Club Rules and Trophy list

        General Rules.

GENERAL RULES

1. The Club shall be called “Poole Dolphins Sea Angling Club”.

2. The objectives of the Club shall be to foster, promote and encourage sea angling in all its aspects and to arrange competitions and other events for its members.

3. The Club shall consist of Honorary, Ordinary, Life and Junior members. Membership is by application and/or invitation and will be subject to the approval of the Committee in all cases and at all times.

4.The management of the Club shall be vested in a Committee comprising a President, a Vice President, a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Conservation Officer, a Welfare Officer, a Fish Recorder, the Captains of the various fishing sections and a number of ordinary members as may be deemed necessary.

5. The President, Vice President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer, shall be referred to as the “Senior Officers” of the Club. Officers and Committee Members may fulfill more than one role of responsibility provided they satisfy any election requirements for those positions, save that no person may occupy more than one Senior Officer role unless in exceptional circumstances approved by the Committee and the Members.

6. Elections

1. Officer, Committee Member and any other necessary elections will be held at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM, see section 9)
2. Only Fully Paid-up Adult Members and Officers are eligible to vote in elections.
3. Nominations for the roles of President and Vice President(s) will be of persons who are considered to have given valued service to the Club and shall be elected for a period of 5 years, if that is their wish.
4. The Chairman, Vice Chairman and other Senior Officers shall be elected for a period of 3 years, if that is their wish. Other than the aforementioned, Officers and Committee Members will serve for one year unless reelected.
5. “Honorary” Members are individuals who are recognised as having given valued service to the Club and will be elected for a period of one year annually reviewed.
6. “Life” Membership may be conferred by the Committee in exceptional circumstances without an election of the Club Members, but this may be subject to annual review by the Members, and/or by the Committee, should such circumstances change.
7. Neither “Honorary “nor “Life” Members are required to pay annual subscription fee but Life Members are classed as Fully Paid-up Members.
8. Nothing in this Section shall prevent any Officer or Committee Member from being removed from office for conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Club, including non-attendance, regardless of the period served. This might be a temporary removal by the Committee, or a permanent removal by the vote of the membership at an AGM or an EGM.
9. Committee membership shall cease upon termination of Club Membership howsoever caused.

7.  The Committee

1. The purpose of the Committee is to manage the Club in the interests of its Members and to pursue the objectives set out in General Rules Section 2 above.
2. Committee meetings will be held monthly either in person, or via an online meeting platform, as decided by the Committee Members.
3. Committee Members must be notified by the Chairman, or the Secretary, of the date, time and location of the meeting not less than seven days before the meeting, save when the meeting schedule is fixed and notified in advance.
4. A quorum shall be four Members.
5. In the event of a tied vote concerning a matter under discussion the Chairman shall have a casting vote.
6. The Committee shall have the power to appoint Officers and Committee Members on an interim basis or to co-opt Members for special purposes throughout the year.
7. The Committee shall have the power to suspend on a temporary basis a Member whose conduct is considered to be prejudicial to the interests of the Club, and to terminate Membership in the event of serious or repeated unacceptable conduct. Please refer to Section 12.
8. The Treasurer shall produce at each Committee Meeting a statement of the Club’s accounts to date.
9. No Officer or Committee Member may serve on the Committee of any other Sea Angling Club

 8.   Club Finances

1. The Treasurer shall receive all monies on behalf of the Club and receipts shall be given on all occasions.
2. All expenditure from Club funds shall be by authority of the Committee or by the Treasurer and one other Officer.
3. The Club’s Annual Membership Subscription Fee shall be proposed by the Committee and shall be approved by the membership at the AGM immediately prior to the year in question. Annual subscriptions shall be due on 1^st January and must be paid by 30^th January or membership will automatically terminate.
4.  Subscription Fees may be set by the Committee in its discretion for prospective new members.
5. The Treasurer shall produce at the AGM each year a full statement of accounts for all income and expenditure of the Club in the previous Financial Year, details of funds held in the Club’s Bank Account at the end of the Financial Year together with details of funds held in escrow (chiefly charter boat or other deposits).
6.  The Club’s Financial Year shall be from 1^st December to 30^th November of the following year. For all other purposes, e.g. fixtures/competitions or annual subscriptions, the Club will follow a calendar year.

