Winter Stillwater Carp Fishing

Wales may not be world renowned for its carp fishing, but a plethora of superb options do exist, with hundreds of venues offering great fishing even in winter.

The carp fishing boom was still in its infancy when Chris Yates trumped Walker’s common with a colossal 51lb spawn-bound mirror in 1980. Yet despite the location of where these were taken (Redmire Pool, just on the border in Herefordshire), it took another 20-years for carp fever to really infect Wales.

Today, however, carp fishing in Wales is booming, with the country home to an ever increasing number and variety of carp fisheries, all driven by angling demand for this obliging, hard fighting fish that can thrive in almost any stillwater.

Specimen Waters

Many anglers are content catching lots of small carp, but for others, size does matter. Several Welsh venues hold coveted thirty pounders, while one of the biggest carp known in Wales is Ebeneezer, from the Wharf Syndicate Fishery at Bute East Dock, Cardiff, which has topped 49lb. Joel Drapkin (below) banked the fish at 48lb 2oz.

Another famous big fish venue is White Springs near Swansea, which has produced a Mirror carp of 45lb 2oz.

Once voted the best carp fishery in Wales by readers of Anglers’ Mail magazine, White Springs is home to several other fish around 40lb in weight and regularly sees 30’s netted, such as this 33lb mirror captured by Jamie Dunn.

Llyn Cae-Tŷ-Nant Syndicate near Tregaron has made a name for itself in just a couple of years. This stunning, natural upland lake has some very distinctive and large carp, with many fish in the 40lb bracket.

Below, a potential new Welsh record 50lb 6oz mirror called ‘Colls’ from Llyn Cae-Tŷ-Nant caught by Natalie May in November 2025. It should be noted that the venue will be closed for maintenance next year.

Luxe Lakes near Carmarthen is a relatively new venue. Formally a trout fishery, the two lakes are situated within 33 acres of the breathtaking Towy Valley. Luxe Lakes has some of the biggest and best carp in Wales to 45lb+.

Available through lake exclusives, short bivvy sessions and luxury accommodation, Luxe Lakes offers premium carp fishing in Wales. In the future this venue could well break some records. Below, ‘The Prop’ at 45lb.

The Caerphilly Castle Moat is an iconic Welsh carp venue. This now holds plentiful 20’s and several fish over the magical 30lb mark, with a good number of fish exceeding 35lb, such as ‘Patch’, proudly displayed by Gareth Hopkins (below) at 36lb 2oz.

There is a waiting list to join, but new ‘Gold’ memberships do become available each year and the club also has the excellent ‘Semtex’ lake in Brynmawr which has no membership limit and lots of 20lb plus fish.

While South and West Wales can boast the biggest carp, Gweryd Lakes in North Wales is the highest carp lake fishery in the land, at just over 1,000 feet.

The carp were stocked in 1986 and the lake now holds at least 1000 fish, with many upper doubles and 20’s to 29lb. So if you’ve got a head for heights and want to fish for carp in beautiful surroundings, it’s well worth a visit.

Llyn y Gors on Anglesey offers a diverse range of options for North Wales’ anglers, with numerous specimen carp in the 20lb to 30lb bracket available for syndicate, day and season ticket members.

Specimen Carp Tactics

Remember in winter carp are often not feeding heavily, so do not fall into the trap of overfeeding and introducing too much bait into your swim.

A winter tactic for specimen carp that works well is a single hook bait with a bright pop up. Pink or yellow are effective colours. This can be cast at a showing fish that are not feeding hard, it works because you are tying to provoke a response with the highly attractive bright hook bait.

Maggots can also be a good winter bait, they wriggle so catch lethargic carp’s attention, especially if dyed red or pink. Maggots can be presented using maggot clips, with a mesh PVA bag, which is used to introduce a small amount of free offerings around the hook bait.

Zig rigs (a small, buoyant bait, often made of foam), are another winter method, as carp sometimes position themselves in the mid levels over the deepest waters in a lake, almost in a form of suspended animation.

Zip rigs are fished on a very long hooklink and are suspended in mid-water. A zig is well worth a try should bottom methods fail.

Commercial Carp bait and tactics for winter

Scientists believe a carp’s eyesight is not as effective in low water temperatures, and that yellow is the colour they find easiest to spot.

That’s the theory, anyway, on why corn (most likely to be a plastic imitation grain of corn these days) and small yellow boilies, usually pineapple flavor, come into their own in the colder months.

If you are planning on targeting carp from a commercial fishery, where the carp are likely to be smaller in size, but present in much greater numbers, one of the most effective tactics is to fish a small method feeder.

There are numerous pellets and groundbaits designed to mold around a feeder, plus as many hookbaits.

The most effective are pellets, mini boilies, dead maggots, corn or luncheon meat.

If you’re new to the method, your best bet is to buy a method feeder, complete with mold, from Preston Innovations, Drennan or Guru. Likewise, you can also buy ready-tied hair-rigged hooks to-nylon in 3-4 inch versions.

Bury the hookbait in the groundbait, cast regularly to the same spot and wait for the rod tip to swing round.

The hardest part is mixing your groundbait to the right consistency, so that it doesn’t break up in flight, or on impact with the water. Be frugal when adding water to the mix for best results.

As for tackle, a medium to heavy feeder rod, or light carp rod will suffice, coupled with a medium-size fixed spool reel loaded with 10lb line, depending on the size of carp present. A reel with a line clip is a useful aid to accurate casting to features such as islands, or the far bank.

Wales has a huge number of commercial fisheries and smaller stillwaters holding carp, you can find these here on our interactive map.

Rod Licence Reminder: To go freshwater fishing in Wales you will need to purchase a Natural Resources Wales (NRW) or Environment Agency (EA) fishing rod licence, in addition to a day ticket or season membership for the venue.