Sponsored Anglers

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.

Started fishing at about 11 or 12 at Halton Resevoir nr Wendover catching roach and the occasional perch, Joined Leighton buzzard angling club aged 22 or 23 and served on committee and as water bailiff for 16 years. Fished the Thames weirpools for a number of years, targeting barbel and large bream, Drifted into open matches quite late in life, really just to see how I got on, I put myself somewhere below the stars, but on parr with the majority, I have a pick up now & then which keeps me going, when I stop enjoying it I will stop!

If I get to a water & its a likely option to fish up, I will set up three rigs to cover my depth options. As a rule, all will be on 0.18 Silstar straight through to a 16 kamasan B911 - keeping everything simple is key

The first will be on a Mick Wilkinson pea float which is like a very dumpy dibber with a thick wire stem which is set to fish at 1 foot or less.

The second will be a Mick Wilkinson up camo pattern again this has a wire stem and a short bristle. Its very stable from the second it hits the water size 0.1, set to fish 18 inches to 2 feet

The third is a 0.2 Mick Wilkinson up camo set to fish 2 to 3 feet deep,I will start of feeding 6 to 10 4mm sinkers ( straight from the bag ) every 20 seconds and look to fish the deeper rig to start, once fish arrive and I start catching. Its a case of rotating rigs until you find which gives the best catch rate, bait is normaly a 6mm. Ready hooker in either natural or liver, if I am being ragged off by small fish I will change to a 6mm hard banded pellet, if I am missing loads of bites I hair rig the pellet.

By adjusting the amount and frequency of feed I will (hopefully) arrive at the optimum feed to fish ratio.

Tight Lines, Madd

Firstly I would like to Thank both Trev and Gary for giving me the chance to fish for G.O.T Baits which was grabbed with both hands. Their knowledge and help has been invaluable to me and has helped me to improve my fishing by untold amounts. This in turn, has led me to become more of an all round angler.



Favourite Venues

• Alders Farm
• Rockells Farm
• Stafford Moor

Best Match Weights (Both on the paste)

• 217lb Alders
• 219lb Rockells Farm

Favourite Method

Pole and Paste.

Tip

When fishing Pole & Paste use a 4 or 6mm expander pellet on the hook and then wrap the paste around this. What happens is when carp tend to gill feed at the paste, the expander gets pulled in resulting in more bites. Try it and See.

Cheers Vic

I am 49 years old and I have been kindly sponsored by GOT Baits for over 3 years now.

I work part time as a training consultant and I am married to Bernadine.

I started fishing aged 14, sneaking off school most afternoons and going at weekends on the Grand Union Canal at Perivale where I then lived with my parents. No one else in my family has fished before, so why me?

I started fishing matches when I began working as an apprentice engineer at CAV Acton (and I had hair then) and most of these matches were on the canal at Denham or Rickmansworth were I travelled with my tackle on a little 100cc Suzuki motor cycle. I initially got involved in team fishing by being asked to fish for Elthorne and then by Hayes & Harlington. Hayes at that time had a very good team and we enjoyed several league wins in the AT West Middlesex Division and several Winter League semi finals.

I was asked to join Harefield Tackle when I left home and moved in with Bernie in Hemel Hempstead. Harefield were then a struggling also ran in the Winter League and soon I become captain for the first of two stints. After two years we beat Hayes and won the AT West Middlesex Division, that year I was the individual top point scorer too. After a dozen years of more team fishing at Harefield, I became disillusioned and had enough, so I decided to fish for myself only.

Since 1999 I only fish commercials, mainly for carp and bream and now I really enjoy my fishing. 95% of my fishing time, often three times a week is spent fishing matches on pellets and paste, using GOT baits which are quality bait. Don’t just take my word for this, look at the successful anglers who use it and try it yourself.

What I do like about GOT baits is the range of paste, pellets and groundbait and their range of sizes and flavours, and by trying different combinations you soon have the fish queuing up in your peg.

Since fishing with Trevor & Gary and all the others at GOT baits I have learnt a great deal more about catching fish on commercials and getting big weights, with my best weight, a win at Alders Farm in October 2008 of 78 carp for 256lb.

So if you see me or any of the other GOT lads on the bank, feel free to ask any questions, we all are more than happy to help.

Roy

The Record Breaker
Original Feature by Advanced Polefishing Magazine

To break a venue record once is a great achievement, but to break it twice relies much less on luck and more on angling ability. We join Harrisons Tackle co-owner Stewart Millar at Fenlake Fishery, Lincolnshire, to see how he did it.

Fenlake Fishery is a single 20-peg lake set in the Lincolnshire countryside. The lake looks very quaint and is an ideal place to go fishing if you fancy a relaxing session. However, the quantity of carp in the lake means that there are some big weights available, to nearly 200lb! And these weights aren’t made up of big fish – the average stamp is about 1lb – which means it’s not a relaxing day if you’re fishing a match and need to catch as many as possible.

In the past, most of the matches were won by fishing shallow and no more than four metres out, using up to a gallon of maggots. It was costly, but I couldn’t see any other way of competing with the other match anglers.

I first set the record in 2008 with 197lb, by fishing the maggot. Then, in early 2009, I held a GOT Baits road show at the shop (Harrisons Tackle, Lincoln). The lads who came along to show and tell my customers all about pellet and paste fishing seemed to know everything about these styles and gave some brilliant demonstrations. They were also adamant that paste would be the best bait for Fenlake.

I wasn’t convinced, though, as I’d never come across an angler who fished with paste for this stamp of fish. Wasn’t that just a big-carp hook bait? Nevertheless, Trevor Price was sure it would work and talked me through the required baits and tackle. I was a paste novice but he explained the whole approach, assuring me it would work.

