rebel squire

Hi guys I'm very much a novice when it comes to carp fishing and I'm looking for some advice on carp fishing in the autumn and winter. I'm hoping to head on to my favorite day ticket lake in the next week and will hopefully be fishing through out the winter months also. My approach so far has been to fish solid PVA bags with an inline lead and a short hook link usually fishing with a mix of pellets in the bag a 14mm black crab and squid bollie. I usually fish to the lake features such as islands or trees by the margins. Just wondering how you guys would approach winter fishing what bait and rigs would you guys use and how and what do you use as feed and how much is appropriate in winter times. Also what time of year would you start looking for deeper water and what's the best approach for fishing in deeper waters?

Thanks for the replies guys judging from the responses it sounds like I would be better off investing in a lighter rod set up and using my 3.5tc rod for light spodding/marker work?

Hi all I'm looking for some advice on marker and spod rods. I've only recently started fishing again after a 15 year break I was primarily a pleasure fisherman usually float fishing on the local canal. This year I started carp fishing and have managed to catch a few small carp to about 9lbs. I'm now looking to up my game and target bigger fish. I will be primarily fishing day ticket venues usually for single day sessions and hoping to bag carp to 20lb plus. The venues are usually 2-4 acres in size and hold a good head of fish and I don't anticipate having to cast long distances. My question here is should I be looking to use a spod rod and if so do I need a proper spod rod or can I get away with using my normal carp rods which are a reasonably heavy 3.5 tc. Or should I be looking to continue using solid PVA bags and forgo spodding all together. Also would a 3.5 Tc rod suffice for leading to get a feel for what the lakes bed is like?. Thanks in advance for your responses