bekkerian start with a simple approach. When you get to the waters edge take about 10 minutes and study the water and watch where they are feeding, they would most probably be just on the dge of deep and shallow waters. Look for the normal signs of them feeding like hundreds of little bubbles and surfacing.
If you have targeted them in summer then use the same tactic. A method that has worked well for me is sitting and watching them feeding for 30 minutes, I try and make a map in my head of those spots and using feature to locate them later. The reason for this is that if they are feeding there in the morning then they will definitely be there a few more times over the course of the day as carp have memories and will always remember where the food is situated.
Once you have marked those spots in your mind use quite a weighted fly, My preference is ofcourse my secret fritz that will be posted tomorrow morning on the forum or a small black fritz with red marabou tail. Cast the fly out and let it settle for about 3 minutes, slowly start with a very very slow figure eight retrieve and pause for a couple of seconds. Do this process on all the spots you have identified. With winter the carp slow down with feeding but dont stop feeding, the bigger carp are more adaptable to the cold so your chance of hooking something big is guaranteed.
If all else fails and this method takes to ling take a bag of bread, break it up into small pieces and chumb all along the margins and bays and reeds if there are and attach a white egg pattern, the biggest you can find, rub some floatent on it so that it stays and the surface and wait till you see the first signs of lips. Let the carp feed comfortably for a few minutes and keep adding some more bread so they stay there and once you see them feeding while you are chucking the bread in and they are not spooked by that, keep very low and make your cast, try and get your fly as close as possible to a piece of bread, this tripples your chances of getting something. If you have not caught a carp off the surface before on fly then make sure yopu got a strong rod and reel. I have a burnt some out on carp.
Hope this helps.
Cheers rod
