Some cracking winter Carp

We are now back from from our holiday in Jamaica and Cherry Lakes is now looking very different. The leaves from the trees are largely now gone, the reeds are now golden brown rather than the green colour when we left, and when I walked around this morning the ground was frozen with some 'ice sculptures' around the stock pond waterfalls. In other words winter has properly arrived at Cherry Lakes.

Whilst we were away, the visiting anglers enjoyed some good results. Fishery manager Dave witnessed and photographed 6 different 30's from Cherry Lake and a new 30lb+ carp from Cherry Springs. A number I was pleasantly surprised by.

I will start with regular Martyn Collinge who spent his November break with his wife Sharon on Cherry Springs fishing from Kingfisher Lodge. From memory Martyn caught over 20 Carp including 4 twenties plus the second thirty of the year from the lake. This Carp is a real stunner as well as a new thirty for the lake. Judging by it's shape it has been feeding hard. A great fish to have as your new PB. See the lead photo above.

Top angling and well done Martyn.

Alan Pollard visited Cherry Lake Cottage and had a fantastic result. Alan managed a brace of 36's. The 36lb Mirror pictured above is a rarely caught fish. The last time she appears in my 30's catalogue was in September 2019 when caught by Carl Booth at 30-08. It always amazes me how some fish can disappear for so long in a lake of our size and so regularly fished. A growth of 5-08lb over two years is steady and with the fish being in such good condition, it shows it has been feeding steadily over this period. This Carp is a further addition to this years 30+ catalogue. During December, when the fishing is much quieter and whilst our heavy maintenance is underway, I will find the time to write my 'annual report'.

The Carp known as 'Pac-man', pictured below, is the complete opposite to Alan's first Mirror above. At 36-08 this Carp is also steadily growing and this is her best recorded weight as well as her 4th visit to the bank this year. Given the winter conditions and the time of the year, any Carp is very welcome and a brace of upper thirties especially so. Well done Alan, an exceptional return on your first visit.

Mark Seymour was another first time visitor to do well during our absence. He also had a brace of thirties when he fished from Grebe Lodge on Cherry Lake, a Mirror of 31-08 and a Fully Scaled Mirror of 32-08. The Fully Scaled Mirror below, is a new thirty for us and a further addition to this year's thirties plus catalogue which now stands comfortably above 60 different Carp for the year from Cherry Lake.

Well done to Mark as well as the other successful anglers not mentioned above.