Sunday 21st June 2026 – Newtown Shield- Holdfast- River Severn.

On a hot day, with a heatwave forecast, Malvern Anglers gathered on the banks of the river Severn at Holdfast for the Newtown Shield, the first river match of the season. Although there had been some big catches reported by individuals earlier in the week, there was some fear that the increasing intensity of the hot weather would make fishing much harder. However, the results turned out to be better than feared, with decent catches of bream in several pegs along the stretch, with the winner impossible to predict. In the end, Ian Goddard finished just ahead of his close rivals with a weight of 35-5-0 of bream caught on swimfeeder with maggot bait from a peg halfway down the bottom stretch. A couple of pegs upstream, John Bolton used similar tactics to catch a net of bream weighing 32-0-0 for second place. Meanwhile, in a shaded peg near the top end of the stretch, Steve Davis also had a similar net of bream for a third place weight of 31-1-0. 

Results

1.Ian Goddard 35-14-0

2. John Bolton 32-0-0

3. Steve Davis 31-1-0

4. Paul Weaving 22-7-0

5. Kevin Pugh 18-5-0

6. Dennis Flanagan 18-0-0

7. Dave Stetton 15-4-0

8. Frank Edwards 9-5-0

9. John Shaw 9-0-0

10. Steve Peters 8-0-0

Sunday 31rd May 2026 – Spring League Match No 6- Broadfields Fishery- Laurels Pool.

Following a scorching hot week, the weather was somewhat cooler and pleasant at Brookfield pool for the sixth and final match of the Spring league.  A fresh stock of carp from a few ounces up to about three pounds, together with skimmer bream and other small fish were feeding well along the length of the pool that resulted in good results and a close finish to this match.  Once again, pole master Dave Stretton led the way with a winning weight of 59-10-0 consisting mainly of carp caught on sweetcorn bait. Just a few ounces behind, with a weight of 59-4-0, Paul Lane had a similar net of carp and skimmer bream caught mainly on pole fished maggot. In contrast, Chris Loveridge cast a method feeder to the boards on the far bank to catch mainly carp for a third place weight of 45-4-0.

Results

1.Dave Stretton 59-10-0

2. Paul Lane 59-4-0

3. Chris Loveridge 45-4-0

4. John Shaw 29-7-0

5. Ian Goddard 29-2-0

6. Adrian Busby 25-6-0

7. Steve Peters 17-4-0

8. Lee Harman 14-0-0

9. Graham Rees 13-4-0

10. Mick Perks 7-7-0

Sunday 10th May 2026 – Spring League Match No 5- Brookend Fishery- Island Pool.

On a fine but somewhat cool day, the fifth Spring league match was held at Brookend fishery. After some confusion in bookings by the owner, we were allocated to fish on the smaller island pool instead of the bigger main pool that we expected to have been allocated. Although there were sufficient pegs on this smaller pool, it was probably too many for the fish as the results were very disappointing, except in one peg in the quiet, shaded end of the pool where Mick Perks was drawn. Fishing the pole with maggot bait towards the opposite island, Mick was able to catch a number of skimmer bream and a couple of better sized bream to win with a runaway weight of 10-8-0 which was more than the rest of the weights put together. Second place Paul Lane had to go down to very light tackle to catch a few skimmer bream and crucian carp for a weight of 3-15-0, while third place Graham Rees caught a few small fish to weight 1-6-0, just ahead of others who all struggled to catch very much. 

Results

1.Mick Perks 10-8-0

2. Paul Lane 3-15-0

3. Graham Rees 1-6-0

4. Dave Stretton 1-4-0

4. Chris Loveridge 1-4-0

6.Frank Edwards 1-2-0

7. Ian Goddard 0-4-0

8. John Shaw 0-2-0

8. Lee Harman 0-2-0

Sunday 19th April 2026-Fitzwater Trophy Match-Broadheath Fishery- Willow Pool.

Rod, reel and float only were there order of the day for the Fitzwater trophy match fished on Willow pool at Broadheath fisheries. Although the weather was sunny, it was somewhat cool for those pegged on the shady side of the pool. Although carp were caught from time to time by all anglers, there were frequent quiet periods when also silver fish did not show except, remarkably, for a few unexpected eels that were caught by a few anglers. In the end, the results were close, with Ian Goddard just edging ahead of Paul Lane with a winning weight of 58-11-0 as compared to 56-0-0, leaving Paul somewhat gutted to have lost a good carp at the net in the final moments of the match.

