THE OLD STONE SEA ANGLING CLUB

Annual membership cost £20 per adult and £10 for Juniors, ideally this should be paid before the beginning of January to guarantee you don’t miss out on any of the events. It costs £10 to fish each competition and £5 for Juniors. Prize money is divided up like this, winner takes 30%, second takes 20%, third place takes 10%, the heaviest round fish and flatfish take 10% each from the pools, and 20% is included into the Club fund. Members are welcome to bring guests along who may enter the pools costing £2 in total. If either pool is not won the money rolls over to the next venue. Please note guests cannot win rollovers, if a guest happens to catch a heaviest fish he/she can only win the pools money from the day, then the difference would rollover again. As well as prize money you are fishing for trophies which are awarded at the end of the year at our Presentation Evening. If you win any of the Club’s trophies you get to keep them for a year and you also win an engraved keepsake trophy, usually a hip flask or pewter tankard. To date we have the following trophies.

The Founders Cup This was the first ever trophy, it was purchased by the original Committee, myself Rod Punter, Peter Middleton, Denny Comelio, Brian Standen and Phil Lynch. The Founders Cup is won by the angler with the most points at the end of the year, points are scored in the following way, winner 5 points, second 4, third 3, if you weigh in without finishing in the first three you get 2 points and if you attend and catch nothing you get 1 point. We operate a Joker system, each member has one Joker to play whenever they choose, if you fancy your luck at a particular venue ask to play your Joker when you book in and any points you score on that day will be doubled.

The May McNeill Knockout CupThis is our finest trophy; it was presented to us by Ken McNeill to replace The Radio Cabs Knockout Cup which was accidentally damage. The trophy is dedicated to the memory of Ken’s mum who was well known as a familiar face at some of our past Presentation Evening’s. The Knockout works in a similar way to football’s F.A. Cup, members names are drawn out of the hat on a one against one basis, if your catch is heavier than your opponent you are through to the next round and your opponent is knocked out, if you both catch nothing you both go through to the next round, if either or both fail to turn up you are out! The winner is the last man standing. There is also a trophy for the runner up.

The Ted Dacey Shield Named after late father of a previous Chairman Terry Dacey, Ted was highly respected as a retired Fireman who fished with us on several occasions through the early years of the Club. Awarded to the angler with the heaviest combined weight throughout the year.

The Market Diner Flatfish Plate

Neil and Alex Ross from the Market Diner presented us with this trophy when the Club was founded in 1999. Awarded to the angler who catches the heaviest flatfish each year.

The Round Fish PlatePurchased by the Club, this trophy, similar the Flatfish Plate is awarded to the angler who catches the heaviest round fish. Did you know? Skate and Rays being members of the Shark family are actually classified as round fish.

The Three of the Best Shield Purchased by the Club, this trophy is aimed at the more casual angler, it provides an opportunity for those of you fair-weather fisherman, who don’t fish so often, to compete for something very worthwhile. At the end of the year each member’s best three weigh ins are taken into account and totalled up, the winner is the angler with the heaviest combined weight.

The Specimen Trophy Another trophy purchased by the Club, The Specimen Trophy is awarded in accordance with designated National Federation of Sea Anglers specimen sizes. Each species of fish has a designated specimen size depending on where in the UK it is caught, for example a specimen Bass shore caught in Sussex is 9.5 pounds, while a specimen 3 bearded Rockling is a humble 8 ounces, so if somebody caught an eight pound Bass and somebody else caught an 8 ounce Rockling, the Rockling would be classed as the better fish because it is 100% of it’s specimen size, and would win the trophy.

The Peter Pollard Shield - Fisherman of the Year Peter Pollard was a Brighton Cabbie, he was keen shore and boat angler. Although very ill at the time when the Club was founded Peter was very keen to join, unfortunately he died without ever fishing with us. The shield dedicated to his memory is presented to the angler who is considered by the Secretary and Chairman to be “Fisherman of the Year”. This is always a very difficult decision with several people each year eligible for the award, ultimately, the award goes to the person who is considered to have proved himself the best Club member, usually by putting in that extra effort or by demonstrating a really good attitude towards the Club. Being the best fisherman or catching the most fish isn’t a criterion taken into account for winning this trophy, neither is the trophy considered to a consolation prize, it is won on pure merit.

The Team Challenge

The Team Challenge is the Club’s newest event. Before the first competition in January the Club members will be divided up into teams of three. The teams will be seeded, for example, if we have a total of 24 paid members there would be eight teams, so the highest finishing eight members from 2007 will be separated and each teamed up with two other members drawn from the hat. The winners who will each receive a keepsake trophy are the team who at the end of the year have the highest combined total of points.

Junior Members

Junior’s pay half of the amount adult members pay for membership and competition fees although they are eligible to 100% of any prize money. For 2008 there will be a trophy for the Junior who finishes the year with the most points. Unfortunately Junior members are not allowed to attend any Awayday matches or the annual fishing trip in the Spring.

The Rules

The emphasis of the Club is good fun, however, like any other serious organisation we must have rules. A set of rules is included so please take the time to have a look at them, and you can see a summary of some of the more common rules printed on your Clubcard, if you are not sure about anything please feel free to ask.

NFSA

The Old Stone Sea Angling Club is affiliated to and supports in principal the National Federation of Sea Anglers. The NFSA work hard towards the preservation and conservation of fish stocks as well as providing us with a very reasonable third party liability insurance cover. A large lump of Club funds go to the NFSA, it now costs £3 per member as well as approximately £110 insurance costs, this equates to £200 for 30 members.

The Constitution

The Constitution was written and agreed by the original Committee and is the guide by which the Club is organised and run. Changes and amendments of the Constitution can be made only at an AGM with a majority in favour.

Deadlines

Organising and running the Club is reasonably easy and mostly a very enjoyable experience, although sometimes it can be difficult. Most of the difficulties are caused by not sticking to deadlines, for example, the reason there was less food than usual at the 2007 Presentation Evening was mainly because people decided they wanted to come well after we had submitted what should have been the final figures to the caterer. Also if somebody arrives late at a venue it often means delaying somebody else, it’s not very fair if someone has taken the trouble to buy someone else’s bait only to find they cant leave the book in area at the designated time because that person hasn’t turned up yet. When late payments are made it often means delays in finalising events or someone has to make extra unnecessary trips to the bank. Notice will be given in plenty of time for any future organised events, as well as deadlines for decisions and payments, please understand if any member fails to respond by the deadline it will be assumed they don’t intend to participate and will be excluded. Please don’t interpret this as being obnoxious or over officious, and these comments are not directed at any individual, it’s just that we do need some positive co-operation to help the Club to run smoothly.