There's an apartheid of users on the canals, and the separation's nowhere greater than between boaters and anglers. We don't mix, we don't speak to each other (except with surly nods and grunts) , and we get on each others' nerves. A fishing boater is much rarer than a bankside one (hi, Sue!) . We should rectify that.
Here's the diligent, interesting and professional blog of Martin Porter. He's a fishing coach. I didn't know until I stumbled on the blog yesterday that there was such a thing as a professional fishing teacher.
Angling is the 'elephant in the room' of the canals. It's everywhere, but boaters rarely speak about it except how to get around it. I don't recall an angling representative on the board of British Waterways, for example (someone will soon pop up to say I'm talking rubbish).
But the traffic runs both ways (or rather, doesn't, so to speak). For example, Martin's blog 'categories' don't include a category for 'waterways', in the sense of 'roads for boats'.
Boaters often curse anglers for fishing near locks. There's an interesting post yesterday where Martin describes being allocated a fishing site near a lock, and he is disappointed: "we were given a length of the Lee Navigation Canal to use for our coaching sessions, far from ideal being just below a lock."
