I'd say the main thing in winter, thinking specifically of your fishing Mike, rather than what works elsewhere for others, is to find a water or part of one where fish are caught, and see how the angler(s) are doing it. Many shallowish stills can get very hard and fish can gather in particular areas. Some waters are more or less a waste of time in cold conditions. I'd have no hesitation in visiting a few places you like and just taking a walk around and seeing if anybody is fishing, how and with what results, what swims look recently fished, if any fish show at the surface etc etc. I'd also use any contacts you have - in the tackle shop you use, anybody you know who fishes "your" waters, even the club officials whose phone numbers or email are in your club books.... All the ideas about fishing fine and feeding light that have been suggested, and the different ways to try to find/be found by carp, are totally right. But you can't beat local knowledge, and putting your box - or chair, in your case, in the right area of a carefully chosen water is the key.
For my tuppenceworth of advice: if you're floatfishing, plumb up, start off a bit overdepth, sink your line, shot your float down so no more than absolutely necessary is showing, feed very small amounts of bait at intervals of a few minutes, and watch the float like a hawk. Only feed more/more often if you start to get regular bites. Should you start to get bites as your bait is sinking, move shot away from the hook and even shallow up if they get very keen. In cold weather, fish commonly feed, if at all, in the warmest part of the day, and often need coaxing. So forget the 7am starts; start fishing at 10 or 11 am, and with a softly softly approach you may well have got your swim "warmed up" for the peak time to catch - likely to be afternoon. That approach might not be optimum for a given water, but it will mean you always stand a good chance of getting bites and not messing up your swim with a baiting approach that may well not work on your water.
I'd still do a few recce's though - you might as well fish where people catch.