Tuesday 16th October Coaching trip to Broadwater
 
It had taken a bit of planning but finally we had the date for the promised visit to Broadwater to help Howie catch a big fish!
Stuart Sharkey also joined us for his first ever attempt at fishing having travelled by bus to Epsom station and then he caught the
train to Guildford from where he was collected & driven to the lake. 
We were in luck as the rain had put most anglers off so we managed to get the Point to ourselves. We set up the rods and spodded
out some bait and left it to "soak" until our guests arrived about 30 minutes later - just as the rain stopped.
There were fish already showing over the bait so we were hopeful of a good session. 
We spent a little time running through the set up of the rods, the use of buzzers and how the baits were hair rigged. 
All four rods were cast out using the current favourite method of small pva netting bags containing pellet soaked in hemp oil and with
a small pop-up and small hook. Within 20 minutes Stuart had the first carp in the net, weighing in at 8lbs. Shortly afterwards Howie was playing
another but this was lost at the net - probably because the clutch was set a little too hard. Not to worry though as another carp obliged
within ten minutes or so - this one was a double of 14lbs 12oz. Chris Baitup correctly guessing the weight to the ounce. 
Not to be outdone Stuart followed this with what turned out to be the best fish of the day with one of exactly 18lbs - a nice common
in good condition. Howie came close to equalling it with his best of the day of bang on 16lbs. 
Early afternoon saw them both playing a fish at the same time - Stuart landing a fully scaled mirror and Howie landing a very pretty mirror. 
We had arranged to keep the session down to around 4 hours and by 2.30 we were packed up ready to leave. The lads had a great time,
each landing 6 fish and the total weight was well in excess of 120lbs! Well done guys. Some of Howie's fish were photographed by Mary
on her camera so are not attached here (yet). 
Stuart is hooked after his first visit in-spite of being warned that the fish don't always behave so obligingly. We have now put him in touch
with more local disabled angling clubs and hope that he continues in our sport. 
Howie has been a regular with our Summer Junior Club at Marsh Farm and is often seen fishing on Hill Pond with mum Mary close by. 

5th Annual Junior Multi Species Charity Challenge - Story, Results & Pictures.
 
Saturday 8th September 2007 was the last of this summers Junior Club events and it was the first time that we had held the Junior Multi Species at this end of the summer. We were not sure how successful it would be especially when we realised on the day that we clashed with England playing football, rugby & cricket that very afternoon!
 
The big questions were "Would the boys beat the girls this year for a change?" & "Would a girl win the sponsorship trophy for the first time?"
 
Competitors were asked to arrive at Broadwater Lake at 8.30 ready to start fishing at 9. The first arrived by ten past eight and to my delight they just kept coming!
By 9am we had 28 Juniors spread around swims near the main road car park eagerly awaiting the starting whistle. Their aim to catch as many different species as possible, earning one point each per species before moving on to Busbridge to repeat the exercise.
 
Andrews band of committed (some definitely certifiable) helpers had handed around tubs of maggots, pots of loose feed, landing nets and helped set up 3 & 4 metre whips in readiness for the start. The whistle blew and it began! Squeals of delight were heard and shouts of "I've got one!" rang around our corner of the lake as the first points were recorded by the "Purple Shirts" - the official helpers.
 
A Crucian, a common & a mirror carp were amongst the species landed. The majority of the Juniors catching roach, rudd and perch with a handful of Gudgeon putting in an appearance on the bank. However, Georges duck did not count and we released it without harm to either of them!
 
Bill Rushmer from Anglers Mail was with us snapping away for the article he hopes to have published shortly. He was also a great help in ferrying three of the lads from venue to venue as my car was loaded with fishing gear. Thanks Bill for all your support & your generous donation.
 
A call from the catering crew (Graham & Bernice) ensured they knew how many buns and burgers were required for later that afternoon.
 
