Thankyou Posh Canoeists!

Whilst fishing yesterday, one of those double canoes came by upstream with two posh paddlers in it. They were fully kitted out in waterproofs and those crash helmet things they like to wear.

I reeled in to let them pass and they waved and said thanks and 'good morning'.

About an hour later they came paddling back down again and the fella, who was sitting in the back of the canoe, shouted out "I say! Do want this float I found?" and chucked a Drennan loaded crystal waggler onto the bank.

I went over and got it and thanked him and asked him whether he could possibly reach a Dave Harrell waggler I lost round the other side of the big hawthorn tree that's next to my swim. It had been hanging upside down there, but well out of reach, after a particularly windy session about three months ago. A semi-permanent monument to my angling incompetence shame.

"No problem old chap!" he replied and they paddled round the other side of the tree to where it was hanging.

I expected his wife, who was sitting in the front of the canoe to pull it down, but no. He paddled full steam into the tree, smashing her face-first into the prickly branches. She sat there uncomplaining in a bird's nest of branches while he got his pocket knife out and cut down the float (it was that well tangled) and threw it back to me.

When he reversed out again, I half expected his wife to remain hanging upside down in the branches like the float had been, but with a lot of awful ripping and snapping noises she emerged out into the light again, beaming as though nothing untoward had happened.

And to think some people on this board complain about canoeists!

Lol! superb story!

I must say that all the paddlers I've come across have been very pleasant.
I think the problem areas are those exclusive "specialist" beats.

I used to fish the town 'stretch' of the Thames (Marlow AC) just upstream of Marlow. The rowers there have absolutely no consideration for other river users at all and delighted in deliberately coming in too close to the bank - total cretins.

Have to agree with you Peter, the Rosebowl matches I used to fish at Marlow were unfishable until lunchtime when the boaters went home....Same on most of the Thames at weekends..........

peterjg said:

Thames (Marlow AC) just upstream of Marlow.

Click to expand...

peter crabtree said:

the Rosebowl matches I used to fish at Marlow were unfishable

Click to expand...

Tsk, Tsk. 20lbs line casting out a 6ozs lead from a beachcaster stops a lot of them. When (year) did either of you fish there?

Bolt rigs, bite alarms, captive back leads... F*ck you, boaters! I win.


In my experience Canoeists/Kayakkers have a better chance of being civil. The occasional tosspot (often teenagers). I think it's because rowing is basically purely competitive and they are "training" with complete focus whereas canoeing is usually a bit more casual.

I guess sometimes they just don't see you, though. But then again sometimes you just might not see them when feeding a catty full of maggots? :wh

Around 2003/4 Jeff.

I was fishing a pit near Bray many years ago and bagging nice roach on hemp and tares about a rod length out. All of a sudden two wind surfers from nowhere capsized right where i was fishing. Incredibly, as soon as they had got out the way the good sport resumed immediately and i ended up with a nice 15Ib bag of roach. Only thing maybe that helped was that i was catching in about 12ft depth of water.

In this cut and thrust world we live in these days you are always going to get your share of selfish, arrogant and uncivil folk, but you know that 95% of the general public are very thoughtfull and caring!
I have found over the years that most of the ''toffs'' that folk think of as being ''up their own bums'' are usually quite pleasant people!

Mark

Jeff, I fished there approx 2008-9, caught some 1lb plus roach and lots of bream to just under 9lbs. It's reasonably stocked, lots of potential but too many dog walkers, rowers, joggers and bream!

On the Wear in Durham when the Uni rowers were out fishing was good, when the activity stopped so did the catching.

As for canoes, there wasn't really much of a problem, and both anglers and paddlers co-existed, until the EA started interfering with 'access agreements' and their Ms Pike telephoned me to "tell me what they had decided"

peter crabtree said:

Around 2003/4 Jeff.

Click to expand...

peterjg said:

I fished there approx 2008-9,

Click to expand...

