Coarse match fishing hit rock bottom last weekend when the once popular Veals Teams of Four series was cancelled due to lack of support and only four members turned out to fish the last match on the Warwick Arms Angling Club's calendar.

Leech Lake at Broughton Gifford was in top form for the Warwick Arms stalwarts and victory went to Chris Gay with a massive 163-9-0 of carp in the 1lb to 8lb class.

Drawn to fish the relatively shallow waters of peg one at the top of the prolifically-stocked three-acre lake, Gay chose to fish a swim shaded by a tree situated close to left-hand lakeside margins.

He fed his nine-metre pole line with a 4mm pellet feed while using a 6mm pellet banded to a size-16 hook and rigged to a 4.5 lb line. He started fishing at full depth and, after just four minutes, converted his second bite into a 2lb mirror carp.

He said: "It soon became obvious that the fish were taking the bait on the drop so I altered depth and started catching a fish with every put-in.

"Throughout the six-hour match I found that feeding little and often got the best response.

"I moved the float up and down the line several times to suit their feeding depth and by the end of the second hour had filled my first keepnet.

"My third went in two hours later and I knew I had won the match long before the all-out shout."

The runner-up was Chris Szackacs with 126-11-0 catch from peg two on the high bank. Szackacs started fishing shallow at 10 metres while feeding the four-metre line with a soft 6mm pellet. At the half-way mark, he had about 30lb of fish in his first keepnet.

He said "As soon as I realised that the fish had started feeding closer in, I immediately switched to a paste hookbait and caught a fish with every put-in right up until the whistle."

Third place was taken by Stewart Riddell, the match secretary, who poled a 6mm banded pellet at nine metres centre off peg four.

He caught regularly all day at various depths but his fish were small and he worked hard for a 76-2-0 result.

He said: "The average size was no more than 12oz and my heaviest never even touched the 2lb mark."

Fourth was Chris Longmore, who poled soft pellet and luncheon meat at various lengths and depths off peg three for 62-10-0 of carp to almost 2lb.

Club spokesman Riddell said: "During the past season we have booked some super venues but membership has dropped regardless. Quite a few new clubs have started up recently but at the end of the day there are just not enough anglers to go around.

"A day's fishing at Leech Lake cost the club £50 and only four members turned up to fish. No club can possibly justify the loss week after week."

Result: 1, Chris Gay (Veals MG) 163-9-0, peg 1; 2, Chris Szackacs, 126-11-0. peg 2; 3, Stewart Riddell, 76-2-0, peg 4; 4, Chris Longmore 62-10-0, peg 3.

● Tony Rixon fished hair rigged 6mm pellet at full depth and into the lakeside margins of Specimen 32 for a winning 119-13-0 of silvers and carp in the Avon Angling Midweek Open match, fished at Landsend Fisheries, near Wedmore.

Avon Angling boss John Bradford won the silverfish category with 23-0-0 mixed bag, taken from the lakeside margins of Match 3 with caster.

Overall: 1, Tony Rixon (Avon Angling Mosella) 119-13-0, Specimen 32; 2, Nick Duckett (Team Landsend) 81-8-0, Specimen 28; 3, Martin Lenaghan (Avon Angling) 72-8-0, Match 18; 4, Mike Duckett (Team Landsend) 57-12-0, Match 14; 5, Gary Wall (Team Landsend) 51-15-0, Match 5; 6. Matt Tomes (Bristol PSV) 34-12-0, Specimen 31.

Silverfish: 1, John Bradford (Avon Angling) 23-0-0 (Match 3).