Your monthly dose of the finest advice from the finest anglers out there. This time around we have know-how from Aaron Copp, Jon ‘Shoes’ Jones and Dave Lane

THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS

As we move deeper into autumn, carp in most lakes spend more and more of their time in the open water. For sure there are exceptions; I have caught plenty of carp from snaggy margins in very cold conditions, but on the vast majority of lakes, a combination of sightings, bubbling in the silt, and lastly, actual captures, confirm the fish are out in open water.

Now, what tactics you use to take advantage of this is going to be determined by the venue you are tackling. For example, the ex-sailing lake that I fished in Kent last year is around 28-acres in size, roughly rectangular in shape, and at the widest part was some 160yds from the bank. With shockleaders and braid being banned, and a minimum of 15lb main line breaking strain rule, the vast majority of anglers were not getting anywhere near the middle. In that situation you just know where the carp were! The centre of the lake was almost a safe haven. But remember, whilst carp do tend to move away from pressure (repeated casting for example), they don’t have a tape measure to measure exactly where is safe and are driven by the need to search for food.