Cherry Lake keeps producing 30's...running total for 2019 is now 30 x 30+'s!

We have just had an amazing weekend on Cherry Lake, and in particular for Dean Knott in Grebe Lodge, and George Kosmetos in Osprey Lodge who shared a 28 Carp catch!

The biggest Carp of the weekend however went to first time visitor Jamie Sharp who stayed in Heron Lodge. Whilst not enjoying the level of activity of Dean and George, he had a more typical catch of two Carp. He was however very please with a beautiful Fully Scaled Mirror of 22-08 as well as his UK PB in the form of a 32-08 Common pictured in the lead photo above. This Carp was last out to Marc Lloyd in May 2018 at a similar weight of 32-12. He caught both of these Carp on fishmeal boilies.

I was very pleased to see this Carp , as it was another one of the 30+ Carp from last year which I have been looking for. This Carp was the 30th different fish out this year over 30lb's which I have been able to properly identify. These can been seen in the photo gallery section. Our on-going feeding programme, supplemented by anglers bait and feed, helps to keep the fish in good condition as well as growing. Jamie is the 135th member of the 30+ club.

Upon arrival, it was clear that there was a lot of Carp in the shallows at the car park end of the lake. Both Dean Knott in Grebe, and George Kosmetos in Osprey Lodge, which both have access to the shallows, started very quickly and had some 8 Carp between them including a 32-04 Mirror to George at 11PM..1. At first I thought this was the same 'leathery Mirror' which was caught last moth by Lee Jackson. However when I examined the photos, it is clearly a different fish. In fact it was the 29th different Carp of the year and George became the 133rd member of the Cherry Lake 30+ club.

We were very surprised early on Saturday morning when a good number of Carp (I would estimate around 50) began spawning, principally on the shallows. Surprised because we thought the Carp had finished several weeks ago.....and because it was not particularly warm! This explained I think why there were a lot of Carp in the shallows to start with. Thanks to both Dean and George for reeling in for the 6-7 hours when the Carp were spawning. Much appreciated.

The shallows have developed some weed in a number of areas including along the back of the bar, and these Carp found it a perfect area for spawning. Carp are not good parents (or relatives!). This was highlighted by the fact that a very large number of Carp then moved onto the shallows to feed on the spawn which had just been laid (if that's the right expression?). In fact I do not ever remember seeing so many of the Cherry Lake Carp in one area before. Who says Carp don't like high protein!

Both Dean and George took full advantage of this. Fishing with small pop-ups fished over spod mix and sweetcorn. At times it looked too easy for them and they finished with 14 each. Dean, who has been a regular visitor over the last 5 years managed to join the 30+ club as the 134th member when he landed a 30-08 Ghost Mirror pictured above, followed by a 31-06 Common on Sunday morning (which yours truly managed to net for him). Both of these Carp have been previously caught this year by Ken O'Connor and Andy Watts respectively.

Just to highlight that it is not all about 30's, George also caught this stunning Koi-like Ghostie of 13-04. I can't wait until this one is a 30!