Well the dire rain warning has failed to materialise just yet though they are still forecasting a dose tonight. We shall see.

I understand a fish was caught at Bigswier yesterday following four blank days though I understand earlier in the week they had a day of eleven fish. Not confirmed yet.  They are now on 222 for season however.
Nathan Jubb reports another fish from upper Bigswier. 20lb on a Wye grub.


Many of us know only too well about the canoe problem defiling the Wye. Some of you no doubt have heard me banging on about the canoe problem in particular between Glasbury and Hay on wye.  This stretch, agreed by everyone has NO RIGHT OF NAVIGATION.  As such no one should use it without permission,.   It's been a bone of contention for years when various canoe outlets have plied their trade using in effect someone else's property to make a pretty penny, paying nothing to anyone.

Situation is now out of control with a couple of hundred users per DAY on this section at the moment and the owner has tried all reasonable avenues to resolve this problem from the EA. WUF, WAG Angling Trust etc.  Everyone shoves it in the 'too difficult' tray.   I won't even mention WUFs Splash funding, the disgraceful blind eye turned by the Agencies, the local landowners disinterest and the blatant pro canoe stance of the agencies Dane Broomfield among others. As for the Navigation Officer -is he a myth - some mystery figure whom is supposed to exist somewhere in the early morning mist.???.

NATURAL Rescource Wales are quick to head up their environmental credentials but what is natural about hundreds of canoeists per day. It must have an effect on the wildlife on that section of river. I asked Dane Broomfield myself at a meeting if canoes got out of hand what would come first, their activities or that of the environment.  He said "the environment".  Time I think for him to show it was not just another politicians answer.  Likewise WAG

I have been given permission to print the letter below. Please give your support in any way you can,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Cc: Broomfield, Dane; William Rundle; Claire MILLS

> Subject: Navigation Glasbury - Hay

>

> Hello everyone

>

> It has now been some years since I purchased the Llanthomas Fishery on the river Wye at Llowes. During that time I have made repeated attempts to address the issue of the unlawful canoeists who navigate my fishery on a daily basis.

>

> I have contacted every known agency, authority and river trust but in return I have received only marginalisation, obfuscation, prevarication, procrastination, weasel words and even blatant lies. I have had meetings galore and phone calls by the dozen. It has become evident that nobody is prepared to take responsibility for this hot-potato activity with each body attempting to ensure it becomes anyone else’s problem other than their own - and the result is I am now in exactly the same position as the day I first purchased the fishery.

>

> The canoe traffic has now reached an appalling volume. Over the next two weeks, going on previous years,  I can expect at least TWO THOUSAND unlawful canoeists to disrupt the angling on my stretch, often at the rate of one a minute. These people pay nothing to use and abuse my amenity, despite having over 100 miles of river they can legally navigate available just two miles downstream. They thumb their noses at the lawful anglers who have paid large sums in licence fees and permits to have a quiet days fishing. I cannot stand by and watch this continued activity wreck my fishery, disturbing the ecology and environment, causing me harassment, alarm and distress and totally ignoring my right to quiet enjoyment of my property.

>

> Something has to be done. And somebody has to do it.

>

> To that end I wish to register a formal complaint against the Environmental Agency, who tell me they are the Navigation Authority for the entire length of river, not just the English river but all the Welsh river too. My complaint is specifically regarding the EA Navigation Officer’s reluctance to act against the unlawful canoeists who ignore the fact that NO public right of navigation has ever been granted to the river upstream of Herefordshire. The reasoning/excuse behind this reluctance was given as a paragraph in the Wye Navigation Order which neither confirms not denies the existence of a PRN. I consider this nonsensical statement to be just that and insist that the Navigation Officer protects my fishery from these unlawful navigators with immediate effect. If not, I have been advised to involve an Ombudsman and have recently contacted my MP to that end.

>

> There is no grey area in this issue. Either a PRN exists for this stretch, in which case please show me the document and you shall hear no more from me, or it does not exist. In which case you are charged with doing your jobs by stopping this canoe activity right now. Varying interpretations of the Wye Navigation Order are not a substitute for a PRN.

>

> Sincerely

>

> Geoff Maynard=

>

> 

.