The consortium of local anglers were upset after British Waterways decided to hand over the running of a new fishery at Kiveton Park to outside operators.
They had hoped to run it themselves as a community facility - with all the profits going back into the community.
Some of the anglers, along with members of the Kiveton Park and Wales Community Development Trust, have already staged a protest outside the new fishery - on the site of the former Kiveton Park Colliery.
They have collected around 1,000 names on a petition calling on British Waterways to change their minds. And they are calling on anglers in the region to boycott the new fishery until the row is settled.
CDT member Stephanie Hryschko said: "There is a feeling that outsiders have been brought in to run what is seen as part of Kiveton's heritage."
The new fishery is part of a multi-million pound redevelopment of the former Kiveton pit. The site was owned by Renaissance South Yorkshire but it has handed it over to British Waterways, which asked for tenders to run it
The move led to the local consortium submitting its bid for the fishery - which has three separate lakes and can accommodate over 70 anglers.
Alex McAuslin, consortium chairman, said: "We worked hard for six months to put our bid together and we were gutted when we were not successful. I think anglers are so angry they will boycott the fishery."
In a statement British Waterways said:."In order to maximise the potential of Kiveton Waters it was important that we found the right people to manage the site, and we have a very demanding set of criteria which each bid was examined against."