Hi All,
I read these posts with interest. The way Kayaking and fishing go so well togther in the Uk However it is a different situation. In the UK we are only legally allowed to paddle 2% of rivers. The rest are owned by landowners with no access agreements. There is a website called http://www.riversaccess.org dedicated to getting more access for All water users. (Not just paddlers). One of the main opponents in the UK to this is the various fishing bodies who site kayaking and fishing are not compatable.
The argument is about opening up access to all users giving more access to our rivers. I would be very interested in you opionions from the fishing kayakers as the whole point of kayak fishing seems to go against what the fishermen in the Uk are saying.
All the best
Quicky
Ask those who REALLY know …
Hi Quicky !
The folks at this website would surely have some thoughts for you.
http://www.kayakfishinguk.net/news.php
I’ve asked a good friend of mine, who lives and kayak fishes in the UK, to post some thoughts here too.
kayak fishing uk
hiya quicky (and jerry)
first let me say that kayak fishing in the uk is now set to take off as we have now got exposure, we have never had it in the past.
there are plenty of places throughout the uk to kayak fish, everywhere from the entire canal network, to the lake district and the likes of, and not forgetting the entire coast line.
at the moment, the difficulty in finding places to launch in freshwater, is mainly due to the unknown.
the majority of people over here simply do not know what a kayak is, sure everyone has seen the “white water” guys or the “w/end trippers” messing about in canoes and surf yaks, and automatically place us in the same category. They simply do not know what kayak fishing is.
same with anglers, i myself on numerous occasions have had a load of canoeists paddle through the area i am fishing with total disregard for myself and other anglers, we all get tarred with the same brush??
it is only us who will change that attitude towards us.
i would guess that there are around 30 of us over here(yak anglers), with more joining our ranks as the exposure sets in.
the majority paddle and fish in the sea so are spoilt for choice on launch sites, i mainly stick to fresh water and can always find some bit of water somewhere to put in and fish.
the 2% mentioned for river fishing, well i got to disagree with that, you will be able to find a launch on any uk river if you do the homework, once you have a launch, you can paddle on most stretch’s of river.
the land may be private but once you are in/on the water, thats a different matter.
as long as you have all the necessary license’s/permits, then all should be fine.
The people who are promoting free access to all, are imo, not helping kayak fishing what so ever, whilst we only want to pursue our passion and live in harmony with the world and nature, they seem to be trying to make some kind of statement??
I personally would not want our rivers and lakes packed out with pleasure paddlers, might sound selfish, but if everybody could launch and paddle wherever they liked, then I fear that this would do more harm than good.
Quote “the whole point of kayak fishing seems to go against what the fishermen in the Uk are saying.”
Most fishermen fall into the “unknown” category, again we are classed the same as the w/end paddlers who do not really know what they are doing and who quite often cause some kind of conflict between anglers and paddlers.
Most of my friends are fishermen/women, until they actually see my fishing machine, they do not know what I am talking about….the word “education” springs to mind.
If you are thinking about getting a yak for fishing, then simply “go for it” you will never regret it (well that is till you start rigging it, wanting new gear for it, spending lots of cash on it…lol)
Ray.
Thanks Ray !
I knew you’d have some words of wisdom to share … 
kayak fishing
As a person who fishes not only from kayaks, but also from the banks and with waders, I’ve found that canoes or kayaks passing over an area where I’m fishing has little effect on the fishing. The exception perhaps is in shallow water, but even then the fish seem to forget about passing boats pretty quickly. Considerate kayak fishers try to fish areas where the bank fishermen cannot - so as to not compete for the same areas. When on a narrow section of a river where I have to pass through an area where bank or wade fishermen are active, I always try to pass as unobtrusively as possible, and always apologise. I find that if people use good manners then various groups can use the same resources without incident.
Agreed…
…I go around the fishermen where possible, outside their casting radius…but on narrow streaams than is not possible, and the polite thing to do is wait until the fisherman has retrived his cast and say softly; “passing” and paddle quietly on by…