There are two options, you can either visit one of the four local retail shops such as Angel Bär or Askari in Offenbach or through a simple registration process online here.

Of course, simply by using the hejfish app or having your PDF permit saved on your smart phone.

None of the above applies to invasive catfish, hence all catfish must strictly be taken out of the river and kept.

No, this is not legal.

No, this method is prohibited for the first five months of each year.

No, that is not legal. You’re allowed to fish two rods. Any other technical devices and aids such as drones, float tubes, paddle boats, remote controlled boats are not permitted.

Each fishing permit comes with a very detailed map. The fishery orientates itself along the river mileage. The marker stones located along the river bank indicate every 200 meter. The map follows these marker stones for an easy way to differentiate the legal and closed areas.

The marker stones are small concrete cubes approximately 20 inches in size. Each stone has a number on it indicating the exact position.

This is not allowed. The rules and regulations are all in your fishing permit. What is written online in a board has no relevance.

Nope, it’s illegal to use any sort of raft for fishing, be it to bring out your rigged baits or anything else.

Clearly no, you are according to the regulations allowed to keep three predatory fish per day such as pike, zander, perch or eel.

It’s then mandatory to release such a fish. Please do so in a fast manner by removing the hook fast and releasing the fish. If the fish swallowed the hook, rather cut the leader instead of trying to pull or remove the hook. In a best case scenario a fish should not be held out of the water for more than ten seconds!

Fish must be carefully released, especially if they are within the protected spawning period or smaller/larger than the legal size. The law does not allow anything else. Anyone who takes photos of their fish posing with them prior to releasing them later, risks that these fish will most likely die.

The river undergoes an ongoing change. The water quality was 40 years ago rather poor with lots of dissolved nutrients; especially bream did benefit from this. The water quality has changed dramatically to the better hence the bream are not that dominant anymore. Today the river has a much broader spectrum consisting of 34 fish species with an impressive population of predatory fish.

Indeed the three goby species found in the river are invasive. They came approximately 20 years ago in the Main River in Frankfurt. The fish is now part of the stock, an ecological balance is established. Predatory fish have benefitted from this small fish. Gobies are not the most dominant species anymore. These are native fish such as roach or bleak.

Yes, very much indeed. When rules and regulations are disregarded, such as the illegal use of live bait or poor handling of fish and fishing in prohibited areas the permit is immediately revoked. This happens every year. Also anglers with multiple fishing crimes have been banned for up to five years.

Yes, a large percentage of filed charges turn into a fine, usually between 600 and 1200 €. Often expensive fishing gear is also confiscated.

To this day we count 34 different species. During the mid 1970s, there were only five species.

This is not correct, it’s very important to follow the law and regulations. If for example you fish in a prohibited area, this then turns into the crime of fish poaching.

For more than 20 years we have been assessing the fish stock through electrofishing. Various studies have been made on fish, also. We also use the statistics provided by anglers to determine the occurring fish species. It looks like a typo when you say that the guild was founded in the year 945? Do you rather mean it stems from 1945? No, the guild was indeed founded in the year 945. The guild is one of the oldest in the world.

Simply send an email to: daniel.goez@frankfurter-fischerzunft.de .