Katie Blake's 34lb Mirror 'Houdini' is a real surprise!

My nephew got married this last weekend so I was not around for some great catches. I will concentrate on Cherry Lake in this update, as I think Amy McAndrew and Gavin martin's success on Cherry Springs deserves some proper 'air-time', so I will save them for my next update!

For me the star of this weekend was Katie Blake who was fishing from Grebe Lodge with her Dad Melvin. Katie's first Carp of the weekend was a 24lb Common which matched her PB. On Saturday night she smashed it when she landed this fantastic 34lb Mirror pictured in the lead photo above. Fishery manager Dave had encouraged her to place a bait close to the reeds in a little channel which is roughly 6 inches deeper than the surrounding water. Katie fished a single boilie over pellets with some matching boilies spread around her preferred area. Needless to say she was delighted to catch this lovely Carp and smash her PB.

I was very excited when I saw this beautiful fish, which given it's distinctive scale patterns, as it was very surprising that I did not recognise it. Whilst I must assume this Carp has been caught since it was stocked in November 2016 at 21lb, it is not one I recollect seeing. It certainly has not featured in my 30's+ catalogue over the last few years. It did remind me of a Carp in Cherry Springs and did wonder if someone had moved it. On checking, I was wrong, as I had in mind a similar but different Carp.

I finally tracked it down to it's photo from a stocking in November 2016. As you can see from the photo below, where fishery friend Joe Barr is holding this Carp as a '21lb stockie', Katie's Carp has grown steadily over the last 5 years or so and has put on approx. 13lb in weight. Interestingly, its tail has also grown and repaired itself (?)since it was stocked. If anyone recognises this elusive Carp, I would very much like to hear from you. Date and weight at the time of capture would be great, and certainly help to work out if, and when, this fantastic Carp has been caught before. Personally speaking, I suspect Katie's female pheromones gave her the edge!

I never cease to be amazed by how long some Carp can go between captures. This one being the latest and perhaps longest example. As a result we have christened this Carp 'Houdini'. Hopefully it won't be as long until 'Houdini' next visits the bank!

Zach Jerome stayed in Heron Lodge with his partner Milly this weekend for their first visit to Cherry Lakes. He was delighted when he sent me this photograph of his new PB, a Common of 34lb. Zach's Common is a new addition to this year's 30+ catalogue.

In terms of this year's 30+ catalogue, which I will confess I have not been on top of as much as I would like, 'Houdini' is a new addition as well as being a new 30lb+ Carp for us. Our running total for 2022 is now 63 different Carp over 30lb+ of which 6 are over 40lb+. There are plenty of Carp, not least 'The Pretty One' and one of last year's 40's that we are still waiting to see.

Michael Searles was another first time visitor this weekend who landed a Cherry Lakes 30+ on his first visit. Fishing from Osprey Lodge, Michael landed three Carp which included a Ghost Mirror of 28-04 and this 31-04 Mirror. This particular fish was caught earlier this year by Tom Hughes at a similar weight.

Aaron and Charlotte Hull finished their holiday in Cherry Lake Cottage with 9 Carp, which included Aaron's new PB, 'The Patch' at 42-12, (see last update for full details), and 37-12 Mirror caught by Charlotte and 32-06 Common pictured below.

Well done to all the anglers mentioned above.