AnglingAnt

I soak it over night normally but I think even a couple of hours would be fine. 

I’m down the lake and it’s still light (enough to get rods out and bait up, also saw snowdrops on my walk around.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that you'd have needed a torch at 7.30am to sort out the entry code on the fishery gate padlock. And you'd have to be off by 4pm or you were walking back to the car in the dark.
Looking out the window now at 7 o'clock and I could easily see the padlock code. And yesterday afternoon it was still light enough to fish at 5..
Roll on the lighter mornings/evenings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J2giYzjo3c
going to have to have ago at doing this lol 

Angling Trust have been quick to reply and have put me in touch with their local representative. I’ll let you know how things progress.

When I was at school (early eighties) we had a school fishing team and had a great time on the school match trips, they were weekend matches and we would go and stay over night with one of the other school teams before the match, this got us out of lessons on a friday and a trip in the school minibus ( smoking was allowed once we were out of view of the school lol , great time's , loads of fun and to be honest I think the teacher (who's name I can't remember) loved it too . 

Dont ya love it when that happens! 

Only the once and can’t really comment as my surface fishing isnt really up to much 😂 I can tell you that a 10ft Scope can bring in a Canada goose flapping and squawking though 

Well I use my nash scope 10ft rods as my every day rods and also have the 6ft scopes as short session/river/canal/stalking rods, I can’t fault them in anyway, they pack down microscopically small and seem to be extremely strong capable rods, I used to use the dwarf 6ft rod(cheaper option) again extremely capable rod. 
 
But in answer to your our question I can’t see any reason that a 9ft rod wouldn’t be suitable for stalking 

Ok mate no problem

In winter carp can shoal up in spots they have used year after year, maybe near snags, dead weedbeds, lily beds or even close to natural food beds like bloodworm patches. 
Winter is probably the time I least worry about the wind to be honest, if they are in that 'winter spot', no matter which way the wind blows they may not move.
 
I will say though, it is no fun sitting facing a cold easterly or northerly, having that come over your shoulder is more comfortable!
 
On Taverham Mills the most productive winter swims were at the North end of the lake, not necessarily the deepest part of the lake. They simply stayed around some snags, dead weeds and lilies. 
On Earith Virginia Lake, the 'winter end' was the south end, an area of silt, bloodworm and lily beds. You would have to fish into a northerly wind!

Sorry mate that wasn’t my best writing 😂😂 I didn’t mean there and then, I actually meant for next time out. Sorry for the confusion.
 
(Although I am a stubborn git and I would have probably chucked a bait on it  and had about 5 “one last ciggies”  and a rollicking from the missus when I got home ) 

I am opposite to other anglers in that I rarely catch on high attract singles in the winter, most of my fish do come on the food bait.
 
I have posted this before, but a week long session on Thwaite, which I had caught on high attract baits previously, the start of the session I caught on high attract baits, but after a couple of days every fish was caught on the food bait which I had introduced from the start. I kept up with the high attract bait on one rod, but it totally stopped producing, whereas the food bait switched on.
 
I had hardly fished the water that year, and the winter week session was my first long trip on there that season, so I had not pre-baited it at all that season. 
 
On Earith I simply kept the bait going in, at the end of my sessions, with the exception of the two trips where the lake froze over for me.
 

nah, he's serious bud.
either that or a serious case of dementia, knowing how old he is i would say the latter
 

I would have to agree with Yonny on this, greys aren't the brand they used to be and i dream of owning a set of Harrison Aviators in full cork....drooling...

I am like you i tend to fish singles over a maybe a handful of bait, but i do know anglers who turn everything on its head regularly during the winter and do well from it. personally when i know they are grouped up and slow i think its just throwing money in the water but a lot depends on the bait and whats in it. I have noticed the anglers i see doing well with it are using very bright very hi attract pop ups so its an argument to say that maybe they would of hard those bites even if they hadn't filled the lake in, its more important to me to stay mobile and actually find fish and put something colorful in front of them it usually nicks me a bite. 

cheeky sod! your thinking of suffolk 

For that kind of money you can get much better than Greys imo mate. Have a look at Harrison and Free Spirit, or maybe even Century if you're feeling really flush.

I wouldn't go anywhere near anything marketed as "A stripped out ultra light Special Forces edition" buddy. It's aimed at kids that don't know what they're spending their hard-earned on imo.
Have a look at Dymag Mobile System and their 9 ft rods. Really good gear.

Can see i am going to have a laugh in here .

Norfolk. Suffolk. It's all the same.
Who really gives a folk???

Gents.
I think we all know that if you keep the bait going in throughout autumn and into the winter you can keep them moving/feeding.
What are guys thoughts on starting baiting through winter though? Do you think you can switch a 'dead' lake on by regular feeding if you start in January for example?
I can't say I've ever really done it, preferring to stick with singles. Has anyone else tried it?

Ranworth has come up several times in conversation with friends. I have seen an image of a mid double common that supposedly came from Ranworth broad but the person who showed me the photograph was how do i say.... known for spinning a good yarn so it could of come from anywhere really but yeah, im sure they are in there.

Hi Ant, welcome to the forum. 

haha!! Hi 6
take no notice of the Bants Ant, welcome to the forum