Fishing for carp in autumn/winter

The weather conditions will greatly effect carps feeding patterns. We have to change our strategies to suit the time of year.
Your normal rigs and methods will catch in winter, as at any other time of year but there are certain points to remember. Dropping temperatures at the end of the summer will trigger the carp to feed quite heavily. The once plentiful natural food will slowly start to disappear.

The carp will try to gain as much weight as possible to help them survive the harsh British winter. As with any cold blooded animal, low temperatures will slow them down a great deal.

There are a few different schools of thought regarding the movement of carp in cold conditions. From my own experience, I suspect that the fish will move around as little as possible.

As natural food becomes scarcer the fish tend not to move around so much, therefore preserving their energy. It can mean the difference between surviving or not. For this reason it is important to try to locate the carp before starting to fish.
Once you feel you have located the fish, baiting should be kept to a minimum. Start off adopting a little and often approach, offering about 15-30 baits over a session. Loose feed these a couple at a time at regular intervals of about 30 mins. Try to keep the baits in as tight an area as possible. Using a marker float will help acheive this.

Try not to spread the bait around too much. Would a carp finding such a patch of bait cover all the area using lots of energy, or would he sit on the edge of it, eating from a very small area? Try to consider the importance of energy conservation to a feeding carp when baiting in the winter.
Choice of bait is really down to you. The biolie isn't the only bait but it is my first choice because it works so well with carp rigs, and it gives me added confidence over soft baits.