Which UK river is the worst for fishing?

[tiddlertamer]

I had the misfortune to grow up near Romford.

 

The local river is the river Rom.

 

I went back there recently to visit my family.

 

All I can say is that the river looked like a drain. 1960/1970s urban planners had had their way. No such thing as bends in the river now. Just a small trickle of water forced between concrete walls. Very sad.

 

Perhaps not a contender as the UK's worst fishing river as it very small and not one that has ever thrown up good fishing in living memory. Sad though.

 

See the river Rom in all its glory:

 

http://www.romford.org/river-rom/river-rom02.htm

Edited January 23, 2010 by tiddlertamer

[Rusty]

See the river Romme in all its glory:

 

That is very sad.

[lutra]

See the river Romme in all its glory:

 

http://www.romford.org/river-rom/river-rom02.htm

That looks a lot like Lancashire's River Darwen. Local rumour has it that in the 1600's it was one of the best sea trout rivers in the country, but its looking past its best these days.

 

Ive never seen or fished it, but just for poor access i think Blackburn's River Blakewater should get a mention. It went under ground in the 60's.

[tiddlertamer]

That looks a lot like Lancashire's River Darwen

 

 

Wow - the town planners really got to work on the poor River Darwen.

 

A devastating piece of engineering.

 

I shouldn't make light of something so sad but the photo makes it look like the planers were so obsessed with creating order over nature, they have even added a single yellow line to prevent parking...

 

River Darwen

[Vagabond]

Wow - the town planners really got to work on the poor River Darwen.

 

 

What you and Lutra say is true enough,

 

BUT.......... last time Certhia and I took a walk along the Darwen, within the town centre of Darwen itself a couple of years back, we spotted two or three brown trout.

 

PS ...and Certhia has pointed out, you get dippers there in winter, although not along the stretch illustrated.

 

Similarly, there is a culverted little stream that flows through the centre of Oban - but it is in the open where it flows through the shopping centre, and there, amongst the supermarket trolleys that have been thrown in, you can see rising trout.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Vagabond

[lutra]

What you and Lutra say is true enough,

 

BUT.......... last time Certhia and I took a walk along the Darwen, within the town centre of Darwen itself a couple of years back, we spotted two or three brown trout.

The biggest problem with the River Darwen is Darwen sewage works as it can't cope in times of heavy rain (much cheaper to pay a few little fines than to build a new sewage works). The sewage works is in the middle of Darwen and once you get above that there are plenty of little Brownies.

[lutra]

The biggest problem with the River Darwen is Darwen sewage works as it can't cope in times of heavy rain (much cheaper to pay a few little fines than to build a new sewage works). The sewage works is in the middle of Darwen and once you get above that there are plenty of little Brownies.

Hats off to Anglers Net, I write a bit on it about the state of the River Darwen and with in weeks its getting sorted.

 

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/...upt____traffic/

[poledark]

Stretch of the River Wandle around Old Town, Croydon could be the most dissappointing if you ever try to fish it. Historically, it was well known for trout.

 

Used to know that "river" well..............nearly as good as the Ravensbourne in Bromley :)

 

Den

[BoldBear]

A friend of mine pretty much blanked for a whole season whilst feeder fishing on a stretch of the river Lea. Set against this, the same stretch of river holds gargantuan chub of potentially record breaking size.

The upper stretches of the Lea further upstream of Hertford are a completely different story with excellent catches of Chub, Barbel, Roach etc. of all year classes; in fact I can't remember having a blank there in the past 3 to 4 years.

Edited March 2, 2010 by BoldBear

[jedibond]

The upper stretches of the Lea further upstream of Hertford are a completely different story with excellent catches of Chub, Barbel, Roach etc. of all year classes; in fact I can't remember having a blank there in the past 3 to 4 years.

 

Who controls the fishing up there ?