'Mary-Celeste' like at Cherry Lakes

Well it is like the 'Mary -Celeste' here at Cherry Lakes. Our 'crew and guests' are very much missed.

Very strange and not very enjoyable from my perspective. The Carp I think feel the same as they are not showing very much...........they have either come out in sympathy with us ........or it is the cold winds, low temperatures including several night frosts and high pressure. You choose!

Like many fisheries we have closed because our guests cannot travel at the present time to us. As you might be aware from my earlier updates we will re-open at the earliest opportunity when at least some people can travel. When we do re-open we will maintain the enhanced cleaning regime as well as social distancing. We continue to believe Cherry Lakes offers a relatively low risk environment for all our guests as well as a great fishing holiday environment.

I hope you like the lead photo above. This atmospheric picture was sent to me by Martin Lee and captures an winter dawn on Cherry Springs.

Just to remind you what you are missing, I have also included a couple of Cherry Lake 'repeats' from last April. Danny Taylor's 38lb Common was caught in the first week of April and was shortly followed by Ken O'Connors Ghost Mirror of 31lb. Darren Rouse's 28lb Cherry Springs Mirror from last April is also worth seeing again.

We are continuing to take new enquiries and bookings for this year, as well as managing those guests whose plans have been upset by the current lock-down and those guests who might be affected by a possible extension of the lock-down until at least the end of April. Most of our guests have been very supportive of Cherry Lakes with the vast majority choosing to transfer a credit to a future booking........some later this year........others into 2021. I would like to thank all of our guests who have understood our position as well as choosing to support us into the future.

As and when the Government decide on the next steps for the lock-down etc, I will be in contact personally with all those guests immediately affected.

Due to the fact that we are receiving an unusually high level of bookings for 2021, plus this year's guests who are deferring holidays to next year, we have had to set our prices for next year much earlier than normal. We are also using this closed period to 'find' other jobs to do, and Cherry Lakes should look even better than normal when we re-open.

The weather is due to warm up significantly at the weekend. In fact I might even get my rods out and fish directly off the Cherry Lake House bank. I have never done this before. I will let you know if I do and if I catch anything! A very small positive arising from the absence of other anglers.

We will need to increase our fish feeding programme this Spring. As past guests and regular readers of these updates know, we always feed the Carp with a combination of our Spod Mix, Pellets and Boilies. The amount of feed normally increases at this time of the year as the water temperature rises along with Carp activity. This year, we will have to spend more than normal to compensate for the absence of any anglers bait and feed. Please rest assured that we will and we will do everything we can to ensure the Carp are in good condition for when we re-open.

Please stay safe and well through this difficult period and try not to fall out with your 'loved ones'.