What types of lakebed are best to fish over in winter – gravel, silt or weed?

SCOTT LLOYD:

I personally prefer the silt, as this is where most of the natural food larder will retreat and hide in. The clean gravel bars won’t hold much life until the warmer months. The silt is where the bloodworm and insect larvae will be and that is what the carp will be mainly looking for.

I like to look for the firmer silt, where I get a decent drop and a smooth, gliding drag through on the lead. The smooth silt is where you find the carp will do most of their feeding. If it is thick, black and full of leaf litter and detritus, this isn’t often somewhere they will be happy to feed.