THE Malvern United Angling Association stretch of the Severn at Hanley Castle finally showed some form this season when members fished for the Taylor Cup.

The weather was hot and sticky and the river was carrying some extra water due to recent storms.

Bream expert Ken Yates drew peg 23, a noted area for the species and soon got among them using groundbait feeder tactics. Ken landed several up to 5-0-0 to hammer the rest of the field with a fine winning weight of 38-14-0.

A long way behind in second place was Barry Hill on peg 14. Barry landed one good bream of 5-0-0 before being broken by a much larger fish which spooked the shoal. He had to resort to float tactics to pick up a few small fish which made his weight up to 7-14-0.

Tom Hawker took third spot from peg one. Tom's haul also contained one big fish, this time a 4lb barbel which snapped up his bait on the first cast of the match. But things were to go downhill from there as Tom struggled and only managed to put 6-0-0 on the scales.

There was a higher than usual turnout for the deciding round of the Saturday Scramble series held at the pool last Saturday.

Despite ideal warm sunny conditions for catching carp, weights were disappointing and it was Neil Humpage, who, with an earlier win in the series already under his belt, took this one to claim the trophy.

Neil drew peg 18 and fished pole tactics in the margins to take three carp, one being a lovely mirror weighing in at over 8lbs, for a winning weight of 12-12-0.

John Wagstaff was close behind with 10-12-0 from peg 20, John's haul included four small carp, but lost fish cost John first place in this one.

Next contest is the Chairman's Cup, held on Sunday (August 22) on the Severn at Hanley Castle. Draw 7.15am, fish 8am-1pm.