Can You Keep the Fish You Catch? Size and Take Limits

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

Can you take that fish home? Sometimes, and the water matters more than the fish. On rivers, streams and drains in England and Wales, you can keep up to 15 small coarse fish of 20cm or less, 1 pike up to 65cm and 2 grayling of 30cm to 38cm per day.

On most lakes, ponds and canal fisheries, the owner’s permission decides, and most fishery rules say return everything. Those are the fish size limits UK anglers trip over most, and the answer to “can you keep fish you catch?” usually sits on the day ticket as much as in the law.

This page covers the England limits, the waters they apply to, the fish that always go back, the other three nations and the permission question.

England’s Daily Take Limits for Coarse Fish

Plenty of anglers assume there are no national limits on coarse fish. There are. They come from the Environment Agency’s national rod fishing byelaws and apply to each angler, each day, on rivers, streams and drains.

Fish	Daily limit	Size rule
Barbel, chub, common bream, common carp, crucian carp, dace, perch, pike, roach, rudd, silver bream, smelt, tench and their hybrids	15 in total	Not more than 20cm
Pike	1	Not more than 65cm
Grayling	2	30cm to 38cm

The 15 is a combined total, not 15 of each species. Grayling sit outside it with their own count of two, so a legal day on a river could be ten roach, four dace and a perch, plus two grayling.

The 20cm and 65cm figures are maximum sizes, not minimums. That runs against how most people picture a size limit. The effect is that you can take a few small fish while the bigger fish go back.

Some fish sit outside the count altogether, and you may also take them from rivers, streams and drains:

non-native species and ornamental varieties
minnow, loach, bleak and gudgeon
bullhead, stickleback and ruffe

Taking too many fish, or fish of the wrong size, is an offence, and the Environment Agency’s freshwater rod fishing rules say you can be fined for it.

How to measure: go from the tip of the snout to the fork or cleft of the tail, not to the end of the tail fin. Lay the fish on a wet unhooking mat beside a ruler or marked measuring board, and keep it wet while you check.

These figures come from the national rod fishing byelaws on GOV.UK, last updated on 12 December 2023. Check that page for changes before you keep anything.

Where the Limits Apply: Rivers, Named Lakes and Canals

You can know every number in that table and still get it wrong on the wrong kind of water. The national daily limit covers rivers, streams and drains in England. It also covers these named canals and stillwaters:

Aire and Calder Navigation (Castleford Weir to Ferrybridge Lock)
Stroudwater and Thames Canal
Fossdyke Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal downstream of Kintbury
Lee Navigation upstream of Aqueduct Lock
all Norfolk Broads waters
Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Derwentwater

On Windermere, where I fish for pike, perch and bream, the same daily limit applies as it would on a river. The Cumbrian lakes also sit in the Environment Agency’s North West region, which adds its own byelaws, so read the North West regional rod fishing byelaws before you fish them.

The quick test: a river or a named water means the byelaw limit applies. On any other stillwater or canal fishery, including commercial and club lakes, the owner’s permission decides, as covered below.

Fish You Must Always Put Back

Some fish go back whatever the count says. In England, four byelaw rules decide it:

Eels: any eel you catch, except a conger, must be released alive. Eels and shad go back to the same water unharmed.
Foul-hooked fish: a fish is foul-hooked when the hook goes in anywhere other than the mouth or throat. On rivers, streams, drains and canals, release it immediately, even if it would otherwise be legal to keep.
Anything you can’t legally keep: return it to the same water with as little injury as possible. That covers the sixteenth small fish, the 66cm pike and the 39cm grayling alike.
Keepnets and keepsacks: any fish in one that you are not allowed to keep must go back alive to the same water before or when you finish fishing. You can be fined for leaving fish in a net once you’ve packed up.

Wet your hands, unhook over a mat and get the fish back quickly. Our guide on how to unhook and release fish safely covers the details.

When in doubt, it goes back.

Can You Take Fish Home From a Lake? Permission and the Law

Is taking a fish from a lake stealing? Not quite, but that doesn’t make it legal.