9.   Extraordinary General Meetings

 An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be convened at any time by ten fully paid-up Club Members making a written request to the Chairman, Secretary or President and will be held within 14 days of the submission of the request. The Secretary shall give as much notice as possible of such a meeting to all Members but in no event less than 7 days.

10.   Awards and Trophies

1. A Member must be fully paid-up or a Life Member and have attended at least three Club events (to include competitions, fixtures and meetings e.g. AGM, EGM, Presentation or Committee) before any fish caught by him/her becomes eligible for a Club Award or Trophy.
2. Trophies presented to annual winners remain the Club’s property at all times and must be returned to the Club upon request.
3. Any fish entered for a Club Award will not be considered for such if it is entered for an Award of any other Sea Angling Club (for the avoidance of doubt this shall not prevent an application for Awards presented by the Angling Trust).
4. All fish entered for awards or trophies MUST be weighed on Scales approved by the Club as suitable and accurate. Should you wish to have your scales so verified you must produce them at a Committee Meeting or at the Club’s AGM for approval.
5. Decisions about eligibility for awards and trophies rests with the Committee who will at all times try to act with fairness and impartiality. In the rare event that a Member is not happy with the decision about an award or trophy they may appeal to the President and Vice President(s), (who will not therefore be involved in initial committee decisions about the granting of awards and trophies). The decision of the President and Vice President(s) will however be final.
6. Fish that are submitted for an award or trophy should have had their capture, weight, identification witnessed by another Club Member or charter boat skipper on scales that have been approved by the Club.
7. 11.   Fully Paid-up Members

The term Fully Paid-up Member means that the person has paid the appropriate membership subscription fee applicable to his/her membership for the current year, however it shall not include Honorary Members.

12.   Rules of Conduct

The Club is a social group formed around our mutual love of sea angling and all members are therefore expected to treat their club colleagues and associates with friendliness and respect. This is the way members conduct themselves almost without exception but it will be recognised that there may be a few occasions when individuals do not always follow acceptable standards of behaviour. It is for these, thankfully very rare, occasions that the Club has prepared policies and procedures to assist in the resolution of such events and to ensure fairness for those involved in them. Interested parties may obtain a copy from any Officer or Committee Member.

13.   Young Members

The Club has adopted a Policy for the safeguarding of young people and all members are required to abide by it. A copy is provided in another Section/page of this website/handbook. You will see that a Young Person is defined in the Policy as less than 18 years of age but the Club defines a Junior Member as a person who has not yet reached 16 years of age. Junior Members are welcome to attend meetings but they do not have the right to vote. Junior Members may, without exception, only attend Club events, matches and meetings with a Parent, Guardian, or other adult approved by a Parent or Guardian.

14.   Competition Rules

The broad rules governing the Club’s Competitions and the winning of Awards, both major and minor, shall be considered to be General Rules. The various angling sections may, however, determine the details of how the competitions are to be run, for example whether weight or length is the success criterion to be used, but any changes should be notified to the Committee who will rule in the event of any dispute. Further details are given concerning Angling Rules later. Rules that are considered to be General Rules are marked thus*.

15.  General Rule Changes

The General Rules of the Club may only be amended, deleted or replaced by a majority vote at an AGM or an EGM. Proposals to make such changes must be notified in writing to Club Members not less than 7 days prior to an AGM. Should the proposal initially come from an Ordinary Member(s) it must be sent to the Chairman or the Secretary two days in advance of the seven days notification required to be given Club Members from the Committee, i.e. in these circumstances the Committee will have nine days from receipt to notify Members. In the event that an EGM is convened in order to consider proposed changes to the General Rules then Members should be notified about the proposed changes at the same time as they are notified about the date and time of the EGM.

