A frost-free Bridge Pool produced a half- decent set of weights for the fourth round of the Bathampton AA Silvers Championships.

Rich Coles, with an 18-13-0 net of skimmers and roach, kept ahead of the chasing pack by knocking-up his second win of the six-match series.

The PA Megabaits rod poled soft pellet over a pre-soaked micro-pellet feed at eight metres off disabled peg 10, and started catching from his first put-in.

He said: "I fed very little, but often, through a pole cup, but the fish were constantly on the move and impossible to hold on to.

"I had the sun in my eyes for the biggest part of the match, which didn't help, and made it a very difficult day's fishing."

Thatcher's Tackle sponsored Terry Bruton finished as runner-up with a superb 16-8-0 of skimmers, roach and perch to 1-10-0.

The Stoke St Michael- based veteran started the match at 12 metres off peg 26 on the far bank, but dropped back to his seven-metre pole line after not even getting a line bite during the first half hour.

He said: "I fished a single maggot over a few free samples and caught a skimmer on my first put-in.

"I continued to catch either a skimmer or roach with almost every other put-in, but they were mostly small fish and, apart from a bonus 1-12-0 perch, that was all there was on offer."

Third place was taken by Paul Staite, who poled caster over maggot at seven metres off peg 28 on the far bank, and included the best fish of the match – a 2-4-0 tench – in an otherwise 14-3-0 catch of skimmers and roach.

He said: "I knew I needed a couple of decent-sized fish to boost my weight, and when I netted the tench, I thought I'd cracked it.

"Unfortunately, the fish was a one-off and all I caught during the remainder of the match was the odd skimmer or roach."

Martin Alexander caught the only carp of the day and earned every penny of the £20 pools money for fighting a 6-8-0 mirror on a light roach rig.

Result: 1, Rich Coles (PA Megabaits) 18-13-0, peg 10; 2, Terry Bruton (Thatcher's Tackle) 16-8-0, peg 26; 3, Paul Staite 14-3-0, peg 28; 4, Bill Ferris (Alcove AC) 13-8-0, peg 17; 5, Chris Rolfe 12-14-0, peg 15; 6, Mike Jones 12-8-0, peg 30.

Knockout: Bill Ferris, Chris Rolfe, Rich Coles, Terry Bruton.