THE Easter holiday period heralds the first of three Take a friend fishing (TAFF) campaign.

Initiatives to encourage parents, grandparents, guardians and friends to enjoy fishing with family members and friends who have not fished before, free of charge.

TAFF is run by the Angling Trades Association, supported by the Environment Agency who provides the FREE fishing licences and supported by the Angling Trust whose fishery members provide the free day ticket offers.

Through participating newspapers, magazines and websites, existing anglers can obtain a free one-day rod licence (each worth £3.75) to enable them to take their mates or family members on fishing sessions between Friday, 3rd April and midnight, April 12th 2015.

In addition to a FREE rod licence, participants can also fish without charge at a number of individual venues and Angling Trust fishery and club member venues. Details of the fisheries that are taking part in this TAFF promotion can be found at www.takeafriendfishing.co.uk. Some exclusions may apply.

As a further incentive, participating anglers and their friends could win £400 (RRP) worth of tackle each from brands like Abu Garcia, Greys, Hardy, Shakespeare, Chub, JRC, Mitchell and Berkley.

All they need to do once the fishing session is over, is to send the completed TAFF voucher along with their contact details, a picture of both people fishing together and details of where the fishing took place to: Take A Friend Fishing, Angling Trades Association, 60 Windsor Avenue, London SW19 2RR. The deadline for entries is 19th April. Winners will be notified in writing and then asked to choose which tackle items they would like.

David Seaman MBE, former England and Arsenal goalkeeper, is a huge supporter of TAFF. He said: 'I've always loved fishing as a way of relaxing and also of getting close to nature. It’s always good to take a friend with you, especially someone who hasn't fished before as we need to get more people into our sport. The TAFF campaign gives us the chance to show them why we spend so much time on the bank ourselves.'

It’s easy to participate in TAFF - cut out or print off the rod licence voucher, fill in your contact details, validate it online at www.takeafriendfishing.co.uk, read the Terms and Conditions, grab your fishing tackle and the voucher, and go fishing with a friend!

The free rod licence voucher cannot be used to fish for coarse fish on any river, stream or drain in England and Wales between 15th March and 15th June inclusive, when there is a ‘no-fishing’ close season to allow fish to breed. The closed season may apply to some canals and still waters in your area - please check before going fishing.

Many new anglers catch the bug just after one session, in which case it is easy to go online - at www.postoffice.co.uk/rod-fishing-licence – and buy a rod licence for the rest of the year. A great place to find out more information on your local venues is http://fishinginfo.co.uk.