Second thirty in a week from Cherry Mere

I will start this update again on Cherry Mere.

I think it is fair to say that whilst James Stringer is a newcomer to Carp fishing, he shows a special talent for our sport. James spent a few days in Pochard Lodge this week. As well as landing a 22lb Mirror (his first ever Carp), he also caught a 23lb Mirror as then this impressive Mirror of 32-08. It is not the first time that the 'curse of the new angler' has struck, resulting in the novice catching the biggest (and often much sought after fish), leaving them wondering what all the 'fuss' is about!

James's 32-08 Mirror was last caught by Sam Smalley in March at 30-08, so it is an impressive Carp which continues to do well despite the high stocking levels in Cherry Mere. To ensure James's Carp was 'presented properly' for the camera, yours truly was on hand to help the posing! James became the 186th member of the 30+ club on his first time of asking!

Fishing alongside James was Nick Tye who also thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Cherry Mere. His biggest Carp was a 26lb Mirror. In between waiting for more 'traditional ' Carp bites, he also turned his hand to some float fishing. He targeted the area to the right of the decking near the reeds, using maggots to catch a lot of Perch On switching to sweetcorn, he caught several Crucian Carp plus this amazing 'Goldfish like' Koi/Ghost Mirror Carp. This fantastic specimen is 'home grown' and obviously the prodigy of the Koi like Ghosties in the lake.

The thing I find most amazing is that this Carp has defied the odds. So far it has managed to get to this size and avoided the hordes of Perch in the lake and other predators such as Grebes. At about 1lb in weight, it is probably safe from these predators. The 'dirty heavily coloured' water of Cherry Mere has clearly helped its survival. I suspect in clearer water it would have been 'gobbled up' long ago.

Another 2-3lb's worth of growth and weight gain (probably over the next 12 months), should then make it safe from predators such as Herons and Cormorants. I very much hope it does survive as it will be great to see this lovely fish as a double or twenty pounder.

I was going to write that the results on Cherry Lake have been disappointing this week, which given the change in weather conditions, a return of 6 Carp landed is not as good as I was hoping for. However when I added on 6 lost Carp, it made me think that it could have been a good week after all!

Luke Williams and his family stayed in the Cottage this week. Luke who is a good mad keen Carp angler, was pulling his hair out given the number of Carp showing and feeding in is swim. He could just not get a pick up.

On Wednesday afternoon his luck changed. The Carp known as 'Pac-man' due to the distinctive scale on its tail root, picked up a single pink pop up which had been cast to a showing fish. At 34-12, this Carp is clearly putting on weight (having been 32-04 when I caught it during lockdown in June). At 34-12, 'Pac-man' is a new PB for Luke. The smile on his face, as he posed with the fish and his partner Danielle and daughter Martha, shows how pleased he was.

Luke became the 187th member of the Cherry Lake 30+ club.

Mark Bull fishing in Heron Lodge became our 188th club member on Thursday when he caught this Mirror Carp of 30-01. At first I thought this was the same fish as recently caught by Chris Tibble (see my update of 12 September), but on close examination it is another new thirty for us, bringing this years running total of different thirties to 43 (the same as in 2019).

Well done to all the anglers featured above.

With Coronavirus infection rates picking up, I am nervous about the prospects of further lockdowns, not least because we are heavily booked up until Christmas. For now I am assuming we are........

We are open as usual for the week of 28 December to 04 January over the New Year period. Currently we have Kingfisher Lodge on Cherry Springs and Cherry Lake Cottage available. I am mentioning this now to ensure any regular guests/readers of this blog, are aware that we do not have much left, particularly if you are thinking about a break over this period. Please call me if you are on 01285 869887

Stay healthy and safe.