16.  ANGLING RULES

   1.  All competitions *

1. Entry into any competition denotes that the participant accepts the rules of the Competition, agrees to abide by them, and that in the event of any dispute will accept the adjudication of the Club Committee.
2. All competitors must report to the Section Captain (or nominated substitute) by whatever means is specified, at the start and finish of a competition.
3. The Section Captain (or appointed Deputy) shall have the authority to cancel, end, or change the venue of a competition/fixture in the interest of  safety, for example in the event of inclement weather.
4. The competition fixture lists are prepared prior to the start of the year and in the interest of fairness to all participants the fixture list may not normally be changed without full consultation with, and the agreement of, Section Members. The matter should be referred to the Committee if agreement cannot be reached
5. The detailed rules of a competition, for example the details of scoring, may be changed by Section Captains but only after consultation with participants and provided that no General Rules are broken
6. Boundaries for fixtures and competitions are normally South Parade Pier, Southsea to Beer Head, Devon but occasional trips are organised to other venues further afield. Home Shore venues are to include Poole Harbour and other venues in Poole Bay up to Hengistbury Head in the east and the Sandbanks ferry in the west. Away venues will be outside those limits but within the Boundaries set above.
7.    A fish shall be disqualified if the competitor allows another person to play it. However, assistance to gaff, net or physically land a fish is allowed, as is the removal of a hook from the fish.
8.  Five Mackerel will be allowed in all competitions if caught on a baited hook or a single lure. Mackerel caught on feathers or similar multi-hook rigs will not count, i.e. no “feathering”. However Mackerel caught for bait by “feathering” at an appropriate time during a competition is normally allowed.
9. The maximum number of rods that may be used on the shore, pier and private boats is two with a maximum of three hooks or two Pennel rigs. For reasons of space and safety only one rod in the water may be used when fishing on a Charter Boat with a maximum of three hooks including a Pennel rig if wished. In all cases Anglers are permitted to have a readymade and baited additional trace.
10. Points awarded in any competition will be as follow:

        1^st   place    –   10 points

        2^nd   place    –   9 points

        3^rd    place    –   8 points

        4^th   place    –   7 points

        5^th   place    –   6 points and so on, to

       10^th  place     –   1 point.

If an Angler catches no fish one point will be scored for attending.  When two or more Anglers have the same weight, length or score the points for the appropriate places will be added, and then divided between them.

• Members must not litter the area they are fishing from, nor discharge any litter from a boat. All waste must be taken home and disposed of in a bin. Any member found to have not abided by this rule will be requested to explain their actions to the Committee and may be disqualified from the competition.
•  Junior Members will only score points in their own Competition. They will, however, qualify for awards and trophies e.g. Fish of the Month.
• Fish caught within Marinas, or from Marina Walls, will not qualify for any Club Awards or Trophies

      2.   Shore/Pier Rules

1. Competitors may use only two rods with a maximum of three hooks, (or two Pennel rigs). Spare made up traces are permitted. *
2.  All fish caught should be taken immediately to an adjacent competitor in whose presence they should be identified and measured for length (taken up to the next centimeter mark). The details of species and length must be recorded on a suitable form and then signed by the witness in agreement. Standard forms are available from the Beach Captain.
3. The winner of the competition will be the Angler with the highest aggregate length (or the weight, largest number of species, or the score, if the competition has previously been designated as having a different scoring system).
4. Shore Home and Away competitions will both have an annual Champion. The aggregate score of both Home and Away competitions will determine the Club’s overall annual Shore Champion. *
5.  Any Member fishing from a pier must abide by the Pier Authority’s rules. *

           3.   Private Boat Rules

1.  Competitors are allowed to fish with two rods, with a maximum of three C hooks or two Pennell rigs. A spare pre-baited trace is permitted. *
2.  Competition start and finish times will be as per the fixture list. All boats must report to the Private Boat Captain prior to the start and within one hour of the end of the competition with their results. This can be by telephone or radio. Any boat fishing after the end of the competition must inform the Steward that they are doing so and report to him when they are safely ashore by radio or telephone. Any member who fails to register before going out, or fails to report to the private Boat Captain or Deputy after the competition has ended will be disqualified. Results will be recorded by the Private Boat Captain or Deputy.

1.  The winner of the Competition will be the Angler with the highest aggregate score, with points being allotted for the first five of any species and one further point for each additional fish of that species (or the weight, largest number of species, or length, if the competition has previously been designated as having a different scoring system). A list of points allotted to each species is available from the Section Captain.
2.  All boats entering Club Private Boat Competitions must have their boats inspected by the RNLI Sea Safety Scheme at least every two years and be able to provide an appropriate Certificate of Insurance.
3.  Members must organise their own boats and fish with at least one other Club member. The Club accepts no responsibility for booking boats. Boats must be launched from within Club limits. Any member fishing the Competition must notify the Section Captain of their intended participation the day before the Competition.

