Fishing Rights

[Pross]

Does anyone know if there is any easy way to find who owns the fishing rights to a particular stretch of river? I intend fishing the Usk next season and have found clubs / hotels and local authorities who own certain stretches of the river in my area but there are large stretches that aren't covered. I assume these are owned by the riparian owner but need a way to find out details of fishing. Also I'd be interested to find any areas that are available to fish free either for game or course fish (is there any stretch of river in South Wales that is free?). At the moment I'm looking at Usk town water or the stretch at Chainbridge on the Usk which is run by Glamorgan Angling Association I think.

[staps]

Have you tried the department of environment? They deal with fishing licences and local regulations so would presume they would know who owns the different stretches of river

[Ben]

the environmental agency is helpful on some rivers
for my gcse geography course work i did it on 2 rivers, 1 of the rivers was very well documented and i got sent a masive book full of maps etc.. telling you what its used for and everything
the other river i got given 1 map showing the river
its all free to phone n get it back and everything, they have a web site which tells u the right number to ring as well
or you could ask in your local tackle shop

[welsh wizzard]

pross i presume you dont have a licence for this stretch of river already?

i used to fish the usk a few years ago and when applying for a licence you would also get a small map with the areas that were you were permitted to fish. there were also the names of certain houses etc that you wernt allowed because they owned the rights to that stretch.
as i dont know exactley where you want to fish i cant help anymore sorry, but im sure one of the local angling clubs will be able to give you better info than me.
hope ive been of a little help atleast

ps. i also found that a simple knock on the house door was enough to get access to some of these places

[Pross]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll hopefully get my rod licence and permit next month so I'll see if the map still comes with it. I'm really looking for somewhere between Newbridge on Usk and Chainbridge so about 5 miles upstream and downstream of Usk town. I'm sure if I go into Sweets in Usk she'll know who owns every metre of the river bank.