WELCOME
The Society was founded in 1899 by a group of dedicated anglers who fished Stanley Reservoir in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. Today the Society has grown to be one of the more prominent fishing organisations in the UK with members, made up of seniors, ladies, juveniles, and disabled members from all over the country.
Our Waters
With a good selection of still waters and a number of river stretches to tackle we aim to cater for all types of angling. For canal anglers this year we can now offer three stretches for you to enjoy. The links below will take your to our full Waters List or our Google Map.
Membership & Stanley Head Parking
From 2024 both Membership and Stanley Head Parking is available via the website. Click the Join Us button below for the full details of both.
Sotas 2022 AGM Report
Details can be found in the Members section of the website or Clicking Here
Proposed Work party dates
12th July - Work party to strim, repair the overflow and removal of existing scaffold poles at the rear of the pool.
As always if members could lend a hand it would be much appreciated.
Latest Society News
Important Information.
Attention, Online ticket sales to be closed as of the 1st of October 2023
STANLEY POOL
For the remainder of this season, the club will allow any member to park on the North Staffs Sailing club car park. This is the entrance to the pool from Puddy Lane. Your SOTAS sticker MUST be fully displayed in your windscreen or dashboard. This concession DOES NOT apply to the entrance through Stanley Head Education Centre. The status quo for that entrance still applies. This trial period for the remainder of this season, if we have no issues going forward it may see this step becoming a permanent arrangement.
Astbury carping for cancer
Well what an amazing weekend 2nd and 3rd place changed in the last 10 minutes of the match which is bizarre when the match is for 48hrs
I would like to say a big Thankyou to the sponsors
Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society ( official )
Trentside angling
Dave Rowe car repairs
Macclesfield pet food supplies
Everybody who supported are cause in purchasing raffle tickets
Everybody who donated a raffle prize and all the anglers who took part to make this an amazing weekend and last but not least everyone who helped make this weekend possible
Got to say this was a very special weekend not only for me but for other people who are involved with the everyday running of the mere as one of our own team will be starting cancer treatment in the next week or so and truly makes me humble to see so many people make a great effort to raise money for a truly worthwhile cause
We managed to raise £580
Well done to everyone
R watts
Stoke on Trent angling society
Astbury Mere Waiting List
Anyone already on the waiting list and not offered a place for the current season must renew their General Membership ticket to retain their place on the list. Non members will be removed from the list.
National Celebration of Young People and Fishing 2022 w/e 17-18/09/22
This week-end saw over 300 young people taking part in this annual celebration event.
This will be the 3rd year that SOTAS junior members have been involved in the celebration. Since the SOTAS Academy was formed in 2021, the numbers have increased as follows :
2020 - 3, 2021 - 15, 2022 - 34
The celebration event follows much detailed planning and preparation aimed at making it fun and enjoyable for everyone taking part and for some quite a competitive element to the match.
Saturday saw 10 of our SOTAS Academy cadets ( 7 to 11 years ) battling it out on the Shropshire Union Canal in Staffordshire and putting in a brilliant performance
Individually one of our cadets , Oliver Flanagan finished in 4th place out of over 90 taking part with a weight of 1.48Kg
( Interestingly the top 3 places in the Cadets were won by the girls ).
Nathan Morris was not too far behind with a weight of 1.23kg.
Eliza Brook and Joel Wood were both awarded with most promising cadet awards with weights of 1.23Kg and 0.97Kg.
Team wise , out of 30 teams one of our SOTAS Cadets teams took 6th spot.
On the Sunday it was the turn of the SOTAS juniors ( 11 to 15 years ).
Over 190 fished the match on the Shropshire Union Canal in Shropshire
Individually, one of our SOTAS juniors , Poppy Bishop , finished in 5th place overall with a weight of 3.650Kg ( Poppy also finished 5th in 2021 ).
Our best weight from the boys came from Seth Leigh.
For the first time SOTAS also entered 3 teams from Saint Peter’s Academy following a number of Let’s Fish events organised with Craig Manifold.
In a new prize category for the Celebration event , Saint Peter’s managed to win the Best School Trophy.
In conclusion , it has been an hectic week-end with some lifelong memories made along the way - everyone of the SOTAS Academy youngsters have stepped up to the occasion and have made the SOTAS coaches and their parents proud of their achievements.
Roll on next year 👍
Noel's Pool Memorial Match 10/09/2022
Today saw a landmark in our Club’s history in terms of the number of youngsters attending a junior match.
22 fished which is the biggest number taking part in a SOTAS junior match in the past 50 years.
Because of the demand for this celebration match this had to be fished on 2 pools - Noel’s Pool and North Road.
The overall winner was Brandon Sleem who weighed 8lb 15oz from peg 8 on North Road pool and becomes the 2nd person to win the Noels Memorial shield.
2nd place went to Louis Glenn with 5lb 7oz from peg 7 on Noel’s Pool.