Shortly after 11am the whistle blew again, fishing stopped, everyone packed up and we headed off to Busbridge. No one was lost on the way and after allowing 20 minutes or so to get organised, the whistle started off part 2 of the event. In the lead following the Broadwater fishing were brothers Finn &  Rowan with 8 points but there were several pairs hot on their heels including the Holcombe sisters Rosie & Chloe. Rosie got off to a great start at Busbridge pulling out three different species in as many casts before everything went rather quiet.
 
Busbridge proved quite tricky on the day but everyone loved the experience at this very special lake. Again the whistle blew and we were off to Marsh Farm. By this stage the Holcombe sisters were just in lead but again there were several pairs close on their heels - namely the Watts brothers, Chloe Cozens & Tom Chase, George & Hayley and also Daniel & Howie.
 
Hill Pond had been reserved & closed from 1pm for us so we set up for the 3rd time that day. Everyone still looking pretty fresh and the Juniors still raring to go as
everyone was still in with a chance with so many points available across the 3 lakes at Marsh Farm. (A point available for each species from each lake). It is at this stage in the proceedings that things could get quite chaotic with points being scored everywhere, however, the children knew well by now that everything had to be identified by a purple shirt before their sheet was signed so we stayed in control ..... to an extent.
 
By 4pm the BBQ was lit, Graham, Bernice & Eileen were merrily chopping onions, setting out the tables, pouring drinks of squash. Andrew was running back and forth to the shop to organise prizes and more maggots which were disappearing at a steady rate. Malcolm was meeting and greeting the Mayor & Mayoress together with the Jannaways who so kindly replaced the Junior sponsorship trophy in memory of their son Chris who was tragically killed recently. The Surrey Advertiser had sent a photographer along to snap the presentations for us too.
 
Shortly after 5pm with parents starting to flag a little now the final whistle was blown and the big adding up session began whilst the equipment was put away for the season. Certificates were written out for all the competitors and the prizes and trophies put on display.
 
The big questions were soon answered. No, the boys couldn't beat the girls this year and Yes a girl did finally win the most sponsorship trophy!
 
Andrew thanked all the fishing helpers, the coaches, the catering team, mums, dads and children for making the day such fun and a great success. Also thanked were of course the Jannaway family, Mr & Mrs Mayor, Apollo Angling for supplying the prizes, Bill Rushmer from Anglers Mail and The Surrey Advertiser too. They all received a good round of applause and the presentations began.
 
The sponsorship trophy was awarded by Mr & Mrs Jannaway to Chloe Holcombe who raised a stunning £107, narrowly beating her sister Rosie who managed £93. Howie was third with £89. All the children did really well and managed to raise a stunning total of £941.50 all paid in on the day, which the Mayor kindly rounded up for us to £950. Thank you everyone.
 
The pairs competition was won by the girls again with a new record joint score of 32 points by the Holcombe girls Chloe & Rosie making it a clean sweep of the top prizes! Well done girls. As well as trophies they were given a new rod each.
 
Second place went to Chloe Cozens and Tom Chase with 28 points. They won a trophy and a new reel each.
 
Third place went to Howie Murphy & Daniel West with 26 points. They also won a trophy and a reel each.
 
All the juniors were presented with certificates and a selection of fishing tackle by the Mayor & Mayoress who were most impressed with the children's efforts,
congratulating them all.
 
It was then time for the group photos taken by Chris from the Surrey Ad with all the proud mums and dads snapping away too, followed by a mad rush to the burger queue!
 
By 7pm the clearing up was finished, the equipment put away, the kitchen cleaned and tidied, rubbish put in the wheelie bin. The 5th Junior Multi Species event had been another great success and it was finally time to go home."
 
 
14. - John Jannaway presenting Chloe Holcombe with the Chris Jannaway memorial trophy for the most sponsorship raised.
19 - Winners Chloe & Rosie Holcombe
21 - 2nd Place Tom Chase & Chloe Cozens
23 - 3rd place Howie Murphy & Daniel West
29 - Jeremy & Tess Walch with the Mayor
33 - Team photo
36 - "Grub up!" The queue for burgers
41 - Andrew, Malcolm, Mayor & Mayoress chatting, with Ellie in the foreground chomping on her 3rd burger & Graham still slaving over a hot BBQ.