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Since I took up mainly carp angling 10 years ago and I know it’s been said to death but the most important thing I’ve learnt is location,location,location. If your doing short day sessions or even 24hrs if they ain’t there you ain’t catching ! The amount of time on a day session I’ve caught within 20mins of a move onto fish is unreal,if they ain’t there go find em ! You’ll catch more !

Never be afraid to move. Numerous times I've moved after catching fish. Most times its paid off but there will always be that time when you should have stayed. I recall one time on my old syndicate and I'd had 3 fish one morning. The wind turned and as soon as it did I was packing away. Another member questioned why move after 3 fish and I just said i know the fish will move. He wanted to know where I was going as his gear was on his Barrow, naturally I said nothing. He said, well I'll jump in here then when you move, I just laughed and moved. I got to the swim I wanted, cast my 3 rods. Half hour later I saw the first fish show about 70/80 yds away to my right. I had 3 fish in the following 2hrs. The other bloke set up in my swim and blanked. You can't catch if the fish arent in front of you, it's that simple.

I'm struggling on my secret lake at the moment because of location. There are only 2 areas I can fish and the carp just haven't been there. Might just jack it in for the winter and just keep baiting the areas and hope this gets the fish there ready for the spring. Means I'm gonna have to start paying for fishing again though.😢😂

Simple. Always. You need to be on fish to catch them. - If you can see them, you know you're on them. - If you can't see them, you might be on them - but normally are not. Forget about the "what ifs". We can only fish for what we can see. The most effective anglers do not rely on luck buddy. You need to make it happen.👍

I've always travelled up and down the m4 for work and 20 years ago i would start to see the kites once i got close to oxford. Now as soon as you join at the m25 you see them. Lovely looking creatures.

No mate,although it was early and dull

A prime example of the powers of Mother Nature. Ian.

They're frequently seen over our village, Stevo. You've met Alan, my son. He's into hawks in a big way and tells me that the larger predators such as buzzards and kites are growing in number, year on year. I love them! Ian.

Probably a buzzard, mate. They're big, strong creatures and can easily hold station in windy conditions. Ian.

I just did a bit of prebaiting ready for Friday night camping!! No signs of any fish, although I was only there about an hour.

Most of us do lol

You mean what I do most of the time?😖😆😉

Unless you are just going camping

All this info your gathering will all fall into place over time , just make mental notes on what's going on . Personally I would of moved as you could of always moved back. Over the years I reckon the moves that of paid of the most are the worst weather conditions to do so 😅 & we all sit there thinking do I really want to up sticks in this 😁

I often use larger leads than the "accepted" norm - for instance, at the moment I'm using 3.5-4oz leads routinely. I have chosen the lead size to suit the angling situation that I'm in. my last water was tiny, approx an acre, a lovely dinky estate type lake, with a good head of carp to 35lb where the angling was up close and personal. A lead on their head was the kids of death. So I would often use leads of 2.5oz. These were flicked into the margins or lowered under the rod tips. I wanted a lead with enough mass to ensure the hook set properly on bolting, yet minimise disturbance when casting. However I did find towards the end that the carp were used to dealing with leads in the standard 2-3oz range and were often getting away with it. So I went up to the larger 3.5-4oz range but flicking them into the bankside foilage above the spot and lower them in by hand. That upped my catch rate as they weren't used to seeing those leads or dealing with them. Another little trick I used to do was when the carp were stacked up in the narrows (the lake was triangular in shape) they would be in the narrow bay in numbers, the narrows were covered by 2swims that didn't really produce, even if the carp were in the narrows as the water was shallow and placing a bait in the narrows just spooked them out into the main body every time. I would fish the swims to the mouth of the narrows, placing baits quietly along the patrol routes they used to travel in and out of the narrows, then purposefully cast a bare lead into the narrows which made the carp drift off out of the narrows, along their patrol routes and over my baits... Caught every time! My current water is a largish deep windswept pit that suffers from undertow dependant on wind strength. I find the bigger leads help me feel for a drop in the deep water, as well as in the wind and undertow - as well as being larger, it's easier to keep a direct line to the lead without moving the lead or allowing the undertow to pull the lead off the spot.

@Emmcee mentioned something recently.... can't remember which way round it was , but Em or the other guy was banking more fish than others & it was down to lead size, 5 oz leads were being used but instead of copying each other one went the other way & fished really light leads & low & behold better than average results were also the result . Backs up what Kev mentions above .