Gary Thorpe

Gary Thorpe needs little introduction, a founding member of GOT Baits, much of the hard work in the early days with Trevor Price and Gary chasing the World Record for the 5 Hour Match has paid off and the result are neatly packaged and sold on to good tackle shops in bags carrying the GOT Bait label.


A former Specimen Angler, Gary has a 'In or Off' approach to the larger fish that seem to frequent his Keep Nets and anyone going toe to toe will acknowledge his skills as an angler and a matchmen alike. Here's how Gary approached his pellet fishing:

Pellet Basics

My favorite method is pellet fishing on the deck.

For this method I'll need only two baits; 4mm GOT Sinkers & GOT Soft Hookers. The GOT Hookers come in various sizes and flavour's and I'll carry a good combination to cover me for any requirement.

My Method - Pellet Fishing

This method is mainly for the warmer months when I'd be using Red Hydro Elastics coupled with 018 and 020 lines. I always use the very popular Silstar Match and will always fish it straight through to the hook which is a size 14 or 16 Kamasan B911.

The floats I use are The Mick Wilkinson (Wilkie's) pellet float for depths up to 4ft, any depth over that I use the Wilkie Diamonds. For the Wilkinson Pellet floats I use the 0.2 and 0.3 and the Diamonds are used in sizes 0.4 and 0.5; I don't often go over these weights unless its towing hard. The lighter you can get away with the better.

At the start of the session I plumb up dead depth and work from there. I'll start by feeding a big Peter Drennan Pot of 4mm sinkers. Then I'll drop the rig straight in, I don't like to lay the rig down because its not a natural presentation. Dropping it straight in ensures it goes straight down and does the same as the feed pellet.


After the first pot of feed I will put the rig on top and wait a few minutes to see what happens. If I'm getting no liners or indications I'll start loose feeding with the catapult with about 15 to 20 pellets at a time. Lifting and dropping the rig every time I feed which could be every 20 to 30 seconds, the bulk shot is 12 inches from the hook so you are looking to catch in the bottom foot of water. It's a bit like fishing up in the water but on the deck!

Keep Feeding

When you hook a fish, feed the swim two or three times whilst your playing the fish. When you've unhooked the fish make sure you feed again as you go back in. This ensures the fish are there waiting for hook bait. Feeding is the key to a big weight, the better the fishing the less feed you need. Some days you can catch 150lb feeding 4pt of pellet, on another day you will have to feed 12pts because there not really having it and your having to force feed them.

There will be days when you have to shallow up a few inches and fish just of bottom, you will tell this by the foul hookers you are getting and how far you are lifting in to the fish before you feel them. There's no need to strike when the float dips, a gentle lift will set the hook; that's why I only use the hooker pellets because they don't fall off until you get a fish.

Get into a rhythm and the fishing becomes easy and a big weight is on the cards, all you have to do is pick your coin up at the end of the match. I hope this helps you a little and I look forward to seeing you on the bank some time.

Gary.