With the lakes having been frozen since before Christmas I have been twiddling my fingers and itching to get back out. Finally some rain and slightly warmer temperatures arrived to get the lakes on the thaw.

Chilham lake has been good to me in winters past so it seemed as good a bet as any for the chance of a bite.  It is always difficult trying to locate winter areas, the carp show themselves so infrequently that it is easy to miss a show or sign.  Having fishing the lake a good few years I can look back at seasons past to see where I have had bites from in previous Januarys.  It is often the case that a good spot last year will be good again this year so well worth considering on your own venue, try to recall where others have caught from if you have not managed to do so yourself.

With this in mind I headed for the middle and deepest part of the lake.  Its an area that has islands either side of it which I feel offers protection from the cold northerly winds and lovely soft silt for the carp to sink into for the warmth.  These silt beds also hold bloodworm, so a handy nearby larder for any carp that feels the need for a bite to eat.

Its not a time of year for large quantities of bait so I opted for a simple single pop up in the right area.  The Sonu white chocolate once again, it never fails to impress me that I can catch on these, im sure its a pleasant smell to the carp, a real high attract visual type bait.

Iv been using the new Avid chod beads on my last few trips out, no leadcore, iv just been attaching them to the line around 3ft above the lead and using a no4 shot on the line which is just enough to hold it down.  Using the shot on thick line has the advantage that it doesnt damage the line and when you hook a fish the bead wants to slide down towards the lead the shot will just pop off, check out the Anchor camo shot, these are perfect.

So with 3 rods all out in the right area I was feeling quietly confident.   Nothing happened Friday or Friday night but Saturday afternoon I managed my first carp of 2011 in the shape of this cracking 28lb common.  An excellent way to start the year.