Whether you like it or not, the fishing on the Dearne could be stopped tomorrow because you are in effect poaching the place. Show me what rights the anglers who currently use it have to fish there...
Your premis that 'local people who like fishing the Dearne want it to remain a free resoure for the commnuity' is all fine and dandy if they behave responsibly but you know full well that they don't. Of course they want it for free. I'd like free petrol and free admission to the Rovers but it ain't going to happen, is it?
You are intimating that the EA own the fishing rights throughout. Are you sure about that? Or does it not belong to the adjoining land owners?
You suggest the Dearne 'feels like a wild river' - err, let's be perfectly honest, shall we - wild west, more like. Have you been to Harlington in the summer months? Quad bikers are the least of our troubles.
The river between Bolton and its confluence with the Don is not wild, it's actually man-made and runs on quite a different course to the original river. Back in the 1980's it was a very different river, much wider, trapezoidal slopes to the banks and of a different character, deeper in many places. It is only quite recently that the series of narrow, twisty, slalom chicanes were introduced above the Pastures Road.
Why should some 'faceless syndicate' take it over? You ask.
Exactly, why should it. That's why I put it to you that you should form a Dearne Anglers Trust. Right now the river is wide open to being syndicated and clubs renting the best stretches as they see fit.
Unless you are organised and pay for the fishing rights you have no authority over anyone who fishes there and leaves litter. You cannot take any action against anyone leaving litter, causing vandalism, lighting fires or anything else other than the power of a citizens arrest.
Your 'small dedicated bunch' may have been holding private meetings with individuals who are employed by the EA but as soon as something important is on the agenda you're not invited to the table.
Why do you think that is? And have you asked the right people?
Re: that recreational activities take place on all river as long as they dont do not effect existing users This comes back to what authority do anglers have to be there in the first place? Is the Dearne listed in the booklet that was issued by the EA and mailed out with rod licenses indicating what free stretches of river were available to rod license holders? In other words, you and the rest of the community say the fishing is free and you have every right to be there. Where is the proof?
Do you have any legal right to fish the river as a whole or indeed in any parts of it? What percentage of the whole river does this add up to?
Re: We are using an local ANGLING TRUST rep to assist us on the river
If there is a polution incident on the Dearne will the AT prosecute the perpetrators on your behalf? I suspect the answer is no. In fact let's be blunt, no they won't. Because you are not part of a member club who contributes to the running of the Trust.
Another community freebie.
Please, don't take my replies as personal, but if you want everything for free in this world then you have to accept you have no right of complaint. I'm a life member of the Trust but they won't act on my behalf if something goes wrong on a water just because I happen to fish there occasionally. You have to be a member of the club and the club has to join the Trust for it to act.
Quite why you have deflected the debate to other rivers I can't imagine, however, the Don is and has long been a navigable river. As for the Idle, the Pilgrim Fathers actually set out for America from the Port of Bawtry. 47-foot lighters once sailed the river and Bawtry traded with countries as far away as the West Indies.
It would be difficult to argue there are no navigation rights on the river already.
The bit in your post that I don't understand is, What the EA wont accept is that anglers are the rivers existing users and canoeist are only very occasional users. Are you saying then that canoeists are existing users because they already use it without permission?
After all, I've lost count of the times I packed in fishing near the weir at Harlington because members of 'the community' have wrecked my swim with their rafts and lorry tire inflatables, swimming in the river and generally causing mayhem.
I gave up fishing the river about five years ago, only visiting now maybe once or perhaps twice a season for the odd hour (just for old times sake) because the behaviour of those that frequently use it leaves a bad taste in my mouth:
Vegetation is hacked down wantonly each summer by anglers with no regard to the wildlife or the impact on fishing.
I've watched an angler deliberately trying to foul hook spawning bream above the footbridge.
Fires are lit and the evidence is plain to see for months afterwards.
Litter is left 'occasionally' by fly tippers but most of it is left by the community anglers.
Barbel are regularly retained in keepnets for excessive periods of time.
It is not uncommon to settle quietly in a swim only for someone to set up directly opposite you on what you have already described as a river too narrow for canoeing.
Anglers camp out on the banks using multiple rod set ups.
Anglers regularly fish the river behind the lake you mention during the closed season.
And there's nothing you can do about it because you have no mandate to do anything in the first place. The river is not owned by the community, rather it is abused by the community.
So you ask me, Do you care what happens to fishing on the Dearne?
Well, I have to say that the river I knew and fished for many years has changed beyond all recognition. The behaviour of many who use it today is, quite frankly, a disgrace.
Angling has to get its own house in order before it starts trying to prevent others from sharing the amenity. If it is to remain a free resource for the community then I'm sorry but you have to accept that canoeists are part of the community, too.
To take something for free on your own terms, abuse the priviledge and then attempt to deny access to others is not just selfish, it's downright shameful.
It would be nice, as you say, for local anglers to get behind the campaign. It would be even nicer if the local anglers would organise themselves into a body that had a right to host a campaign. Right now all that stands between the canoeists and access is a bunch of lawless freeloaders who don't want to contribute to a better future or to be governed in any way.
Democracy comes at a price. Anglers in the Dearne Valley must dig deep into their pockets, into their souls and earn the very priviledge they currenly take for granted. It'll take a determined man to lead the fight, one who'll upset a lot of anglers along the way. Be in no doubt that it'll be a very bumpy ride.
Failing that, you'd better get used to seeing an occasional canoe on the river.
Sorry if this isn't the reply you were hoping for but it's the honest opinion of someone who has lived near the river for over thirty years and watched it transform from a sewer to a fishery and from a fishery to a s**t tip!
It hurts, make no mistake.
