Duo bank 1,384lb in ‘incredible match’

For most anglers a 100lb catch would mark an excellent day – but Pete Upperton and Robbie Taylor took bagging to another level with an incredible 1,384lb haul from Monk Lakes, in Kent. 

Fishing a new two-day pairs event, the pair blew the opposition away with two lake wins apiece over the weekend, headed by Pete’s second day individual catch of 506lb.

Amazingly, the haul - made up of carp from 8lb to 10lb - wasn’t enough to break the current venue record, set at 525lb by close pal and event organiser Pemb Wrighting last summer!

“I had a great few days,” admitted Pete, “and I had the rare opportunity to fish the same peg, 79 on Lake 2, on both days.

“The first day was strange, as I only caught one carp and one F1 in the first three hours, but after feeding my left hand edge I had a manic few hours, catching big carp and weighing in 286lb, which won the match. 

“Robbie came second on the day with 260lb, which put us a comfortable 170lb ahead.”

Bagger Pete returned to the same swim on day two, but conditions were totally different, with bright sun bringing big carp to the surface.

“In the first few hours I must have dobbed 200lb, using a banded piece of meat fished around 12ins deep beneath a 0.3g Guru Cookie,” he said.

“I then fed the margins with three pots of Mainline Method Mix that I mixed really wet to get it down quickly, and fished 6mm expanders over the top.

“I caught well here for the rest of the day, and ended up with 506lb which won the lake again. By then I had 11 keepnets in and I had to tip back some silvers to make room for the carp!”

As the fish average between 8lb and 10lb in Lake 2, Pete used ‘proper gear’ to get them out.

“Down the edge I used 0.19mm straight through to a size 12 Guru XS hook and blue Middy Hi-Viz Shock Core 18-22 elastic,” he said.

Pete’s partner Robbie was on Lake 1 on both days, where he had small carp weights of 200lb and 333lb.

He fed with a big Guru pot filled with 4mm Mainline Match pellets and fished paste.

“Robbie’s tactic was to catch a few fish and then add on a section and plumb up again when it started to slow down” Pete said, “and he also used paste down the edge.”

Runners up Pemb Wrighting and Mark Goddard put 860lb 8oz on the scales for second place.