Results

1.Ian Goddard 58-11-0

2. Paul Lane 56-0-0

3. Chris Loveridge 38-10-0

4. John Shaw 34-12-0

5. Lee Harman 32-8-0

6. Frank Edwards 29-11-0

7. Jeremy Finch 25-7-0

8. Graham Rees 24-9-0

9. Mick Perks 24-7-0

Sunday 12th April 2026-Spring League No3 Match- Broadacres Fishery- Charlie’s Pool

The third Spring league match was held on Charlie’s pool at Broadacres fisheries on a rather cool and showery day. Although the water level was back to normal after the very low levels experienced at the previous match here last year, the results were even more disappointing. In particular, there were very few silver fish to be caught and then only very small ones, while the occasional carp made up the first three places. Once again, Dave Stretton made the best of his calm peg  at the end of one side of the pool and managed to catch a nice carp and some silver fish to win with a weight of 8-5-0. In a nearby peg, Paul Lane managed to catch a couple of smaller carp for second place weight of 7-0-0, while Frank Edwards also had a couple of smaller carp for third place 4-5-0. 

Results

1.Dave Stretton 8-5-0

2. Paul Lane 7-0-0

3. Frank Edwards 4-5-0

4. Dwayne Martin 1-8-0

5. Ian Goddard 1-2-0

6. John Shaw 0-11-0

7. Steve Peters 0-9-0

8. Lee Harman 0-8-0

9. Jeremy Finch 0-4-0

9. Adrian Busby 0-4-0

Sunday 8th March 2026 – Clive Harman Match- Sion Fishery.

On a cool and cloudy day, but fortunately dry and calm, the Clive Harman trophy match was held on Sion Farm fishery pool. Clive was a fondly remembered member of the club who died just a few years ago and the match was restricted to float, rod and reel which Clive was very familiar with. Small roach were able to be caught by all anglers on maggot bait, although bites were spasmodic in places. However, the better weights were dominated by the inclusion of the occasional nice sized bream that were caught in a few pegs. Leading the way, with a net that included three or four nice sized bream caught on maggot bait, Clive’s brother Lee Harman was eventual winner with a weight of 13-12-0. Second place Jeremy Finch was not far behind with a weight of 11-8-0, whose net also included some nice bream caught on maggot. Meanwhile, in an end peg, third place Paul Lane was able to keep the small roach going for most of the match to accumulate a weight of 7-11-0 of them.

Results

1.Lee Harman 13-12-0

2. Jeremy Finch 11-8-0

3. Paul Lane 7-11-0

4. Chris Loveridge 7-6-0

5. Adrian Busby 7-3-0

6. Ian Goddard 6-11-0

7. Steve Peters 6-1-0

8. Dave Stretton 5-15-0

9. John Shaw 3-15-0

Sunday 23rd November 2025 -Winter League No 3 Match Woodland View -High Pool.

After a cold, frosty week, the weather turned pleasantly sunny for the third Winter league match on the High Pool at Woodlands fishery. However, with the water still cold and a cool wind, the fish were somewhat reluctant to feed very much, although there were a scattering of carp caught around the pool that made for a close match. Ian Goddard used maggot bait to catch several carp of about three pounds each but his winning weight of 34-4-0 was boosted by a big carp of over twelve pounds. On the opposite side of the pool, Jeremy Finch also used maggot bait to catch several smallish carp, but his second place weight of 32-15-0 was boosted by a bigger specimen carp of almost fourteen pounds that was caught close to his inside bank. Meanwhile, Dave Stretton also caught a few carp near the inside bank to make up his third place weight of 28-5-0.

Results

1.Ian Goddard 34-5-0

2. Jeremy Finch 32-15-0

3. Dave Stretton 28-5-0

4. Lee Harman 24-0-0

5. John Shaw 20-7-0

6. Graham Rees 19-15-0

7. Paul Lane 10-15-0

8. Adrian Busby 10-3-0

9. Pete Wilkes 9-9-0

Sunday 26th October 2025 -Winter League No1 Match Broadacres -Charlie Pool.

On a cold and bright morning, the first Winter league match was held at Broadacres fisheries. There was some disappointment that the water level in Charlies pool was very low, leaving most pegs with about 18 inches or less of water to fish. It also appeared that the pools had not had any significant maintenance or restocking this last year. Consequently, fishing was disappointing, as anglers struggled to catch much other than some smaller fish, with very few carp being caught. However, being drawn on a peg between two opposite islands, Chis Loveridge was able to cast towards the long edge of one of them and catch four carp that made up the bulk of his winning weight of 14-11-0. On one of the end pegs, Dave Stretton also had the end of an island in front of him where he was also able to catch a couple of carp and also a good number of roach and skimmer bream to finish second with 11-15-0 while Ian Goddard also had a similar mixture of fish for third place 9-4-0.

