River access row

Published on 07/08/2012 00:00

Dr M R Jaffa (Letters, 6 August) has got it entirely wrong. As an angler on both the Tweed and the (East Lothian) Tyne I have had more bother from canoeists and other people while I have been fishing than I have caused trouble to them.

These other people have, without exception, insisted that they have the right to do what they are doing regardless of the fact that I was fishing and some, particularly a bunch of young men going down the Tyne in inner tubes, have been very choice in their language, insisting the land access legislation conferred on them the “right” they were exercising.

During an encounter with a group of canoeists I pointed out that, unlike them, I had at least paid good money to fish on the Tweed but this resulted in a further torrent of abuse. While I am in this “Victor Meldrum” mode, the most inconsiderate are some dog-walkers, who get their dogs to go into the river right where anglers are fishing, although others are more considerate.

As Dr Jaffa is a self-confessed non-angler I think he should realise that there are always two sides to a story.

David Elder

Knox Place

Haddington, East Lothian