Cherry Lake Carp continue to show.

We have continued to see Carp activity in Cherry Lake this weekend. Ryan Young finished his fabuolus new year break session with 4 Carp, which is a good return from any stay on Cherry Lake, let alone in the dpths of the winter! The highlight of course being 'The Pretty One' at 38-02. See last story for the full details.

I was therefore very pleased to get a late booking from Lee Smith and Kevin Steel who fished in the water of Heron and Osprey Lodges this weekend. I wanted to see if the Carp would continue to be catchable, which I suspected would be the case given the absence of any hard frosts. We have one angler on this week and I am confident he will catch a few as the weather continues to look good for winter Carping.

Lee Smith was first off the mark on Friday evening when he landed a lovely Mirror of 25-03. See main picture above. Using a Baitboat he had positioned his hook bait close to the far reeds and was positevly suprised when it shot off around 18.00.

Saturday during the day was a little slow for the guys....although as you can see the local sea-gulls welcomed their presence.

It appears that there is a little feeding spell at around 18.00, as Lee was then into action again around this time on Saturday night when he had an agressive drop back. Lee managed to hook into the Carp but, as often the case with drop-backs, it slipped the hook after a minute or two. As you can guess he was a little 'gutted'.

Kevin had to wait until Sunday morning around 11.00 to get his chance. He had a very finicky bite which he very sensibly hit. After a short fight this lovely Common of 25-04, also in pristine condition, found the bottom of his landing net. 'Well pleased' was Kevin's reaction.

I often need to remind visitors to Cherry Lake, and in particular in the winter, that the Carp do not always scream off when they pick a bait up. It is always nice and prefereable when they do so, but they often don't do so. Sometimes, in cold water, I am not always convinced that they know they are hooked (these are the finicky takes....especially at mid and long range). Other times they know they are hooked but stay there shaking their heads until the hook drops out. This is why, and especially in winter when there is much reduced fish activity and fewer line bites, that I encourage anglers to strike on any small lifts of their indicators. For both of these 'types of activity' waiting to see if it develops simply means that you have been (Korda style) 'done' by the Carp.So well done Kevin for taking his opportunity.

Lee also left a very kind review in the guest book in the Lodge, so I thought I would reproduce some of them here for those of you who like Lee and Kevin where this weekend, visiting for the first time

'This is our first visit to Cherry Lakes and it won't be our last. The place is a real credit to Judith, Mike and Dave. It is a little slice of heaven for anglers and their partners. The fish are in superb condition and we can't wait to visit again'

We have plenty of vacancies over the coming weeks....why not take advantage of this mild winter and fish from the 'ultimate winter bivvy' (Lodge). Please call 01285 869887 to book.