THE two latest cup competitons in the Malvern United Angling Association's calendar are fished in memory of two former stalwarts of the club.

The John Perks memorial was switched from the Severn to the Avon due to flooding.

The contest was fished in very cold conditions and a strong easterly wind which made fishing difficult, Neil Humpage took this one with a modest total of 3-8-0. Neil fished a small groundbait feeder with maggot on the hook to take some skimmers and small roach from peg 30.

Match secretary Ian Goddard was drawn close by in Peg 32 and took a similar net but just missed out on the top spot by ounces, tipping 2-15-0 on to the scales.

Treasurer John Shaw made third place and included a nice perch of 1-9-0 in his weight of 2-8-0 from peg 39.

Ken Yates could have walked away with the contest when he hooked a very large fish in peg 40, despite playing the fish for sometime it found a snag and slipped the hook.

There was an excellent turnout for the Roy Bouston Memorial contest fished on the Avon at Birlingham, this match is shared between both Malvern and Hanley clubs as Roy was a popular member of both.

Neil Humpage continued his good run of form by taking the cup in emphatic style. Neil arrived at peg three to find the river about two feet above normal level and flowing hard, so he decided to fish down the edge of the swim away from the main current using a groundbait feeder approach.

After a biteless first two hours the tiniest indication on the rod tip signalled the arrival of a large bream weighing 5-15-0, one of the biggest of the season so far, four more good bream followed together with three eels to give Neil an excellent winning total of 21-3-0.

The rest of the field struggled in comparison and Chris Loveridge needed only 6-8-0 from peg four to take second place, made up largely of another nice bream weighing 4-8-0.

John Shaw once again took third spot, also catching a good bream for 4-8-0.

Lost fish were once again costly with Ian Goddard losing a huge chub estimated at over 5-0-0.

Thanks go to Ellen of Alan's Fishing Tackle in Worcester, who very kindly donated tackle gift vouchers to all the winners.

Wye opener

MEMBERS travelled to the Wye in early October for the first time this season.

Weather conditions were better than had been forecast but the river was carrying three feet of extra water and racing through.

Ken Yates took the contest with a nice bag of dace taken on the blockend feeder for 12-0-0. Ian Goddard and Colin Shaw fought it out for second place, with Ian just shading it by an ounce with 10-10-0 of bleak and dace. Colin's third place catch of 10-9-0 was also made up largely of bleak and dace. The largest fish of the day was a 4-0-0 chub taken by Neil Humpage on the feeder.

The next contest is another outing to the Wye at Bredwardine on Sunday, November 7. Draw 8am at the venue.