Woodlands Lakes

I will soon be going to fish for carp at Woodlands Lakes at Carlton Minniot, near Northallerton, Nth Yorks.

I haven't fished for carp before, so what sizes of carp should I expect to catch?
Does anyone know the record fish for that venue? Which lake & peg should I try to get?

Will a 10ft kingfisher float rod be up to the task? (it's all I have - boo hoo!)
What breaking strain line/hooklengths should I use?

I have a decent reel though - Shimano Nexave(silver handled one).

How would I play a decent carp out with my set-up, if I hooked into one? I normally use the drag, so should I let it take the line when it runs - even if it goes into other peoples' swims? or try and turn it before it goes too far?

Any and all tips welcome.
Cheers

Woodlands holds carp from an average of 1lb to 8lb normally about the 2-3lb mark however it doesn't only contain carp. It contains skimmers, bream, barbel, perch, roach, dace and tench. there are other spieces as well. as for the lake and peg i`m not sure but check in the tackle shop, they`ll sort you out, although some of the lakes may be taken for matches.
To play the carp with your setup you`ll have to take your time, keep you rod low and to your side until its close enough and ready for landing. You`ll find that they wont fight as hard if you lower your rod although if you raise you rod they will fight harder and try to get to the bottom. If you keep the rod nice and low and to your side it would take one hell of a big fish to take you through someones peg.
As for line I`d recomend a 4lb main line to a 3/2lb hook length. I`ve never had any probs on that sort of line strenth. Also keep it simple, and dont over complicate it! Hope you have a good day! I aint been for a long time so dont know how its fishing! Have fun!

Maybe you're mistaken about the size of the biggest carp, as I know people who reckon they've caught double figure carp from there.

Although they dont have a set of scales between them.......

I saw from your rod article that your local pond is controlled by
Aycliffe
Angling Club. I presume it's Aycliffe pond you are talking about.

I live in Darlington, & for the first time yesterday, I had a look at
Shildon Pond(Ferryhill angling Club).
What a pond!! Who needs Carlton Minniot with a pond like that on your
doorstep!

Have you ever fished it?? What I want to know, if you have fished it,
is
do you know if it is suitable for feeder fishing? Or is there a lot of
snags on the bottom? I had a go at the narrow end of the pond as the
wind was blowing in that direction. All I caught was perch & bream.
Although my mate caught a nice ghostie that was well into double
figures,
and he was only a couple of pegs up from me.
If you have been there mate, I'd appreciate any info you could give me
about it. Also, the bailiff there didnt really offer much info about
the
pond, but he did say we couldnt fish for the carp with anything less
than
8lb line. Whats up with that? Apparently it's in case they go into the
reed beds, and I suppose if we wanna fish there we'd best stick to
their
rules.

Oh - and cheers for the info on Woodlands lakes.

Anyone else with knowledge about Shildon Pond is welcome to impart any helpful info...........