Night Fishing

Order a Night Fishing and Third Rod Permit

Order your Night Fishing and/or Third Rod permit online now:
-> Order here.
You pay securely with iDeal or credit card. You will immediately receive a provisional permit by e-mail. With that permit you may fish at night straight away for one month. The sticker(s) will be sent to your home address automatically within a month. The sticker(s) are valid for the current calendar year. Note: you must already be in possession of a VISpas from an angling association affiliated with the Sportvisunie.

-> Read all information about the National Night Fishing Permit and Third Rod Permit here (pdf)

What do we mean by night fishing?

Even if you have permission from the fishing rights holder, that does not automatically mean you may fish 24 hours a day. The rules mainly apply between two hours after sunset and one hour before sunrise. Fishing during that period is often called "night fishing."

Legal rules

Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Regulations for Inland Fisheries 1985 prohibits fishing between two hours after sunset and one hour before sunrise. Paragraph 2 of that article makes an exception for angling, except on waters designated by the Minister.

Since 1 October 2012 that restriction no longer depends on months. The law now allows you to fish with a rod at night throughout the year, except on the waters listed in Annex 2 of the Fisheries Implementation Decree. These are the waters:

1. Het Houtwiel, north of Veenwouden (Fr.).
2. Het Rottighe Meente, in the municipality of Weststellingwerf (Fr.).
3. De Deelen, bounded by the Buitendijkse Hoofdvaart, the Deelenweg, the Hooivaartsweg, Tweede or Nieuwe Deel, the line from east to west along the long warren near the cross drains, the Binnenkanaal, the Hooivaartsweg, the canal between the Dijksman pumping station and the P. C. Otterweg and the Stroomkanaal.
4. De Beulakerwijde (including the Kleine Beulakerwijde).
5. The IJsselmeer.
6. The waters in the Ilperveld, bounded by the Purmerlander road, the Noord-Hollandschkanaal, the municipal boundary between Ilpendam and Landsmeer (Banscheiding) and the road Landsmeer, den Ilp, Purmerland.
7. The waters in the area bounded by the Noord-Hollandschkanaal, the Purmerringvaart between Ilpendam and Het Stinke Vuil, Het Stinke Vuil, the Gouwzee, the IJsselmeer, the Buiten IJ and the northern ring road of Amsterdam under construction between the Schellingwouderbrug and the IJtunnel road near Nieuwendam, with the exception of the Kinselmeer, the waters located within built-up areas, and the waters along public roads insofar as you fish from the roadside.
8. The waters in the area bounded by the Zaan, the Knollendammervaart, the Noord-Hollandschkanaal, the northern Ringvaart and the Wijde Wormer, the connecting canal between the last two waters, the Braak and the Poel.
9. The Oude Zederik, between Ameide and Meerkerk.
10. The Hooge Boezem of the Nederwaard.
11. The Hooge Boezem of the Overwaard.
12. The Nieuwkoopse plassen, bounded by the road from Noordse buurt to Noorden and Nieuwkoop, the Ziendeweg, the Meije, the Kadewetering up to Slikkendam and the provincial road Slikkendam, Noordse buurt, with the exception of the Noordeinderplas up to the Brampjesgat and the Maarten Freekerweg and the Zuideinderplas.

On all other waters you are therefore legally allowed to fish with a rod at night throughout the year. Pay close attention to additional rules for each water.

Rules of the fishing rights holder

Even if the law allows night fishing, the fishing rights holder may impose restrictions. The rights holder may prohibit night fishing or set additional conditions. Often the rights holder requests an extra Night Fishing Permit. They do this to prevent nuisance and to enable enforcement.

National Night Fishing Permit

From 1 January 2013 we regulate night fishing in many places via a national Night Fishing Permit. The Sportvisunie developed this permit together with federations. The permit applies to waters listed in the Joint List of Dutch Fishing Waters that carry the night fishing symbol:

.

You receive the Joint List with your VISpas. That way you can see where you can buy a Night Fishing Permit. For almost all waters with this symbol you may fish at night all year. Always check whether the fishing rights holder imposes additional conditions.

For 2014 the Night Fishing Permit cost €10. At that time the permit consisted of a hologram sticker for the back of the VISpas. If you ordered then, we sent a letter with sticker to your home address. You could order the permit online via the Sportvisunie, federations and De KSN websites. When ordering you immediately received a provisional digital Night Fishing Permit. That temporary permit allowed you to fish at night straight away. The definitive sticker arrived within two weeks.

Tents and shelters

The rules about tents and other shelters remained unchanged on 1 October 2012. Municipalities often regulate this in the General Local Ordinance (APV). You can usually find that APV on the municipality’s website. If the municipality allows tents, the fishing rights holder can impose additional conditions. First check the APV. Then check the written permission for fishing.

In the Joint List of Dutch Fishing Waters you can identify waters where shelters are allowed by the symbol:

. If the symbol is not shown, consult the APV and the written permission.

Peur

If you have permission from the fishing rights holder to fish with a peur, you may also fish at night. The VISpas alone does not grant this permission.

Final tip: order your permit in time and always check the conditions for the water where you intend to fish.