With respect Geoff as someone who manages a fishery you would say that.
Speaking as a landlord, if I had the choice of renting a property to one tenant or to ten tenants for the same income then I would choose the one every time.
One angler, on your fishery, paying you £50, especially a nicely mannered gentleman type is going to be 1/10th of the hassle and cause 1/10th of the bankside damage than 10 ladish barbel anglers paying you a fiver each. It's a no brainer.
It is a fact that salmon anglers and corporate organisers will pay many times more for a days sport on a fashionable river in easy reach of London and the home counties than the common or garden barbel angler will be willing to part with for a day's sport.
The only reason barber anglers have been allowed back onto miles of the Wye is because the Salmon are no longer present. Once they return in numbers then the coarse anglers day in the sun on the Wye will be finished.
As for the eastern flowing rivers I'm not sure why they have picked up or are so good at the moment, It could just be that more fish are actually getting back to the river. I have however read on the river boards of another forum of bitter rivalry between game and coarse anglers, on the Tyne in particular, and if I still had access to those boards could cite plenty of instances of traditional coarse clubs losing out to game angling clubs.
The only thing saving the coarse angling clubs from a total rout at the moment is the remoteness of the fishing from the south east, ie, in the northern wasteland but not on the fashionable Scottish side of the border, however, at £40 per rod per day it's getting to the point where it will soon be viable, especially if the fishing is good.