Three Douglas men have been fined £80 each for fishing at a reservoir without a licence.

Stuart Pacey, of Tromode Park, Christopher Daniel David Murray, of Governor’s Hill, and Chris Lacey, of Loch Promenade, all admitted fishing without a licence at the Clypse reservoir in Onchan.

Prosecutor James Robinson told the court how, on July 22 at 7pm, the three men, who are all 22, were found on the bank of the reservoir by a fisheries officer.

A fishing rod was on the grass and a dead rainbow trout was on the grass nearby.

They were asked if they had been fishing and admitted they had.

They were also asked if they had a licence and said they did not.

The men were also found to be using bread as bait and not using a landing net, both of which are illegal under the Fisheries Act 2012.

The trio were jointly charged with fishing otherwise than in accordance with a licence and the rod was seized.

The court heard that the men only had one rod between them and that a licence would normally cost £16 for one day or £208 for a seasonal licence.

Advocate Deborah Myerscough defended all three men in court and said: ’They are three very young men and were very co-operative with the fisheries officer.

’They said they had not been fishing since they were boys with their parents. They went out with one rod between them and are very embarrassed to be in court.

’They have asked me to apologise to the fisheries department and the court. They are not regular fishermen. It’s a one-off offence.

’There was no argument with the rod being seized but they may want to fish at some point in the future so we would ask the court not to ban them.

’It is a relatively simple case.’

Magistrates’ chair Ken Faragher said while passing sentence: ’Unfortunately it’s going to be a expensive day’s fishing. There are obvious reasons why people have to have a licence and why there are regulations.’

All three were also ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs.