2022 Annual Report: The Exclusive Lakes

The exclusive Carp lakes, in particular Cherry Springs with Kingfisher Lodge and Cherry Mere with Pochard Lodge, remained very much in demand during 2022. Many anglers and guests love both the privacy, as well as good and not too difficult Carp fishing that these lakes offer. Some guests have described them to me as offering 'millionaires Carp fishing' for their stay.

I will however start with Cherry Pool, the smallest and cutest of our exclusive lakes. Although Cherry Pool (Egret Lodge) is heavily stocked with Carp, it has not proved to be as popular as the other two exclusive lakes. Ironic in many ways because Cherry Pool's greater depth and compact size means it is a very productive lake during the cooler months.

The fact that the Carp are on average smaller, with limited prospects of catching 20's (and no 30lb+), plus the lake's large stock of Bream, has resulted in our occupancy being consistently much lower on this lake. Charlie Couch's brace of twenties in March however showed the potential of the Pool even before the re-stocking. In early 2022 we decided to take the necessary steps to make this more attractive to Carp anglers without losing much of it's appeal as a mixed fishery. As regular followers know, we have had a big push at removing the Bream this autumn and the majority have now been removed. We will also look to remove any 'stragglers' as we go through 2023.

We have commenced the re-stocking of Cherry Pool with some bigger and younger Carp. The aim is to have introduced 15-20 additional 20's and 3 new 30's by February 23. The 26-08 Mirror held by fishery manager Dave Bowen pictured in the lead photo above is typical of the Carp we are introducing into Cherry Pool. With the removal of the Bream, we will increase the level of feed to ensure that these bigger Carp thrive, as well as the existing stock increase in weight.

Cherry Pool will however remain an excellent lake for other species and continue to offer good sport on the float, pole and method feeder to those anglers fishing for the Crucian Carp (specimens to 4lb), Roach (to 3lb), Tench (to 8lb) and Perch (to 3lb). Indeed I expect these species also to benefit from the removal of the Bream and additional feed being introduced into Cherry Pool.

Cherry Mere continued to be the absolute favourite for our guests in 2022 (and is already heavily booked for 2023). Pochard Lodge remains our only two bedroom Lodge, which appeals to mixed groups up to 6 people. The fishing on Cherry Mere is almost always reliable and good, and some times it is great and amazing! It is a particularly good winter water as demonstrated in this recent December cold spell by the Owen family catching 2 x 30's followed by Dale Green and Liam Steer both catching 20lb+ 'Snow Carp' (please see the recent postings within 'Latest News' on the website).

The reason why Cherry Mere is so productive is because it is absolutely full of Carp of all sizes. Every year the Carp successfully spawn and we remove as many as we can under 5lb. Despite the stock numbers the Carp continue to do well and grow. This year we had 6 different 30's including a new lake record of 37lb which was caught in October by Paul Lee. He landed the beautiful Mirror held by Luke Goddard (at 35-08) above. Again regular feeding with high quality feed and boilies, coupled with the oxygenators running pretty much full time, is key.

Cherry Springs is the largest of the individual exclusive lakes and in truth is probably better suited to two anglers. I should probably have bitten the bullet and extended this Lodge in the past. I have never been able though to convince the 'bank manager' that it is economic to do so! Cherry Springs holds some cracking Carp, and this year we recorded 4 different Carp over 30lb. Gavin Martin setting a new lake record with his 35-08 Mirror pictured below

Cherry Springs is the most variable of the three exclusive lakes. It is variable in that the Carp seem to be more prone to switch on and off (more like Cherry Lake). They are also much more likely to switch to night only feeding. Whilst on Cherry Lake this would not necessarily impact on capture rates, it certainly does on Cherry Springs where many of our guests just want to fish during daylight hours.

Both Cherry Mere and Cherry Springs have a good population of other fish species such as Crucian Carp, Tench, Perch and in Cherry Springs Roach. I always encourage anglers who visit Cherry Lakes, and especially for these lakes, to bring a float rod because you never know what you will catch? Kevin Lane pictured below with the Cherry Springs Crucian Carp record, caught in June at 3-08, was very glad that he did bring his float gear!

I hope you found both this 'Annual report' as well as the preceding 'Annual Report' for Cherry Lake an interesting read.

Thank you again for your past support of Cherry Lakes. We hope to see you in 2023. In the meantime we would like to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas and a happy healthy 2023.