Anglers Update:

The Canal & River Trust have put together their first anglers e -newsletter. There a few interesting articles and read what the fisheries team do.

It can be found on their website in the fishing section or by following this link.

You can even subscribe for future editions.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/features/anglers-update

This lot are shaping up to be a bigger crock of Sh1te than their predecessors.
Here what’s not in the Anglers update -
“We will enter into “Commercial Agreements” with Developers who build houses next to our Canals and Waterways to discharge their inferior Sustainable Urban Drainage Waters (SUDS) into them, causing very likely pollution and a loss of biodiversity through it. Because it’s all about the cash now we’re a CR Trust.”

And for those that doubt this, I’ve just fought a Planning Application for 500 houses where the CR Trust stated as a statutory consultee, “They had no objections to the development and developer discharging SUDs into the canal, a grade A SBI and SSSI site, providing a Commercial Agreement was entered into with them for the discharge of SUDs water.

Presumably this was one of the quangos broken up by Cameron

Correct! In that, it was turned into a Trust so it could get it's hands Lottery money which it couldn't do when it was British Waterways.

I have been trying to get the tow path on my local canal repaired now for ages the Canals & Rivers trust dont seem to be the slightest bit interested or bothered , And yet they want us to pay them to fish what were open waters are they having a laugh or what .

Me i'll be out fishing whilst the joint is in the oven beats sitting round watching the repeats of repeats of repeated repeats .mg:

PG .

It's apparent from their website that angling is very low on their interest list; its boating, kayaking and cycling that receive their attention.

Perhaps this is not surprising, given the lack of interest in fishing canals in a lot of areas. I fish the Lea, and often never see another angler, especially mid-week. They are hardly going to pile in a lot of investment for what could seem like a few dozen anglers.

It is, of course, chicken and egg: if the canals don't attract anglers there will be no investment, with no investment anglers will not be attracted, and so on.

It is particularly noted that their comment and input about angling is mostly in relation to club involvement. It is this "controlled" participation that worries me. I am not a club member, and have no real desire to join a club, though I can see some advantage. At the moment at least I simply couldn't afford to join a club, my disposable income goes on the actual fishing. I could see their future approach being to restrict access to "their" waters for individuals, and that would seriously limit my fishing; its difficult to appreciate or support their actions in such light.