Taylor's two-day triumph

It isn’t very often you can say you have won two matches in two days, but Guru ace, Robbie Taylor, did exactly that at the weekend!

Saturday saw our man attend an open match at Moor House Farm Fishery, where he finished in joint first position with a hard-earned 33lb 4oz. On Sunday, he made a longer journey to Decoy Lakes in Whittlesey where the prestigious Winter League Final is taking place later this month. A hectic days sport saw him put 149lb of carp on the scales to win the match again, almost doubling second place!

It was a weekend where several tactics came into play for Robbie. He talked us through his double win and explained: “Saturdays match was what we call a ‘walk off’, better known to some as a ‘rover’ where you draw a number and choose your peg depending on what number you get. I drew number eight, so I had eighth pic of my peg. I had a good walk around with Steve Gardener on the morning of the match, and thankfully one of the pegs he and I both liked the look of was still left for me to choose.

“The conditions Saturday were probably the coldest that I have ever fished in, and I didn’t think the fish would be in the shallow water across to the far bank. My main line of attack was around three quarters of the way across the canal style lake on the pole at 13 metres, just going up the far shelf slightly onto the harder bottom. I wasn’t expecting many bites, so when a fish did come into the swim, I felt fishing on firmer ground gave me a better chance of catching it.

“I started the match by feeding very hesitantly with pellets in a small Guru Pole Pot with a sprinkle lid. After an hour I had just one F1 and a few small skimmers. I had a feeling that maggots could be a better bait choice, and I decided to change to feeding and fishing them. It worked a treat, and by using a light 4x12 float with strung out No11 Micro Shot, I managed the odd fish throughout the rest of the day. Single and double maggot on a size 20 Guru F1 Maggot hook matched to 0.10mm Pure Fluorocarbon and Pink Hydro Elastic did the trick!

“On Sunday, I headed to Decoy Lakes where I’m fishing the Individual Winter League as practice for the Winter League Final I have their with my Daiwa Dorking team in a few weeks.

“I drew a good peg on the strip lakes, but after an hour of fishing I’d only had one bite. I was fishing at 13m where there’s a deep hole, but the fish obviously weren’t there. There aren’t many options on these lakes, but going nowhere I decided to try the bomb just past the pole line, casting it literally 15m out with a single grain of corn on a size 14 QM1 hook and a 12-inch 0.20mm Pure Fluorocarbon hooklink. I also fished with a heavy 0.30mm Pure Fluorocarbon leader five feet long above my bomb, and kept a fairly slack line to the bomb so that the line above the bomb was pinned to the bottom so not to spook any fish.

“To cut a long story short, I had steady bites for the remainder of the match, and only decided to cast around a little when things slowed up late-on. Around 30 carp gave me a surprising 149lb, and I enjoyed one of the best winter days fishing I’ve ever had!”