 4 to 13, their parents and grandparents and lapsed adult anglers

4. The Benny Ashurst and Ivan Marks philosophy: If you learn to catch fish on a canal, (or similar natural fishery) you will have the ability to catch them anywhere

5. A life in angling is like climbing a ladder. You do it a rung at a time. Don’t try to leap to the top without negotiating all the steps, it won’t be sustainable

6. At our taster events**, participants do the fishing, are taught something useful and go away knowing how and when they can come back for their next session**

7. You get only one chance to make a great first impression. Making Let’s Fish! taster sessions the best they can be. This includes a professional welcome desk, proper spacing of participants to provide the best chance of fishing success, appropriate equipment and bait for the venue. Participants should catch at least one fish (ideally three to six) ideally of more than one species with a minimum length session of 30 minutes

8. Sensible coaching ratios. At our Let’s Fish! taster sessions, we believe in sensible coach to pupil ratios, aiming where possible for a one to one pupil to coach ratio

9. The proportion of returnees is a more important measure of success than collection of one-off datasets. For regular returnees are more likely to become lifelong anglers

10. Angling clubs are our key delivery partners, for they are best placed to provide sustainable angling participation pathways. Our partner clubs will benefit from growth in membership and income if they decide to follow the programme delivery model

11. We encourage recognition of the importance of being part of a team and actively promote healthy friendly competition but not at the expense of fishing being fun

12. We will grow, train and develop an army of coaches to each become the best they can be. This will create the best opportunities for participants to enjoy their first fishing experience

Find out more about our Let’s Fish! campaign and how to become a qualified Let's Fish! coach with us.