I have fished a lake for a few years and have had a lot of nice carp. I read a lot in your magazine about people going to a lake to look around to find and locate the big carp, I have tried this but you don’t see the carp much in my local lake. My best is 19lb but there are carp up to 28lb in there. How do I find, and get on to, the bigger carp?

I haven’t been carp fishing for very long, and at the beginning of May I had five carp. They all had cuts and sores on them, and they wouldn’t behave on the mat. A passing angler said I should put some cream on their cuts. Is he having a laugh with me, or is there a cream I can put on their cuts? Any advice on treating carp that have cuts and sores would be a great help.

My mates and I have just returned from a well-stocked fishery in France where we had a great week’s holiday. We all caught well, however they all seemed to catch bigger fish than me, including some 40s and plenty of 30s. They then spent the whole week taking the mickey out of me because my biggest was only 27lb. How can I shut them up by catching the bigger ones when we return next year? Do you think it’s my style of fishing because the rigs and baits were pretty much all the same!