Gary Thorpe
(GOT Baits)
Peg 24- 300lb

  "Heavy Feeding & Fishing Short the Key "

Drawn on Peg 24, GOT Baits Matchman Gary Thorpe starting fishing at 15m on the deck with little response. He switched early on to a short line at 4m that he had been feeding heavy with 4mm pellet and was immediately rewarded with a run of Carp. However, it wasn't he switched to a shallow rig on the short line that he started to really bag. Feeding handfuls of pellet at a time soon had the fish in an orderly queue to take his oversized hard banded pellet. When asked how he was doing as Rolf took the camera round he replied with a cheeky grin "a little slow!" - all the same the GOT Bait match angler put exactly 300lb on the scales to fend off John Bennett from Peg 26 who had taken 289lb 12oz of Paste caught Carp fishing next to the bush at his feet. John did at one stage look to be the likely winner, but a late run fish from Gary was enough to top spot.

Elsewhere, a total of 5 double tons and a hat full of tons on a windy day. The key to the biggest weights was the amount of feed and fishing just down the first ledge. Only John Bennett seems to be able to string together a number of Paste fish but as the fish clean up from spawning they will for sure get their heads down and actively seek out lumps of protein packed paste. Spare a thought for Ton Up Baits backed Dan Jones who took a respectable 118lb from peg 15 only just make the top 10! Now that's match fishing.