Some were local, and others came from as far away as Kent, the Midlands and Manchester, but 11 men have been fined almost £2,000 for fishing illegally near Slough.
Many of the anglers were caught at Farlows Lake in Iver. All were found out through the work of fisheries officers from the Environment Agency.
Alfred Ball, of Lasswade Road, Chertsey, in Surrey, was fined £220 for the offence at Black Potts Weir on the Jubilee River at Eton on 21 July last summer. Costs of £135 were awarded against the 30-year-old, whose guilt was proven in his absence.
Luke Davidson, 26, of Church Road, in Iver, didn't travel far, but was still fined £153 after admitting being unable to produce a licence on 9 August last year at Farlows Lake. He was ordered to pay another £65 in costs.
Fisheries officers saw 6 anglers were seen fishing illegally at the lake on 28 September. Andrew Barnett, 30, from Lyneside Road, Knypersley, in Staffordshire, received a £190 fine, with costs of £135. Barnett also pleaded guilty.
A couple of them travelled from Kent to Iver to fish without licences. Andy Collins, of Stockdale Gardens in Deal, was fined £95, also paying £135 in costs. Philip Murphy, from Clements Road, in Ramsgate, was fined £220, again with costs of £135. Collins, 36, admitted the charge, but Murphy, also 36, was convicted in his absence….
…while three more illegal anglers were reported to court during the same September patrol at Farlows Lake. Johnnie McKay, 44, of Tamar Drive, Aveley, in Essex, received a fine of £220. He had to also pay costs of £135. His guilt was proven in absence, but 2 other men pleaded guilty to fishing illegally on that day.
Robert Mason, of High Street, Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, and Craig Newell, from Cumberland Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, in East Sussex, admitted fishing without licences. The 27-year-old Mason was fined £187, and Newell, 28, £174. Costs of £135 each were awarded against both anglers.
Kye Jerrom, a senior enforcement officer with the Environment Agency, said:
Fishing licences are great value and less expensive than fines. The income helps with the sustainable management of fisheries. It's quick, easy and cheap to get a licence by phone and online - search 'fishing licence' on gov.uk.
Our fisheries enforcement officers check private lakes, rivers, ponds and canals for illegal fishing, supported by clubs, the Angling Trust and police.
Anyone aged 13 or over needs a licence to fish for salmon, trout, eels or freshwater species. Information on when you need a licence and to buy one are at https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/buy-a-fishing-licence. They can also be purchased by
