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This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Canoe Access: Stating the Anglers’ Case
I couldn't possibly recommend that course of action. But I might join youIf there is a law passed to allow them full free access, does that not mean that perhaps we could also do the same as a right to fish for free. I always thought that the Rod license was a pathetic idea and one that Anglers should have stopped a long time ago.
Geoff on most larger rivers I don't think most anglers are bothered by the odd canoe, do they really do that much harm in the correct location and conditions ? I have read most arguments for and against and I am a member of a canoe forum, but i sense that a lot of encounters between angler and paddler are amicable, I am tired of the Trust's inciteful vitriol that is blatantly an effort to create a cause that not all anglers believe in.
Its a circular argument , I don't think the canoeists legal case holds up ( I have read many many threads on it ) but i think that morally it does.
I have, in my limited experience of river fishing, not encountered any hostility from canoeists but there appears to be a recurring theme from their web sites, "we go where we want, when we want" with little or no regard for those who either own the land or pay for the fishing rights. If you own Koi Carp in a pool in your garden, am I within my rights to fish for them because I hold a rod license?
I think all nationally held water should be made available.
Nice if we could fish it all Benny
It is time the government came off the fence and made a law that clarified the offence of navigating on a waterway where there is no right of navigation. Until then the canoeists will continue to take the pee and use a university student's thesis as a right to go where they please.
It is already clear. What is missing is the will to police it.
The fact is simply that we are up against a determined lobby which is actively seeking to increase its share of leisure facilities in an already overcrowded country.
This is the reason why I urge all of you to send in your own submissions. Otherwise we will all find ourselves at the mercy of some local leisure/planning official with not a clue about fishing, or much else for that matter.
Making your individual voice heard is the best thing you can do for your fellow anglers, and in the long run for yourself for that matter.
My advice, if not clear from the piece above, would be to keep submissions clear, factual and unemotional, and let the facts speak for themselves.
Oh, and before I forget, a happy Christmas and New year to you all!
What the Welsh Assembly will be debating in January is far more than the right of canoeists to go about their business whenever and wherever they damn please.
Ever watched an angling programme where the well mannered host fished a stretch of river that you could only dream about.
Who owns a river?