2024 Cherry Mere Annual Report

Cherry Mere also had a good year with the lake record also being pushed up to over 38lb. This lake continues to be productive in almost all conditions. Pochard Lodge being our only two bedroom Lodge plus its larger living space continues to be very popular.

The lead photo above is of one of my favourite carp from across the Cherry Lakes complex. This stunning Ghost Common is a fantastic fish and can often be swimming around in Cherry Mere when he can often resemble a 'golden submarine'! This time the fortunate captor was Jack Fenton who caught it at 30-06.

Whilst I know we have had Carp to over 38lb reported, the biggest of the year, for which I can find a photograph, is this attractive distinctly scaled Mirror of 37-02 caught by Graham Cresswell above. My best guess is that Cherry Mere contains at least 10 different 30lb+ Carp and close to 100 over 20lb. As the Carp keep reproducing in this lake, we will continue to remove some of the smaller fish to ensure the bigger Carp keep growing .

As mentioned in the other reports, we invested heavily overhauling our WiFi service. Previously we could not relie on our BT Affinity Service. The download speeds were awful and were becoming an embarrassment for us. Having our own fibre optic cable running about a mile to the exchange has transformed our WiFi service. Not only is it more reliable, it is also fast! Each Lodge should now receive a download speed of around 50Mbs (Mega-bytes per second). This is fast enough for all sensible demands on it such as streaming you favourite TV programmes or sending off that report you were finishing at home!

Carp fishing couple Marc and Leigh-Ann Campion were amongst our very first visitors and we always look forward to them returning each May when they stay in Pochard Lodge with their family. In 2021 during their trip they managed a double take across their rods resulting in a great double capture photograph. Well who says lightening cannot strike twice? It did for them as they repeated the double take trick again in May 2024, this time with a brace of twenties.

I mentioned above that Cherry Mere is a regular nursery in that the Carp successfully produce a new year class every year. The survival rate of each year group is getting smaller, as we now have a very healthy Perch population which is at last doing a better predation job!

Over the years we have had a lot of small Ghost Carp survive (I think in part due to the heavily coloured water as well as insufficient predation). Indeed the 25lb Ghost Common caught by Ruth Fenton below is one of our early 'babies' who clearly made it through.

The 'Golden Mirror' above, is another very rare example of a brightly coloured Carp surviving when it would normally have been eaten. This goldfish looking fish is a Mirror Carp with the full goldfish colour mutation. Another very special Carp which would be a privilege to catch.