Cherry Lake Carp are feeding despite the ice!

We continue to be very quiet fishing wise at Cherry Lakes which is not a surprise given the weather recently. It is also helpful given all the work going on at Cherry Lakes.

With regard to the new Lodges I am pleased to report that we are on track to open both Pochard and Egret Lodges in March. The kitchen fitter starts next week which is a sure sign that we are on the home straight. We have also just finished planting another £5000 worth of trees and other plants to help with screening as well as ensuring the lakes will be a pleasure to look at in the future.

Our good friends David Mott and Barry Skilten spent a very interesting weekend in Heron Lodge. On Friday night their rods got wiped out by floating ice which just shows how cold the water is. On Saturday as the ice melted they started to get the odd bleep and at 2pm they got a clear tightening on the rod in the far channel which resulted in this lovely 18-12 Mirror. Overnight they continued to get signs and missed a run at 4am, just as ice was starting to form over part of the lake again.

This 18-12 heavily scaled Mirror was stocked in December and has clearly settled down well as well as being active.

I have seen this behaviour from the Carp before at this time of the year when the Carp are used to the water temperature being as low as it is likely to get (the lake has been frozen on three occasions over the last month). Some of the Carp are feeding every day and moving around. I think it is the light and stability of the water temperature (however low) that gets them moving.

At this time of the year, any short pull or tightening is worth striking at. I think the Carp under these conditions are much less likely to realise they are hooked and therefore don’t ‘run’ as readily. It is not always because the Carp are sitting there ‘cleverly trying to shake the hook out’ (although some do!).

I would expect the Carp to become even more active during February, even if it stays cold, as they respond even more to the increasing brightness. We should also receive our last 15-20 Carp from this winters stocking programme by the middle of the month. These new fish should also help to ‘shake’ the others up.

If you fancy a last minute trip, particularly whilst prices are low, please give us a call on 07545 495881.