Q: How does cold weather affect stillwaters and at what depth do fish prefer to feed? A: cold weather has a dramatic effect on stillwaters because there is generally no movement in the water so the fish use up very little energy. The exception to this is on large stillwaters where the wind will create a strong undertow, but it’s usually not enough to trouble the fish.

For this reason they do not need to eat as much and often the feeding periods in the winter are very short, tending to correspond with the light starting to fade late in the afternoon.

Even in very cold weather fish can often be caught mid-water or about one foot off the bottom, it all depends on the temperature of the water. On some lakes where there are big variations in depth, where the wind has a big influence on tow, or where the sun shines on the water for long periods in winter, then there can be warmer layers of water. Fish will often sit in these, so it is very important to keep experimenting with depths and rigs to try to give yourself the best chance of finding them. Often the best way to do this is to set up a waggler rig at full depth with very light, strung out shot so that you get a slow fall. Then simply search around the peg for any signs of bites. Once you find a few fish you can feed very sparingly to encourage more fish to feed.

The general rule is, if you find that warmer layer of water, then you’ll find the feeding fish.

Darren Cox:Match Fishing February 2004.