Results

1.Chris Loveridge 14-11-0

2. Dave Stretton 11-15-0

3. Ian Goddard 9-4-0

4. Frank Edwards 5-13-0

5. Graham Rees 4-14-0

6. John Shaw 3-15-0

7. Paul Lane 3-8-0

8. Adrian Busby 2-11-0

9. Steve Peters 2-3-0

10. Mick Perks 1-15-0

Sunday 5th October 2025 -Points Match Hawford Claines-Canal.

As a change from the river fishing, a points match at Midenham lock on the Droitwich canal was organised. Results were very disappointing, as all anglers struggled to catch anything other than a small roach, perch, chub or bream. However, Dave Stretton worked hard to catch numbers of bleak that he eventually found gathering in his peg to make up his winning weight of only 2-11-0. Second place Pete Wilkes, with 2-7-0, started off well by catching some perch, roach, rudd and skimmer bream but then was unable to catch much after a couple of boats churned up his swim. Meanwhile, third place Lee Harman, with 1-14-0, included a couple of skimmers with roach and perch.

Results

1.Dave Stretton 2-11-0

2. Pete Wilkes 2-7-0

3. Lee Harman 1-14-0

4. Steve Peters 1-7-0

5. Chris Loveridge 1-6-0

6. Ian Goddard 0-13-0

7. Mick Perks 0-12-0

8. Jeremy Finch 0-9-0

8. Paul Lane 0-9-0

10. John Shaw 0-5-0

10. Dwayne Martin 0-5-0

Sunday 28th September 2025 -Richard Webster Memorial Match-River Severn-Holdfast.

A pleasantly sunny morning welcomed anglers for the Richard Webster memorial match on the river Severn at Holdfast. After some extra water last week,  the river continued to rise mid-week but dropped off very rapidly, leaving it very clear for the match. Also during the week, with some colour in the river, there were reports of massive bream catches, but this was not to be for this match day, as all anglers struggled the catch. Fishing a peg near the car park, Steve Davies was the only one lucky enough to catch a good sized bream of about five pounds which, together with some small roach, perch and chub, made up his winning weight to 10-0-0. On last downstream peg, Paul Lane caught some skimmer bream, perch and a few nice sized roach to finish second with a weight of 6-5-0. Meanwhile, Dave Stretton caught a few perch and roach for the third place weight of 3-8-0.

Results

1.Steve Davies 10-0-0

2. Paul Lane 6-5-0

3. Dave Stretton 3-8-0

4. Kevin Pugh 3-5-0

5. Chris Loveridge 3-0-0

6. Pete Wilkes 2-7-0

7. Ian Goddard 2-6-0

8. Lee Harman 1-11-0

9. Steve Peters 1-5-0

10. Frank Edwards 0-13-0

Sunday 21th September 2025 -River Series No 3 Match-River Severn-Holdfast.

In contrast to the previous match, after a period of welcome rain during the week, the river Severn at Holdfast was carrying some extra water and colour for the fourth river series match. Consequently,  there was high expectation of much better results than previously. Indeed, the leading results were good, as some big bream were caught in some pegs, in particular those at the top and bottom ends of the stretch. Ian Goddard made the most of drawing the most fancied upstream peg where, after a slow start, he caught several nice bream using mainly worm bait to win with a weight of 34-12-0. Near the other end of the stretch, new member Kevin Pugh, also caught several nice bream to finish a close second with 33-4-0 while in the neighboring end peg, Dave Stretton included a bream of over eight pounds in his third place weight of 28-12-0. A few or an occasional bream featured in the weights from some other pegs.  

Results

1.Ian Goddard 34-12-0

2. Kevin Pugh 33-4-0

3. Dave Stretton 28-12-0

4. Steve Davies 21-12-0

5. John Bolton 14-9-0

6. Paul Lane 12-6-0

7. Frank Edwards 7-1-0

8. Chris Loveridge 5-11-0

8. Paul Weaving 5-11-0

10. Dwayne Martin 3-1-0

Sunday 22nd June 2025 -Newton Shield– Holdfast.