.           4.   Charter Boat Rules (+ Monday evening & other Charter Boats)         

1. Competitors may use one rod in the water at any one time with a maximum of three hooks (including a Pennel rig if desired). A spare pre-baited trace is permitted. A second rod with reel attached is also permitted provided it is stored away from other Competitors. *
2. Boat positions will be drawn by lot before fishing commences.
3. The venue(s) and the type of fishing desired by participants will be discussed amongst the participants prior to the event and the wishes of the Competitors will be advised to the Skipper by the Section Captain but it shall be for the Skipper to decide the actual Venue(s) on the day in the light of the prevailing conditions.
4. Departure and fishing end time will be determined by the Skipper.
5. The Skipper or the Section Captain will keep a record of the fish caught by each Competitor on a record sheet provided by the Section Captain. In the event that the species of the fish is required by the competition rules then the word of the Skipper will be final.  In the event of any dispute photographs may be submitted to the Committee for arbitration.
6. The winner of the competition will be the Angler with the highest aggregate score, with points being allotted for the first five of any species and one further point for each additional fish of that species (or the weight, largest number of species, or length, if the competition has previously been designated as having a different scoring system). A list of points allotted to each species is available from the Boat Captain.
7.  It shall be the responsibility of the Boat Captain to agree the scoring system with participants prior to the year, or in advance of departure if a variation in the method of scoring is temporarily proposed, e.g. a Species Competition.
8. If a Member has agreed to fish on the next Charter Boat Fixture he/she is responsible for the cost if unable, or unwilling, to attend unless a replacement can be found. Should the Member fail to meet the cost to which he is committed his Charter Boat deposit will be forfeited and he will be disbarred from fishing in future Charter Boat competitions. However, in exceptional circumstances the Committee may agree to subidise the cost. *

            5.    Species Hunt Rules

Members are encouraged to enter all fish caught during competitions or freelance fishing.

        You can’t change the fish once entered.

        You only get one point per fish or species.

        Only fish detailed on the specimen list for AREA D shall apply NO MINI SPECIES.

        Competition and Freelance will count within these sections, Private Boat, Shore & Pier, Boat Charter

17.   Weighing in for Awards*

1. Fish intended for consideration for Club Awards, Records or Angling Trust Awards must be weighed on scales checked and approved by the Club as suitable for the purpose.
2. Members are reminded that in Club Competitions there is usually a short period at the end of the competition when fish may be weighed on an approved scale and that when the Club Competition is held in conjunction with an open fishing festival a formal weigh-in will always be held. In such cases it will be the responsibility of the Fish Recorder to obtain a list of Club Members taking part and the agreed weight of fish caught by each member.
3. Another Member must witness the capture and weighing of a fish put forward for records, awards and trophies whenever the fish is caught in a Club competition or whenever you are fishing in the company of a Member even if the occasion is not sanctioned as an actual Club event.
4. To be considered for awards or records fish must be at least 40% of the Angling Trust Specimen weight for the area.
5. To apply for an award Members must report the catch within seven days of capture together with the evidence specified above to the Fish Recorder, or to a Senior Officer of the Club.
6. Fish caught either in a competition or freelance may qualify for a Club trophy provided they are caught in accordance with Club’s General and Fishing Rules herein but additional conditions may apply for Angling Trust Awards or Records, which are not the determined by the Club.
7. Club Fish of the Month awards will be given for both Shore and Boat Angling and both competition and freelance caught fish will be eligible.
8. “Shore” applies to beaches, piers, harbour walls and breakwaters that are open to the public, but not to groynes or Marina walls. “Boat” applies to Charter Boats, private boats, kayaks or similar.
9. Fish weighed at sea on approved digital scales and returned alive will be able to qualify for all Club Awards and Trophies on equal terms with fish weighed on shore provided a photograph of the fish and the captor accompanies the submission. See also the following Section.
10. Clear photographs of fish taken with you in shot, can be very helpful in identifying any fish that is to be considered for a Club award, or in Species Competitions, and we encourage members to submit them. They are also a mandatory requirement for some Angling Trust awards and for Club awards and records when the fish is no longer available for examination. The differences between closely related species can be small (for example between a Pollack and a Coalfish and for some species of Wrasse) and identification can be made much more accurately from a good photograph. Care should therefore be taken in photographs to show the fish’s identifying features clearly, as only species that can be identified beyond doubt by the Fish Recorder/Club Officers may count for records or in Species Competitions.