New automated dissolved Oxygen readers installed

We are very quiet across Cherry Lakes with just two anglers fishing as I write. From a guest perspective it feels much more like mid-December than mid-November.

I am very conscious that Black Friday is almost upon us, something which we normally ignore.

However given that we are so quiet from now until late January, we thought we would get into the 'Black Friday spirit' and unusually offer some deals.

So if you fancy a winter visit staying in 'one of the best bivvies in the world', between 04 December and 02 February 2024, we are offering up to 20% off any bookings made between now and 23 November. Please call on 01285 869887 if you want to take up this offer.

Just to whet your appetite and to highlight what you are missing, I have included these two photos of two cracking Carp from a similar time last year. The 'Dark Mirror' above weighed in at 41lb when caught by Cameron Brannaghan and last November and this 40lb+ Common caught on 08 January earlier this year by Neil Ash.

As many of you know, we always try to schedule our major projects during the winter months, and especially December which has historically been our quietest month of the year. This year's major work includes renewing all of the railings on the three Cherry Lake Lodges and Kingfisher Lodge. Unbelievably these original Lodges, which opened in May 2013, are now over 10 years old.

Last year we renewed the decking on these Lodges (as well as extending the lower decks), and now we have to do the railings. As you can imagine this is not an insignificant venture. We will keep a carpenter fully employed through much of December, as well as keeping Travis Perkins going with deliveries of wood! Upgrades and on-going maintenance never stops if we are to maintain the high standards we have always aimed to deliver.

We will also be undertaking a fair amount of tree and bank work as normal. Some of this we will bring forward whilst we are quiet.

This year's major investment has also started. We are investing in a new system which allows the dissolved oxygen levels in the lakes to be constantly monitored. Through a 'command module, if the level of dissolved oxygen becomes low (at around 4.5mgl, or more simply around 40-45% saturation), a splash aerator is automatically turned on. It also sends a text message to us confirming the minimum acceptable level has been reached. This 'alert warning' would then enable us to turn on other oxygenators as required.

This constant monitoring will allow me to sleep better, particularly during the summer when water temperatures are high, and during periods when there may be thunderstorms. It should hopefully be energy efficient too.

Last year we invested heavily in Solar panels. The idea being that this power would be used to help run the Lodges and the aerators. Whilst these panels did produce a lot of power during the April to September period, I used this as an excuse to run the oxygenators most of the time. Not really a sensible or a 'green' thing to do. Hopefully in the future only running the oxygenators when they are actually required will save us a lot of money, and enable the Solar panels to make a noticeable difference.

We have installed the first two of these automated dissolved oxygen management systems, and these went live during last weekend. These were installed on Cherry Lake and Cherry Springs. So far I am very pleased with them.

The dissolved oxygen sensor is held in position by a scaffolding pole and sits around 100 cm under the surface (approx mid water). The linked splash aerator, is also held in place by scaffold poles, this time another 3-4 metres further out. These can be seen in the photos above and below.

The use of these poles (we will try to 'treat' the poles to ensure they blend in with the environment), which sit completely above the water, plus their location in 'no-man's land', should ensure they do not act as a snag.

We have already commissioned a further two systems which will be used to monitor and manage the dissolved oxygen levels in Cherry Mere and Cherry Pool. We hope these are in place before March next year.