Interesting thread this. I have a lovely bit of the thames very close to me on the northern edge of Oxford. Since the weather has been so good, it's been like a swimming/ holiday complex along my local bit ("Medley" to any of you visiting match anglers, quite a famous stretch of river).... I went down there for a picnic with the wife and kids a couple of weekends ago (to which I insisted on taking a couple of rods and pint of maggots to keep the kids busy) and initially I was seething at the general mass of humanity that was shouting, splashing, playing radios, games of football, touch rugby, water volleyball, all sorts... If you've ever seen the "Passion for Angling" episode where Bob James fishes Frensham great pond, it was a bit like that! However, two things worth noticing; first off, the fish were biting just as enthusiastically as they would have been had the banks been empty - we had bleak, chub roach and perch every cast.... secondly, after my initial pique had passed at the lack of peace and quiet, I realised that whilst all these people were out on the river, they were just out there enjoying it. The gang of lads behind us who'd been swimming, drinking and generally having a good time all cleared up after themselves; a number of passers by just stopped for a chat, and of course my kids would always be delighted to show anyone going past anything that they'd caught. I did wonder if actually, having all those people up and down the bank - it might have actually been a bit safer for that?
All of that said, its a relatively easy thing for me to travel a bit further and find a lot more peace and quiet.
I think river fishing for me will always edge it a bit over lakes, but I realise I'm in a minority in thinking that. Commercials have made fishing into something very different. As a kid, learning how to fish - I NEVER EVER had the expectation of sitting in one place for an entire day! I would have to move, to roam, to be opportunistic. Those are traits I can't seem to shift from my fishing, the idea of staying in one place for entire day's fishing session is about as alien as they come (unless I'm only on a very short session to begin with). The angler's expectations must also be taken in to account here... commercials give you the very realistic expectation of catching A LOT of big fish, so much so that anything falling short of that leads to disappointment. Again, going back to my childhood fishing, I was just incredibly grateful to catch anything!! So a halfpound roach or perch, that was a real talking point for your day.... and a 2lb chub!! Catching that might have seen me packing up and going home because its just not going to get any better!!
All of that said, I do fish commercials on some occasions, and the thrill of being connected to something that pulls back so hard is a wonderful thing. But that said, I'd rather take the mystery that comes with a river, over the sure fire knowledge that I can expect to catch.