Winter carp on the fly is marginal — fish are lethargic and deep. Only worth trying on unusually mild, sunny days when carp push into warming shallows. Sight-fishing only. Polarised glasses essential.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Keep an eye on changing conditions — wind shifts and cloud breaks can trigger short feeding spells.
Bank-only venue. Fish from accessible margins, points, weed edges, and inflows.
Hatch predictions
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Hatch predictions
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Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
As water cools through September and October, carp shift away from surface feeding and concentrate on building reserves before winter. They cruise subsurface along weed edges, dam faces and the deeper sections of margins, occasionally feeding on invertebrates. Bottom bugs and nymphs dropped precisely in the path of cruising fish work best. Surface flies become unreliable once water temperature drops below 12°C. Approach cautiously — autumn carp in clear water are easily spooked.
Conditions are ideal for Upper Tamar Lake — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
Three miles of bank and around a hundred swims. Carp run to the mid-thirties, roughly one in three over 20 lb, after some 300 new fish were stocked in recent years. It is also a serious match water: bream, skimmers, roach, perch and rudd make 50 lb-plus bags on the feeder, pole, waggler and whip, and it hosts the Feedermasters final. Eels too. Open all year, dawn to dusk. Run by South West Lakes Trust, with an activity centre and campsite on the same site.
An 81-acre reservoir on the Cornwall–Devon border near Kilkhampton, built in 1977 and fished for trout until the 1990s, now one of the South West's best-known coarse waters.
Winter carp on the fly is marginal — fish are lethargic and deep. Only worth trying on unusually mild, sunny days when carp push into warming shallows. Sight-fishing only. Polarised glasses essential.
If the main plan stalls, drop to a size 14–16 midge — switch to a washing-line or suspender rig and change drift line before you change food group.
Keep an eye on changing conditions — wind shifts and cloud breaks can trigger short feeding spells.
Bank-only venue. Fish from accessible margins, points, weed edges, and inflows.
Hatch predictions
Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.
Start free trial14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
Hatch predictions
Top prey shown — see all 4 as a supporter.
Start free trial14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
As water cools through September and October, carp shift away from surface feeding and concentrate on building reserves before winter. They cruise subsurface along weed edges, dam faces and the deeper sections of margins, occasionally feeding on invertebrates. Bottom bugs and nymphs dropped precisely in the path of cruising fish work best. Surface flies become unreliable once water temperature drops below 12°C. Approach cautiously — autumn carp in clear water are easily spooked.
Conditions are ideal for Upper Tamar Lake — wind, cloud and temperature all line up.
Three miles of bank and around a hundred swims. Carp run to the mid-thirties, roughly one in three over 20 lb, after some 300 new fish were stocked in recent years. It is also a serious match water: bream, skimmers, roach, perch and rudd make 50 lb-plus bags on the feeder, pole, waggler and whip, and it hosts the Feedermasters final. Eels too. Open all year, dawn to dusk. Run by South West Lakes Trust, with an activity centre and campsite on the same site.
Upper Tamar Lake is a reservoir in South West / Cornwall–Devon border (Bude), England. Its recorded elevation is about 147 m above sea level and the catchment geology is shale. Our data lists carp and perch here. The coarse season is recorded as running from 1 January to 31 December. Best window recorded for anglers: May–October for carp; summer and autumn for match weights. Core methods listed: Carp rigs on the bottom; feeder; pole. Nearby waters in our listings include Lower Tamar Lake at 1.0 km, Simpson Valley Coarse & Trout Fishery at 8.0 km and Melbury Reservoir at 13 km.