After the previous days of blisteringly hot weather, Malvern Anglers were relieved to have much cooler, cloudier conditions for their Newtown Shield match on the first Sunday of the river Severn season at Holdfast. After reports of good catches earlier in the week, there was some optimism for the match, although the river had cleared and dropped from the extra water at the start of the week. Indeed, there were good catches of bream, but mainly concentrated towards a few of the upstream pegs. Leading the way, using his usual feeder tactics with a combination of maggot and caster baits, Steve Davies a few pegs down from the most fancied pegs, caught a number of bream up to about six pounds to finish with an impressive winning weight of 57-2-0. In the most fancied upstream peg, Dennis Flanagan also caught a similar number of big bream for his close second place weight of 51-12-0, but felt he could have won had he not started late and had problems with his tackle half way through the match. A couple of pegs below, Jeremy Finch also had good bream for his third place weight of 37-7-0. Meanwhile, there were occasional bream caught but weights were especially disappointing from the downstream pegs.

Results

1.Steve Davies 57-2-0

2. Dennis Flanagan 51-12-0

3. Jeremy Finch 37-7-0

4. Paul Lane 13-13-0

5. Paul Weaving 10-8-0

6. John Wagstaff 8-3-0

7. Mick Perks 6-12-0

8. Chris Loveridge 6-2-0

9. John Shaw 5-14-0

10. Ian Goddard 4-14-0

Sunday 29th June 2025 -John Perks Shield– Holdfast.

On a day that was forecast to be extremely hot and the river Severn at Holdfast in very low and clear conditions, Malvern Anglers feared that the John Perks memorial shield match would be hard going. Although some initial cloud cover offered some respite from the heat for most of the match, catches were indeed much lower than the previous match, with almost half the anglers failing to catch or weigh in. The results turned out to be a competition between the two end pegs, with Dave Stretton in the bottom downstream peg catching five bream in the early part of the match to finish with a winning weight of 16-3-0. In contrast, drawn in the top upstream peg, Mick Perks started to catch bream later in the match to finish a very close second with a weight of 15-15-0 but was annoyed to have a bream slip the hook at the end of the match that would certainly have won him the match that he so much wanted to win in his uncle John’s memory. Meanwhile, in the next peg downstream peg, Frank Edwards caught a bream of over six pounds that made up the bulk of his third place weight of 7-13-0. 

Results

1.Dave Stretton 16-2-0

2. Mick Perks 15-15-0

3. Frank Edwards 7-13-0

4. Ian Goddard 6-1-0

5. Dwayne Martin 5-13-0

6. Chris Loveridge 5-7-0

7. Steve Peters 4-12-0

8. Paul Weaving 4-4-0

9. John Wagstaff 0-2-0

Sunday 31th August 2025 -Roy Bouston Memorial Match-River Severn-Holdfast.

On a bright, sunny morning, but with a strong wind and the river Severn at Holdfast in desperately low and exceptionally clear condition, prospects for good catches were not high for the Roy Bouston memorial match. Indeed, catches turned out to be the poorest of the season, as there were no significant bream showing, leaving anglers struggling to catch anything other than an occasional perch or small fish. However, the final results were extremely close, with just a few ounces between the leading weights. Once again, Dave Stretton managed to nose ahead with a catch of a few perch and skimmer bream from a nicely sheltered peg in the upstream section. Close behind, with similar weights of 2-13-0 and 2-12-0 perch were Steve Davies and John Shaw with nets of mainly perch and other small fish. Section winners were Ian Goddard with 2-11-0 from the downstream section and Jeremy Finch with 2-4-0 from the upstream section. Prize vouchers of £50 were donated by Alan’s tackle in fond memory of Roy Bouston.

Results

1.Dave Stretton 3-3-0

2. Steve Davies 2-13-0

3. John Shaw 2-12-0

4. Ian Goddard 2-11-0

5. Jeremy Finch 2-4-0

6. Adrian Busby 2-2-0

7. Paul Lane 2-1-0

8. Lee Harman 1-8-0

9. Chris Loveridge 1-2-0

10. John Wagstaff 0-15-0

Sunday 10th August 2025 -Derek Evans Trophy Match-Smith’s Water-River Avon.

On yet another hot, sunny day, Malvern Anglers fished their Derek Evans trophy match on Smith’s river Avon stretch at Birlingham. This match was restricted to float, rod and reel only methods. With the river very low, clear and having virtually no flow, fishing was expected to be hard going as indeed it turned out to be with most anglers struggling to catch an occasional small fish. However, once again, following his win last week, Lee Harman drew an end peg from where he managed to catch a few perch, roach and other small fish from an inside line to accumulate a winning weight of 4-4-0. Second place Jeremy Finch chose to fish the far bank with some overhanging trees where he caught a number of small chub up to about half a pound each to make up his weight of 3-6-0. Meanwhile, the rest of the weights were generally made up of various small fish.

