More Personal Bests from Cherry Lake

An update without any 30's to report........which feels a little low key....as well as a bit frustrating for the anglers that have been here over the last week. Everyone fishing Cherry Lake now 'almost expects' to catch a 30lb+ and join the Cherry Lake 30+ club!

The biggest Carp of the week was caught by Teri Brebner, a lovely Lady who holds the Cherry Lake Ladies record (with a 35lb Carp earlier this year on her first visit ) who reported a very honest night caught Mirror of 29-14. This was caught from Grebe Lodge. Teri and partner Lee Pearce then switched to the Cottage for the second half of their stay where they caught 6 Carp as well as losing several. This time it was Lee Pearce's turn to catch a 29lb Carp, a lovely Common of 29-02. This fish came on Cherry Lakes Fish Supreme boilie tipped with pink corn.

Hot on the heels of Steven Smith's fantastic fully scaled Mirror from last week (see last update) Lee Pearce also had a lovely Fully Scaled Mirror. This beauty weighed it at 22-04 and also looks perfect.....I am sure you will agree. Well done Teri and Lee on another successful visit and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Glen Woodward and Lee Drakes have just finished their first visit to Cherry Lake having stayed in Heron Lodge. Having initially struggled the pair quickly worked it out and shared a catch of 7 Carp including, I am pleased to report, personal bests for them both. Fishmeal boilies did the trick for them. Spookily both caught Carp of just over 26lb, which are pictured both above and below. It was nice to see Lee's Italian looking Mirror Carp (lead photo) . I thought it was great that they both increased their PB's with 26lber's. Saves arguing in the car on the way back about who's got the biggest PB! Well done Guys!

It is good to see every now and again one of our classic Cotswold Carp. This time thanks to Martin Killick who caught this fish just over a week ago. Thanks to his wife Pauline for sending this through and well done Martin on your new PB. This lovely Carp above weighed 26lb and was a new PB for Martin. This Carp looks quite skinny and is now obviously on the feed. I comment more about this below.

I have seen quite a few of our recently caught Carp (thanks as always to our guests who send then through) and I have been struck by the fact that many of them, including this photo above, are looking 'skinny' (or 'hollow' if you prefer).

This is not unusual given spawning did not finish until late June, but it is still of some concern. It feels like that I am seeing a few more skinny Carp than in previous years.

All of our guests like the Carp across Cherry Lakes because they are generally in good condition and are growing. This is because they normally have plenty of food. This is not achieved by the bait/food that anglers throw in.....because in general they simply do not feed enough. As a result I tend to regard the bait that anglers put in as useful 'supplement'.

Our job is to ensure sufficient good quality food (we feed a combination of Pellets, Spod Mix and Cherry Lake Boilies) is going in to ensure the Carp can recover quickly from spawning and grow and are always healthy and in top condition. We typically step our feeding programme as we go through August into September to ensure the fish approach the winter in good health and heavy. Please rest assured that we be feeding heavily over the next 6-8 weeks. I expect to see some big healthy Carp in the autumn.