Canal pairs rules

Here are the rules for the Canal Pairs Championships 2026.

• Canal & River Trust will organise the Canal Pairs Qualifiers & Final Championship each year. The National Fisheries & Angling Manager will appoint an organising committee who will be responsible for supervising the arrangements. Clubs/Associations will be invited by the committee to nominate qualifying venues on their local waterways, and the organising committee will be authorised to choose the various venues at their discretion
• The Sections to be used in the heats and final of the Championship will be closed for fishing to all competitors in that Championship from midnight on the Sunday prior to the Championship (as a minimum)
• The Championship will be “pegged down” competitions, pegs to be preferably 22 yards (20 metres) apart, or more where practicable.
• No person will be allowed to fish the Championship if he/she is below the age of 12 on 01/01/2016. Where suitably experienced persons under the age of 16 wish to participate, they must be accompanied by a responsible adult, fish unaided at all times and have their event fees paid by a responsible adult.
• Organising clubs will organise personnel for weighing in and recording of weights and any expenses incurred will be paid by the club from the peg fees. The requisite peg fee will be fixed at £5 per participant (£10 per pair) at both qualifiers and on the grand final and will be paid by competitors at the draw on the morning of the match.
• The local event organiser and any appointed stewards will have the right to examine all containers carried by competitors prior to the Championship at their pegs.
• Stewards will do what they reasonably can to prevent spectators approaching and unduly interfering with the competitors.
• ALL Pairs shall report to the event organiser prior to the draw. In the final a change of pair will only apply in exceptional circumstances and where this has been approved in writing by the Trust's organising committee.
• There will be one member of each Pair in each Section. In both qualifying heats and the grand final Angler A (who will be pegged in A section) will be the angler whose full details appear on the Eventbrite booking system.
• The arrangements set out will also apply to the final.
• No competitor will change his/her section following the draw. Any angler who commences fishing at the wrong peg will be disqualified.
• Competitors must plan to use private transport in every case to transfer from HQ to his/her section and return.
• Any angler may bring a caddy to help carry his/her tackle to his/her peg. The event organiser should be notified on the morning of the Championship. Once at the peg no further assistance will be allowed.
• No competitor will have live or dead fish in their possession before the Championship.
• The signal to commence and cease fishing will be given by the appointed Steward in each Section.
• The duration of the pairs event will be 5 hours. The lead organisers reserve the right to move match times around by up to an hour in exceptional circumstances (road closures etc)
• Before the starting signal no competitor must on any account ground bait or loose feed the swim but they will be allowed to wet a line, plumb the depth and test the float, mix or wet ground bait, clear his/her fishing ground of weed or obstructions and position his/her equipment. On no account must a feeder be used prior to the starting signal.
• Every competitor must fish from a point within one metre either side of his/her designated peg. On canals, he/she may fish as far as half the distance between his/her peg and the pegs on either side.
• In the event of one half of a qualifying pair being unable to attend the final due to exceptional circumstances such as military service or hospitalisation, they must notify the competition Mark Parry [email protected] in writing by emails soon as the situation arises. The event organising committee has the authority to draft in a replacement at their discretion. The replacement angler chosen by the committee will ordinarily have been a squad member of one of the Trusts Let’s Fish Emerging Prospects Division 2 national teams or, very occasionally, another such option as the committee may ultimately determine, should exceptional circumstances warrant it in the opinion of the committee. The decision of the event organising committee regarding this matter will be final and there will be no appeals process.
• New rule for 2026 Where four or more junior pairs enter a qualifying heat, the highest finishing pair of juniors will automatically qualify for the final as of right, regardless of their overall finishing position. If 8 or more junior pairs enter, then two pairs would qualify as of right. For the purposes of this competition only, a junior is defined as any person aged between 12 and 16 years inclusive on 01/01/2026. These participants must also be booked on to attend the national celebration of young people and fishing 2026. All juniors aged under 16 on the day they are fishing must be accompanied by a responsible adult. This adult will be responsible for the payment of any event entry fee and the adult would receive any prizes won in the final. Should a pair of juniors qualify as of right, the second highest finishing pair would not qualify for the final unless they had also qualified as of right.
• The minimum number of pairs to make a qualifying heat quorate shall be 11 paid up pairs. Any heat with less than 11 paid up pairs, which includes junior pairs, will not go ahead. The number of pairs qualifying for the final shall be as follows: