Andy Watts lands four 30's from Heron Lodge

A shorter update than normal this week which I will focus on regular Andy Watts who in challenging conditions managed to catch 7 Carp during his week's stay in Heron Lodge.

I just wanted to start with a late vacancies on Cherry Lake which are coming up in October. October is probably the best month for big Carp on Cherry Lake and it is a surprise to me that we have had a relatively big run of cancellations. One person's loss is another's gain! The Cherry Lake record holder 'Dick' came out last October at 49-12. We fully expect her to be bigger if caught this October/November. The dates which are available are

Grebe Lodge. Monday 11-15 October.

As always please call if you would like to book (01285 869887). Prices are on the website.

Andy's catch included 4 thirties, and contained a Common of 34-00 and the 'Grey Mirror' at 34-12. The Grey Mirror is a Carp which I have always wanted to catch. She (I think it is female) normally comes out around 35lb. Indeed fishery manager Dave caught her in April (see my latest news update of 07 April) during lockdown at 35-12. She looked in great condition. Andy's other 34lber was this Common pictured below.

Andy got through a lot of fish meal boilies which he scattered around as well as crumbed up. Several spots at long range accounted for most of the Carp.

The most impressive of Andy's thirties was the stunning Fully Scaled Mirror of 32-08 pictured in the lead photo above and immediately below. At first I thought this was the same Carp as caught by Chris Pollock on 15 June (see my update of 21 June). I was delighted to realise on closer inspection that this particular Mirror had not previously appeared in my catalogue of 30's. A new Cherry Lake thirty, and a stunning Fully Scaled Mirror to boot! Very nice indeed.

Almost as good was Andy's fourth 30, a 32-07 Mirror. This was another new addition to this years catalogue which stands at an amazing 54.

Just for fun I thought I would go through the 2020 catalogue and see how many Carp were 'still missing'. I quite quickly found at least 8 big Carp from last year which have not yet graced the inside of a landing net and been photographed. This included several 38lb+ Carp plus 'The Patch (last out at 42-12). By my reckoning this means we have over 60 different 30's. Not bad for an open access English venue........even if I say so myself!