In England, you need the owner’s permission to remove fish from stillwaters and canal fisheries, and you can be fined for removing fish from private water without written permission. Wales requires the written permission of the owner or occupier, usually set out on the permit or day ticket.

Most commercial and club fisheries go further, with a flat “no fish to be removed” rule. So can you take fish home from a lake? On most day-ticket waters, no.

Under section 4(4) of the Theft Act 1968, a wild creature can only be stolen once someone has taken it into their possession. A wild fish in open water is not generally property you can steal, although stocked or held fish can be different.

The same Act still has an offence waiting: Schedule 1 makes it a crime to unlawfully take fish from private water, or water with a private fishing right, and a court can order your tackle forfeited. Taking fish home without permission may not be theft, but it is still an offence. Ask the fishery first and get the answer in writing or on the ticket.

Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland: How the Rules Differ

Cross into Northern Ireland and the pike rule switches from a length to a weight.

Nation	Daily coarse limit	Pike	Other notes	Authority
England	15 up to 20cm (excluding grayling), plus 2 grayling of 30cm to 38cm	1 up to 65cm	Stillwaters need owner permission	Environment Agency
Wales	Same as England on rivers; fishery owners may set tighter limits	1 up to 65cm	Stillwaters and canals need written permission; removing eels and shad by rod and line is prohibited	Natural Resources Wales
Northern Ireland (DAERA waters)	4 coarse fish, excluding pike; coarse fish over 25cm returned	1 under 4kg may be kept; 4kg or more returned	Loughs Agency waters differ; private fisheries set their own rules	nidirect / DAERA
Scotland	No national coarse limit verified	Not verified	Check the fishery	Fishery owner / District Salmon Fishery Board

Natural Resources Wales confirms Welsh fishery owners can set stricter limits than the river byelaws.

Northern Ireland runs a different system on DAERA fisheries. Measure snout to fork for the 25cm rule, and return any pike of 4kg (about 8lb 13oz) or more. Loughs Agency waters follow their own rules, so check nidirect’s fish size and catch limits before you keep anything.

For Scotland, no official equivalent of the England and Wales daily limit could be verified. A 2018 Scottish Government consultation proposed a pike bag limit and maximum size, with no record found of it being adopted. Check the fishery’s rules and the local District Salmon Fishery Board.

The biggest trap is assuming England’s 65cm pike rule travels with you.

Trout, Salmon and Sea Fish Follow Different Rules

Salmon, trout and sea fish sit outside the coarse tables above.

In England, local byelaws set salmon and trout daily limits, so check your river’s regional byelaws. Selling rod-caught salmon or sea trout is a fineable offence in England and Wales. In Wales, all salmon must be returned, and brown trout and sea trout have a 23cm minimum (21cm in Gwynedd). The Severn is under emergency byelaws, so check with NRW first. See our salmon and sea trout rules.

Sea fish follow a separate minimum-size regime, covered in UK sea fish minimum sizes. For licences and close seasons, see rod licence rules, UK fishing seasons, the full freshwater fishing rules or the UK fishing rules hub.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep a pike in England?

Yes, one a day, no longer than 65cm, on rivers, streams, drains and named waters such as Windermere and the Norfolk Broads. On other stillwaters you need the owner's permission, and the fishery rules decide. Any pike over 65cm goes back.

How many fish can you take home in a day in the UK?

On rivers in England and Wales: 15 small coarse fish up to 20cm, 1 pike up to 65cm and 2 grayling of 30cm to 38cm. In Northern Ireland (DAERA waters): 4 coarse fish plus one pike under 4kg. For Scotland, check the fishery's rules.

Do I have to put eels back?

Yes. In England, any eel you catch (except conger) must be released alive, back into the same water unharmed. In Wales, removing eels by rod and line is prohibited, so every eel goes back there too.

Can a fishery ban you from keeping fish even if the byelaws allow it?

Yes. Fishery owners can set tighter rules than the byelaws, and Natural Resources Wales says so explicitly. On stillwaters you need the owner's permission to remove fish anyway. A "return all fish" rule on the ticket beats the national limits.