Why carp slow down in cold water
Carp are cold-blooded. The water sets their pace, and as it cools through autumn into winter, everything about them slows down. Angling Times says a carp's metabolism starts to reduce once the water temperature drops below 18 degrees Celsius. In deep winter the fish often shoal up tightly, need less food, and won't travel far to get it.
That changes how you fish. Fewer bites. Shorter windows. More of each session goes on watching the water, and much less of it on throwing bait out.
Where carp hold in winter
In winter, finding the fish matters most. A bait in the wrong place can sit untouched for days while the carp stay tucked up somewhere else. Start with cover. A winter guide in Angling Times says carp love "somewhere they can lay up with a roof over their heads".
- Snags and dying reeds. One angler in Carpology calls old dying reeds "a magnet for carp in the winter".
- Sheltered water. Sheltered bays, the lee behind islands and heavily wooded banks are all decent bets, according to the Angling Times guide.
- Dying weedbeds. Another Carpology contributor says they give fish slightly more warmth than barren open water.
- The warmer end. Look for places the lake freezes last, which an Angling Times winter piece says often indicate the warmer areas.
What about deep water? It's the classic answer. It isn't always right. The same Carpology piece quotes an angler saying many unsuccessful winter anglers make the mistake of looking for deep water. The Angling Times guide looks instead for shelter from the wind and calmer water at a suitable depth. Watch the surface, too. In calm weather, bubbles or fish breaking the surface give their position away, though a rippled surface hides most of those signs.
Bait: less of it, and smaller
A carp that isn't hungry won't clear a big bed of bait. So cut right back. The Angling Times winter guide says boilies still work on the right waters, but in small quantities, preferably broken and crumbed. Small particles such as hemp, groats and corn can get a better response.
Think attraction, not volume. The Angling Times winter bait guide says this is the time to go "bright and stinky" with pop-ups. It also warns that high-oil pellets break down slowly in the cold and are harder for fish to digest. Another Angling Times winter piece goes further and calls solubility the number one key for any bait you use in cold water.
Single hookbaits come into their own. A bright pop-up with little or nothing around it is a fair starting point on a hard water in the cold. For a touch more, a small mesh stocking of maggots is, in the bait guide's words, "just enough to get a bite".
Rigs and presentation
Keep everything simple and neat, because in the depths of winter you might only get one chance all day. Check the hook point after every fish. And every recast. On the bottom, one Angling Times winter piece favours short traces, heavy leads and bowstring-taut lines for most winter fishing.
Zigs are worth trying. Because carp are cold-blooded, any ray of sunshine brings them to the upper layers, which warm up quickest. One angler there starts at mid-depth on dull, windy days, but fishes as close as six inches down on bright ones. Carpology says getting the zig depth right is the single most important factor, and suggests scaling down the zig material and hookbait size.
When to go
Pick your days. The Angling Times guide prefers southerly or south-westerly winds, and says chilly northerlies and easterlies are worth avoiding. A mild southerly after a cold spell warms the choppy water on the end of it first. The writer has seen the water on the end of a winter wind warm by 4 degrees Fahrenheit in 48 hours.
Feeding spells are short. The same guide puts them at an hour or two a day, so get the rods out and settled well before. Another Angling Times piece finds daytime is often the best chance, when the low sun hits the shallow water. Fish short sessions. Time them well.
Look after the fish in the cold
Fish care comes first in every season, but winter brings a few extra things to think about before you even net one.
- Use a mat, and wet it. Angling Times says always use an unhooking mat. On a frosty morning, check it isn't frozen stiff and soak it with lake water first.
- Wet hands, never a towel. Straight from the same advice.
- Cool your hands first. One cold-water handling guide suggests plunging your hands into the lake for a minute or so before handling a fish.
- Mind the slime. The same guide notes a carp's protective mucus is extra thick in the cold months. Handle gently.
- Kneel and stay low. Kneel when holding a fish up for a picture, so a slip over the mat is unlikely to hurt it.
Better still, unhook the fish in the net while it's still in the margins, wherever the swim and the fish allow it. Angling Times calls keeping a netted fish in the water the ultimate way to look after it.
Stay safe on frozen water
Never walk on ice. Not to free a snagged line, not to fetch a lead, not for anything. RoSPA says to stay off ice and frozen waters, because they won't hold a person's weight. The Canal & River Trust says no-one should ever walk on or test the thickness of frozen canal ice.
If someone goes through, call 999 and shout for help. RoSPA says to stay off the ice and help from the land, using anything that extends your reach. A rope, a pole, a branch or a coat will do. Keep dogs on a lead near frozen water.
Banks and swims get slippery too. Dress in layers, wear boots with real grip, and keep a dry change of clothes in the car for the drive home. Tell someone where you're fishing.
Close seasons and fishery rules
Winter isn't the close season. In England, GOV.UK says there's no fishing for coarse fish in rivers from 15 March to 15 June. The Environment Agency says that covers rivers, streams and drains, while most stillwaters and canals stay open, depending on fishery owner agreement. A few keep a close season. Every fishery sets its own rules as well, from bait bans to night fishing, so read them before you set up.
Photographing a winter carp
Keep it short. Have the camera ready before the fish leaves the net, and wipe the condensation off the lens before you lift anything. Hold the fish low over the wet mat. Two or three frames is plenty. Then let it go. Our guide on how to photograph your catch covers the rest.
If that winter fish deserves a wall, print your catch photo. For the house, browse our carp prints, or the winter scenes among our fishing scenes.
Craig Fearn runs Scale & Fin, a UK studio that prints anglers' catch photos and fish art to order. He writes the guides here, and every fact in them links to the body that published it.