Holding Mirror and Common carp averaging 8lbs plus a good head of doubles - the largest recorded at 27lbs 14oz - Carp Lake also offers a good many green and golden tench to 5lbs as well as Crucian Carp to 3lbs 8oz with the average being about 1lb 8oz. Ian purposely keeps roach out of this lake because he says lakes can quickly become overrun with immature fish which can become a nuisance to anglers.

With an average depth of about six feet just a rod length out and three feet in the well fringed margins which have been heavily planted with irises which provide lush cover in the summer, Carp Lake has three islands which provide features to fish to, although in summer fishing close to the margins normally produces the best results. 

Although Carp Lake is fairly large and reasonably deep, pole and waggler are undoubtedly the best methods with the feeder for some reason not producing the best results.

During the summer months when the bankside plants can be up to five feet high providing plenty of cover, then the dibber float fished tight to the margins sorts out the bigger fish.

Best baits for this are usually corn, maggots, meat and paste fished over a bed of pellets which are sold on site. To make the paste, simply add an equal amount of water to the pellets and mix into a soft paste which can be used as large as a conker. The carp just love a very soft paste and an easy way to fish this is under a small pole float with no shot on the line using the paste as a plummet and adjusting the float so just the tip shows. If the paste is removed the float will lie flat, if it is taken by a fish the float just goes! 

Ian Heaps says that the way you feed is equally as important as how you shot your line. Little and often is best for the small fish whilst bigger fish will hoover up a bed of pellets once they get their heads down. However, whichever way you feed, it is important to keep a short line between the rod tip and float - a maximum of two feet - in order to present a still bait.

In the later months the fish often leave the margins and then the pole scores highly, unless you want to fish towards the islands when a waggler is required to cover the distance.

The No 1 method in the colder months is without doubt sweetcorn. Single, double and treble. Winter match weights often exceed the ton.

 As with any water, unless you are familiar with the topography of the bottom it pays to plumb the depths. Nearly all pegs on the Carp Lake have some feature and it is worth taking the time and trouble to find them as they can make all the difference between 100lb catches and more mediocre weights.

In winter when the water is clearest the fish often shy to the islands. When this happens it pays to use a large waggler baited with hair-rigged sweetcorn. It was using this method in the winter of 2003 that Rob Jones from Neath took the lake record during a match with 187lbs 14oz after hair-rigging treble sweetcorn and fishing just two feet deep close to the island.