On my next match I couldn’t bring myself to fish paste so I took the usual gallon of maggots and started just like all the others around me. I did, however, put some pellets and paste in my bait bag, just in case (or to give them a go afterwards).

Two hours into the match and the maggot approach wasn’t working. I only had 12 carp! I knew that I couldn’t win now and felt that it was a perfect time to try this paste fishing lark. Still not convinced, I mixed up the paste and set up my rigs as Trev had explained. Amazingly I weighed in 115lb for second in the match!

My tactics weren’t perfect but at least it worked and I could prepare a paste approach for the next match. I would only take pellets and paste, knowing that it would either work fantastically or I’d blow out!


I drew Peg 15 and set up my prepared tackle. The paste was mixed, the pellets were ready and I was prepared for a paste match without knowing quite what to expect. Within minutes of the match starting I was into small carp and the action continued for the full five hours. I knew I’d caught well but it’s difficult to judge weights when everything is focused on building up a good rhythm.

One by one I lifted out and weighed my four keepnets of carp, and a total was read out: “198lb 4oz – a new lake record!” I was as surprised as I was pleased. It didn’t take me long to send a text message to Trev with the results of the match. A bag or two of pellets and a couple of bags of paste were much cheaper than a gallon of maggots!

My tactics revolve around me fishing with just the top kit of my Airity pole. The fish are willing to feed very close in and it’s essential to catch short to achieve a big weight. I think the good depth down the margins helps the carp feel more comfortable – a major reason why they are inclined to feed short all day. I only fish one line, on the side that looks the best and plumbs up to reveal a plateau. This is so I could easily use four keepnets and position them towards the unused side (as you can only have 50lb of fish in a keepnet). The fish rarely get spooked so I don’t need to be swapping and changing lines. This is speed fishing and a good rhythm is paramount.

I set up three top kits, all with exactly the same rigs into the same depths so that I can quickly change if I trash one. When I set the record, I lost a fish that catapulted my rig into some bankside vegetation that I couldn’t reach. As a result, I simply rested the kit out of the way and carried on with another top kit. For all of my carping I use the match kits and remove the No1 section to leave a light yet strong top kit. Through this I run a black Hydrolastic, set so that it retracts back into the pole. I’m not looking to bully the fish – a smooth but hard playing style will ensure more hooked fish are netted.


I use Mick Wilkinson self-cocking Slim Paste floats for this style of fishing as I much prefer to use a rig with no weight down the line in shallow water… and because Trev told me to. These floats are excellent for this style of fishing – they have a strong steel stem with a 2mm plastic bristle. They only come in one weight but differ slightly in size as Mick makes sure each float cocks to the base of the bristle. Having no shot down the line makes this rig very, very simple. I use 0.16mm Shimano Silk Shock main line tied to a 5in hooklength of 0.14mm line. The hook is a size 14 Kamasan B911 and, once the rig is set correctly, it will rest on the bottom by an inch or two.

Plumbing up accurately is crucial because you want to find a flat area to fish on top of. Depending on the peg, this can be against the marginal vegetation or a metre off it as long as it’s over two feet deep and flat. Margins can be steep and uneven so use your plummet carefully to find an area that’s flat.


I tie the rigs so that they’re exactly the same length as my top kit. This means I can swing the rig out into place without having to use any other sections. Bites are hard to miss so you won’t need a short, tight line. The proper bites are signalled when the flat shoots under and doesn’t come back up, which is usually followed by the line tightening and my elastic coming out. Liners can be any small, sharp movements that make the float move from side to side or up and down. It’s essential to quickly differentiate between real bites and liners; you don’t want to be foul hooking too many fish because you won’t have the time.

My bait tray only contains 2mm pellets, 4mm pellets and some paste; it’s a lot different to the matches where I used a gallon of maggots! I use GOT Baits feed pellets and Atomic Paste. The Atomic Paste comes in a powder and just needs water adding to it. I think it’s the best paste around due to the fine consistency, and the fish don’t seem to mind it either. I mix the paste so that it’s fairly soft but can still be put on to the hook and swung into position.

To see you through a five-hour match you’ll need two bags of paste, but I only mix one at a time to prevent it from drying out. It’s very quick and easy to mix. I only use a piece the size of a thumbnail as the fish are fairly small and would take too long to suck a big lump in. As long as the rig is kept motionless the paste will stay on the hook until a fish sucks it in.

I mainly feed 4mm pellets because they create a noise that I’m certain brings extra fish to the swim in search of food. They also don’t break down quickly, so the carp have to suck in each particle while the paste stands out as it resembles a cluster of pellets that has broken down. I feed about a dozen pellets every minute or so, whenever I’m waiting for a bite.

I also feed a few 2mm pellets every few casts so that there are some pellets in the swim breaking down quicker. As long as I’ve found a flattish area in my swim I’ll spread the pellets over a fairly wide area, about one square metre.


The only time I reduce the amount of pellets I feed is if I start to suffer from too many liners and foul-hooked fish. This can be caused by getting too many fish in the swim at once and isn’t a good ploy.

This style of fishing isn’t too difficult, it’s simply about getting as many fish into your net as possible in the five hours. But there are ways that make it easier and I can only emphasise the word ‘rhythm’ – getting into a pattern where you concentrate 100 per cent on converting bites into fish. Making sure you’re aware of your feeding regime and making sure you keep the numbers of fish down will keep you in good stead no matter what type of speed fishing. For me, I just want to get the record to over 200lb. It shouldn’t be too difficult – only about 180 carp!

Use a small landing net for small carp that won’t inhibit your ability to hold fish while you’re unhooking them. It makes the unhooking process much quicker.