Darren Batchelor bags a brace of upper thirties!

After the excitement of the last two updates for Cherry Springs and Cherry Mere, I have returned to Cherry Lake and it's results over the last week, as the focus for this update.

I know I should be getting used to it, but over the last week 4 different anglers have shared 7 thirties. It has also been a week when some of the the big Commons have made their presence felt.

I hope regular readers are not getting bored about me going on about 30's.......but I grew up Carp fishing in the 70's when an English 30lb+ was very special.....and I still feel the same way about them. Just like 60 is the new 40 (this is what I am telling myself as I approach 60!), maybe a 30lb Carp is the new 40? But this just does not feel right so I will stick to my age and still enthuse about thirties!

Marc Viceray made his first visit to Cherry Lake last week when he stayed in Cherry Lake Cottage. His visit coincided with some heavy rains and plenty of wind, most of which was a warm south westerly blowing towards the house bank in the area where Marc was fishing. Marc who is clearly an experienced Carp angler, said that he felt he should have caught more than he did, because the Carp were in his swim in numbers and regularly showing. Personally I thought he did very well. He landed 4 Commons, including three thirties of 34-12, 32-08 and 30-08, as well as one of 26-12.

It is funny how we sometimes get a run of Mirrors or Commons. In the past I had a bait which only seemed to catch Commons. I am not sure if Marc's fishmeal boilies were particularly attractive to Commons, but in a lake where probably 66% of the bigger carp are Mirrors, he managed 4 Commons? Probably just chance?

Marc's Common of 30-08 is a new thirty for Cherry Lake and is pictured above looking in great condition and with the frame to get much bigger. Marc's biggest Carp was a Common of 34-12 pictured below. From memory Marc just fished with boilies. Marc has now got his club shirt as the 181st member.

David Powell and Callum Dodd who stayed in Grebe Lodge last week, shared 10 Carp with Callum landing 8 of them to be the week's top rod. David claimed the biggest, a night caught Mirror of 33lb. In doing so David became the 182nd 30+ club member. as well as setting his new PB. Callum had the prettiest, a lovely fully scaled Mirror of 27lb pictured below. Fishmeal boilies and pellets being the successful baiting combination.

The returning anglers in Osprey (Lee Hodgkinson) and Grebe (Darren Batchelor) Lodges had all the Carp this weekend sharing 9 between them.

Darren Batchelor had a fantastic session catching 5 Carp including a Common of 38-04 and a night caught Mirror of 37-02. Darren used SLK fishmeal (krill) boilies fished over pellets and caught from both margin and deeper open water spots. The big Common pictured in the lead photo above, sets a new PB for Darren. He also became our 183rd club member. Darren's other three Carp wee two 28's and a 24. Well done Darren on a great trip.

This two tone Common was last out in February to Charlie England who caught it at 37lb. Funny that two of Charlie's big Carp from his February session, should put in a showing close together (see Alex Crouch's 36-08 Mirror in my 24 August update).

Lee Hodgkinson and his lovely wife Sarah are welcome regular guests and stayed this weekend in Osprey Lodge. Lee was due a good trip having unfortunately blanked on his last visit to Grebe Lodge. He went home much happier this time as he landed 4 Carp including this 'Italian' shaped Mirror of 31-08 above. Well done Lee.

This distinctive Carp is the second new Cherry Lake 30 of this update, and a welcome addition to our growing catalogue. So far in 2020 we have catalogued 40 different 30lb+ Carp, of which 8 have been new thirties plus one which had not been caught since 2018. This strongly suggests the number of 30+ Carp in Cherry Lake comfortably exceeds 50. A number which I never believed we would achieve when we started out in 2012. Looking after the Carp and consistently feeding them good quality food being key to the health and weight growth of the fish. God willing the fish should continue to grow and give more and more anglers the chance to beat their PB's!