The vast majority
of anglers attending come from the South,
although a larger number of “Northern
Monkeys” seem to be appearing each
year, creating ever increasing social banter
around the lakes.
Whilst this is a fish-in,
the sole purpose of the event is to raise
as much money as possible or Macmillan,
with attending anglers getting themselves
sponsored for the three days of “pain
and suffering” they put themselves
through. The result of their endeavours
this year raised £15,200 over the
weekend and the organisers are confident
that at least an additional £1000
will filter through over the next few weeks.
The raising of £15,200 by 120 anglers
in one weekend is an amazing feat in itself;
however the weekend also marked another
milestone in the history of Stoney and Friends.
As a result of their endeavours, and the
support they have received from so many
anglers over the years, not forgetting the
tackle trade and their unstinting support,
Stoney and Friends passed the £100,000
milestone. In fact, Stoney and Friends have
now raised in excess of £104,635 as
shown below in the photo of Allan Stone
and Vicky Richards of Macmillan Cancer Support.
Bik Rik from Hampshire with a Catfish
weighing 19lb caught from the Match Lake
Whilst the weekend was a resounding success
financially, it didn’t go too badly
on the angling front either..
The Match Lake always seems to come up trumps
at these events, and it’s much sought
after resident in the form of Scaley likes
to make the odd appearance at Stoney events.
Last out at this event four years ago to
Tim Paisley, she kindly gave herself up
to Dean Oram this year at the magical weight
of 34lb. Dean had been joking a few days
before the event that Scaley would be on
his mat before the weekend was out. However,
the circumstances surrounding the capture
were not quite as he would have suspected.
As Matt King succinctly
described the circumstances of the capture:
1. Wander over the
road to the Pads Lake, armed with beer.
2. Locate Chesh, and carry on round to Horseshoe.
3. Locate the Chav, Apple, Roach and BreamKing
talking about things we really shouldn't
be, yet feel somehow obliged to.
4. Send Chesh back for more wine.
5. Drink beer and wine. Smoke.
6. Offer to be ghilley for apple's 7lb bream.
7. Get turned down as ghilley - this is
a one man show, and it's getting weighed.
8. Laugh as Roach fluffs a steamer of a
take.
9. Laugh louder as apple "loses"
his inline lead.
10. Fall in lake - this is the flagship
voyage for SS Oram.
11. Drink more beer to drown embarassment.
12. Retire from Horseshoe worse for wear
at 9pm, head to Pads.
13. Drink more beer with Singy.
14. Return to Match Lake at midnight. Important
- you must be wasted.
15. Sling out rods off BreamKing's baited
spots as he goes to sleep with baits in
the rings.
16. 4am - hook and land prized original
Scaley to up PB.
In addition to the
Match Lake producing, the Copse Lake fished
for the first time in a few years also threw
up a few surprises, including an original
Leather weighing in at 28lb. In addition
to this Ian Simmons of Rigcraft managed
6 morror carp up to 18lb’s.
Dan with a 19lb 10oz Sandhurst Common
Not to be out-done on the North Side of
the complex, day ticket water Sandhurst
suddenly turned on producing numerous carp
up to 31lb.
Joe with Pads Lake Carp of 25lb
The South side of the complex was not to
be out-done, with the Pads Lake giving up
a few of its prized specimens. Paul “Singy”
Singleton of Merstam near Redhill reported:
“The week prior
to the Stoney and Friends bash at Yateley
saw only one fish to five anglers come out
of the Pads Lake. Prior to fishing all 10
anglers fishing the weekend decided to restrict
themselves to 2 rods to minimize lines in
the water. This paid dividends for Joephus
and Singy.
Joe’s fish was
caught Saturday night after Joe observed
a fish working close to his margin. A carefully
placed B5 boilie saw the downfall of this
fine 25lb carp slip up to the Liverpool
lad. A journey well worth it!
After loosing a fish due to a hook pull
on the Saturday morning, Singy changed over
from his size 10 Muggas to Carp-R-Us Canturians
and managed to land 2 fish of 23lb 12oz
(reminder to get the scales checked) on
the Sunday morning. Singy chose not to fish
the days, preferring to keep his lines out
of the water and enjoy the social. Both
Singy’s fish fell to 16mm Perfection
ground-baits and choc-orange nut mix bottom
baits, fished in conjunction with a small
bag of ground-bait and crushed boilies.
They were landed on size 10 centurians,
fished on a 9 inch 25lb Merlin hooklength,
½ oz leads fished helicopter style
on 4ft of leadcore. tied to 18lb Pro Clear
mainline. Rods were Nick Buss 3.25 XTCs
Singy, ever concerned for fish welfare,
put the safety of his fish first, as shown
below, by going in to ensure that his snagged
Carp was cleanly released from the Pads
(for those aware of RMC rules on no wading,
this was fully authorised and supervised
by RMC bailiffs)
Whilst the Pads produced,
sadly the Split Lake didn’t respond
as normal, with only a few Bream making
an appearance. Chris Isaacs of Wallington,
Surrey and the Stoney and Friends Treasurer
did however manage between registering people,
selling raffle tickets and generally helping
Allan Stone organise the event, a personal
best Bream nudging doubles figures.
The only other Lake
on the South side to produce anything was
the Horseshoe, A few nice bream to over
8lb and a couple of carp. Vicky from Macmillan
Cancer relief, under the expert guidance
of John “Tug” Wilson, did manage
an 8lb specimen. Believe it or not, she
was heard saying that it smelt nice, and
when asked if it was slimey, she said not
that she noticed!! Meanwhile, on the same
lake, through a cloud of smoke, Roach (AKA
Marlon Weyeneth) managed 2 carp up to 15lb
while babysitting the norfolk carrot crunchers.
Hard work selling tickets, but Alan wakes
up for the raffle
It should also not be forgotton that events
of this nature are only successful due to
the work put in behind the scenes by the
organisers in advance, let alone the work
over the weekend. Allan Stone, the main
man behind Stoney and Friends is renowned
for his non stop tireless efforts during
the coarse of his events, aptly captured
in the picture!
Lastly, the
finale of the event is a mammoth raffle.
Tickets were only available on the weekend
to those attending, and staggeringly, £1200
of tickets were purchased. The raffle draw
went on for nearly two hours due to the
generosity of the angling trade and other
sponsors, and even when only a few prizes
were left, the vast majority of attendees
were still in attendance, testimony to the
quality of gifts provided by the sponsors.
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