Ah, both of you long after I'd left as secretary. I always liked it at the very top end near Temple where a back stream shoots out into the main river or just a little lower down, you trot floats nicely in both those swims. Fishing the feeder off the boards at night though, opposite Bisham church and cast for the reflection of the church door on the river, loads of bream. My mate has been catching bream recently just by the willows on the far bank, fish between 7 and 10 lbs almost.

chub_on_the_block said:

I was fishing a pit near Bray many years ago and bagging nice roach on hemp and tares about a rod length out. All of a sudden two wind surfers from nowhere capsized right where i was fishing.

Click to expand...

I bet I know which lake that is too, we had it for about 5 years. It was great at first, but the sport went off when it got raided by cormorants. I spent a night fishing beside the cut between that lake and the one behind (if that's the same lake you'll know it) and had load of bream there up to around 8 lbs. It was taken over by the TVAA, but a lot of the clubs became unhappy with it because of the price and the poor catches. That would have been around 1999/2000 when we gave it up.

I was fishing there one day and went back to the car for something, when I got back to my swim I found a windsurfer lying in my swim have a rest. Cheek of the little bu&&er!

Done loads of fishing on the thames around oxford so have got quite used to this. Personally, i never had a problem with the actual rowers, more the motorised training skiffs that the coaches drive. The annoying thing there is that they do come right up the bank and they actully face forwards, so they ought to be able to see where they're going. The most important factor would be how hight the bank was that you're fishing from. If you can find somewhere where your bank actually goes down to the water (like a cattle drink) then fishing with your line submerged is fairly straightforward. And the fish are very used to the boats.

However, i do feel that if you're going to fish in somewhere as public as a town centre stretch then these are the issues you're going to have to live with. Along with the dog walkers, joggers, canoeists, alcopop-fuelled teenagers (it were all glue sniffin in my day!!) and other assorted members of the general public. As Mark commented quite rightly, about 95% of these people are as nice as pie, it's the just the numpties that you remember. I expect the general non-fishing public has a similar view on anglers... so it's a shame that it's the foul-mouthed, surly, lager-swilling litter-dropping s**t-in-a-bag-on-the-bank types that probably make the biggest impression.

Whenever I plan a fishing trip, I will always have a planned outcome - sometimes its that I want to catch a particular fish, sometimes its that I want some peace and quiet. The latter rarely involves a much longer journey. Moreover, whenever I'm on the bank somewhere busy, I'll always do my best to mimick the canoeist at the top of this thread - and hopefully make someone unconnected with my pastime have a better impression of us collectively.

The alternative is to pay top bucks for somewhere a bit more exclusive, and occasionally that's a luxury I'm prepared to shell out for. E.G. Barton Court on the kennet is £15 a day, and the only other people you'll see fishing the stretch are the (limited) number of anglers booked that day.

Moreover, whenever I'm on the bank somewhere busy, I'll always do my best to mimick the canoeist at the top of this thread - and hopefully make someone unconnected with my pastime have a better impression of us collectively.

Click to expand...

Well said. Everyone should have that attitude.

If I'd been one of those sour-faced grimacing types in cap and sunglasses hunched like a statue behind my rods when they went by the first time, I doubt they'd have bothered helping me out.

I'm sure that waving and saying good morning when they went past first time helped considerably, although admittedly at this time of the year there's hardly any boat traffic at all on my bit of the upper Thames, so it's easy to be amiable about it. I've fished some places where the barges and boats come along every 2 minutes, sometimes one behind the other and it's a bit of a nuisance to have to keep reeling in and waiting while they go past all the time.

Still, I think you've got to have the attitude that it's just another condition of that particular water where you've gone to fish - the same as the wind conditions, or lots of weed or surrounding trees. You just have to adapt your fishing accordingly and keep your good humour.

I can't think they scare the fish, otherwise with the number of boats that go past, they'd spend their whole lives terrified!

Finally, without wanting to sound preachy, the reason I keep a good polite attitude and try to help anyone out while I'm fishing is not so that people will have a good impression of anglers. It's something that I (try to) do all the time, every day, fishing or not.

Because it's human decency and the more people who do it, the better life is for everyone.