3rd place was Brandon Sumner with 4lb 6oz from peg 14 on Noels Pool.
The top cadet on the day was Oliver Flanaghan with 3lb 14oz from peg 6 on Noels Pool.
A big well done to everybody who took part.
Thanks to :
John Skidmore for kindly donating the Shield and for the prizes for the top 3 places.
Trentside Angling and Nathan’s of Burslem for the tackle vouchers.
Angling Trust and Sport England for the Get Fishing Award Certificates and the 4 metre whips.
Astbury Mere Waiting List Applications
Changes to Astbury Mere Carp Waiting List Rules :-
Only General Members of Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society will be eligible for acceptance onto the waiting list.
Anyone wishing to be considered for Astbury Mere Waiting List will first have to be a General Member of SOTAS then needs to download and complete the Application Form Click Here and email to moorlandsfalcons@googlemail.com or post to the address on the form and provide your current Membership Ticket Number. If approved their name will be added to the list on this page together with their position number.
Click Here to view Astbury Mere Waiting List website page.
Anyone already on the waiting list and not offered a place for the current season must renew their General Membership ticket to retain their place on the list. Non members will be removed from the list.
New "Water Maps and Details"
A new set of detailed Society Waters Maps have been completed. As well as a map and directions they give details of stock and species and other useful information for each water You can view and download them by Clicking Here
New Astbury Common Record
Steven Cross as landed a new common carp record for Astbury Mere. Congratulations Steven. Anyone wishing to see the photo's Click Here or visit the blog page.
£1 Juvenile Ticket Retained for 2023
The £1 juvenile ticket has been retained for 2023 with a view to attracting more juveniles.
Special rules will apply i.e. child protection, fishing in the same peg with an adult, 3 rods max per peg.
It is hoped that this new initiative will provide a gateway into the sport for the young of today to become the anglers of tomorrow.
The mission of Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society is to manage, serve and promote angling. To assist members and participants in their various forms of involvement in angling. To adhere to all the laws of angling and to encourage and facilitate the involvement of as many people as possible in angling activities.
Trentside Angling Centre
For a wide range of match and specimen equipment.
Specialist in tackle and bait.
Discount for SOTAS Members.
5% up to £25. 10% over £25 (bait excluded).
Call in the shop :
1254 Leek Road, Abbey Hulton,
Stoke-on-Trent, ST2 8BP
Tel: 01782 555593
e-mail: sales@trentsideangling.co.uk
Impulse Angling
Fish Legal
Help us keep up the good work.
Noel’s Memorial Junior Match
Saturday 12 August 2023
Results are in! 🏆🥇🥈🥉🏆
16 youngsters were booked on for this annual match fished on Noels and North Road Pools.
Brandon Sumner showed his form today, taking the top spot from peg 6 on Noel’s Pool with 16lb 8oz. Brandon will be the 3rd youngster to have his name engraved on to the winner’s Shield
Up and coming, young cadet, Theo Karadia had the best weight off North Road Pool with 12lb which put him in 2nd place overall.
Taking 3rd spot overall was Nathanial Ashman who weighed 11lb 8oz from Noel’s Pool.
Not too far behind was Nathan Morris with a mainly bream catch of 11lb 4oz again from Noel’s Pool.
In 5th spot overall was last year’s winner Brandon Sleem with 7lb from North Road
Brandon, like his brother Morgan, were both cursing the ‘ones that got away’ at North Road - they both lost their ‘battles’ with carp, which managed to make their way to safety in the lily pads.
Jacob Trull, Eliza Glenn and Regan Grice all managed to net a carp on North Road.
SOTAS Academy really appreciate the support from our sponsors, Angling Trust, Nathan’s Premier Angling Centre and John Skidmore, who helped to make this a special day for all who took part and put a smile on their faces at the end of an enjoyable day.
Well done to everyone 👍🐟🐟🎣🎣👍
🚨🚨Our next SOTAS Academy match is next Saturday 19th August at Lodge Farm Pool. 🚨🚨
Match results from 06/08/23 on stanley reservoir
1st Andy scarsbrook with 26lb 3oz of bream,skimmers and roach on the pole.
2nd Jordan Riley with 14lb 9oz of skimmers and roach on pole and feeder.
3rd Lee Tolley with 9lb 8oz of skimmers p, roach and perch on waggler.
well done to all who fished
next match 20/08/23 on noels pool
Veterans results Lodge Pool
1st R Lightfoot 7lb 2oz
2nd G Brookes 6lb 9oz
3rd D Gore 6lb 3oz
4th A Fallows 4lb 1oz
Match results from lodge pool 30/0723
1st Pawel Baranowski with 46lb 10oz of carp and a Barbel a new venue record.
2nd Jordan Riley with 14lb 3oz carp and silvers.
3rd Ian 11lb 5oz of carp and silvers.
well done to all who fish next match 06/08/23 at Stanley reservoir.
Catch Returns
Gary Thomson 10th August 33lb and 21lb Mirror