Results

1.Lee Harman 4-40

2. Jeremy Finch 3-6-0

3. John Shaw 1-14-0

4. Ian Goddard 1-7-0

5. Paul Lane 1-2-0

5. Paul Weaving 1-2-0

7. Frank Edwards 0-14-0

8. Pete Wilkes 0-12-0

8. Steve Davies 0-12-0

10. Chris Loveridge 0-11-0

11. Mick Perks 0-3-0

11. Martin Elston 0-3-0

Sunday 3rd August 2025 -Points Match-Furnace Mill-Mill Pool.

As a break from the summer river fishing, Malvern Anglers arranged a points match on the Mill Pool at Furnace Mill. Although the weather was nice and cloudy for most of the match, an increasingly strong wind blew along the length of the pool towards the dam wall end. For most anglers away from this end, the pool was only about two feet deep and there were only occasional silver fish to be caught. However, the two anglers fishing on either side of the dam wall end found deeper water and carp congregating towards the end part of the match and it was here that Lee Harman managed to catch a few nice sized carp, together with a good sample of silver fish, to finish with a winning weight of 29-10-0, just ahead of his opposite number Dave Stretton who also caught a few carp to make up his second place weight to 26-11-0. Meanwhile, Chris Loveridge did well to catch three carp near some reeds at the shallow end of the pool to finish third with a weight of 13-12-0.

Results

1. Lee Harman 29-10-0

2. Dave Stretton 26-11-0

3. Chris Loveridge 13-12-0

4. Paul Lane 12-12-0

5. Steve Peters 5-8-0

6. Steve Davies 4-15-0

7. Ian Goddard 4-12-0

8. Pete Wilkes 4-4-0

Sunday 6th July 2025 -River series No 1– Holdfast.

With the continuing dry weather, the river Severn at Holdfast remained in desperately low condition for the first River Series match although the pleasantly cool and cloudy weather gave some initial optimism for good catches. However, the match followed the same trend as the previous match where there was essentially a competition between the two anglers lucky enough to be drawn in the two end pegs. Once again, the match was won from the downstream end peg where Steve Davies managed to catch a few nice bream to make up his winning weight of 21-12-0 while, from the upstream end peg, Chris Loveridge also managed to catch a few bream to finish a very close second with a weight of 21-4-0. Most of the other weights came from the upstream pegs where a few bream were caught, with Ian Goddard producing a third place weight of 10-8-0 whilst anglers in the middle to downstream pegs struggled or failed to catch.

Results

1.Steve Davies 21-12-0

2. Chris Loveridge 21-4-0

3. Ian Goddard 10-8-0

4. Paul Weaving 9-7-0

5. Steve Thomas 7-3-0

6. Adrian Busby 6-5-0

7. Paul Lane 2-0-0

8. John Shaw 1-5-0

Sunday 27th July 2025 -Dick Oakley Memorial Match-Holdfast.

The Dick Oakley memorial match on the river Severn at Holdfast attracted a very good turnout of members, most of whom remembered Dick for his unique personality and approach to fishing, in particular for his use of ledger methods to which this match was restricted. Although the river remained in desperately low conditions, there was some optimism as the weather was overcast and there were reports of good catches during the previous week. However, the match turned out to be disappointing as most anglers struggled to catch and those that did tended to catch their best fish in the early minutes of the match. This was certainly the case for Ian Goddard who caught a couple of nice bream early in the match to form the majority of his winning weight of 8-4-0 and also for Steve Davies who had a couple of smaller bream for the bulk of his second place weight of 6-13-0. Meanwhile, in the most fancied upstream peg, Dwayne Martin also weighed in a couple of bream in his 6-5-0 third place weight but was angry that he had lost at least four others due to disturbances from close in boat traffic while he was trying to land the fish.

Results

1.Ian Goddard  8-4-0

2. Steve Davies 6-13-0

3. Dwayne Martin 6-5-0

4. Jeremy Finch 3-8-0

5. Dave Stretton 3-1-0

5. Paul Lane 3-1-0

7. Lee Harman 3-0-0

8. Frank Edwards 1-14-0

9. John Shaw 1-5-0

10. Chris Loveridge 1-3-0