Loch Mahon Fishing Lakes
How we replaced a legacy hosting setup with a modern, AI-powered website and booking system — cutting annual costs by 59% while dramatically reducing the owner's workload.
The Client
A private specimen carp lake in Wexford, Ireland
Loch Mahon is a family-run fishing lakes business operating three spring-fed lakes: a private specimen carp lake (booking required), a family/match lake, and a coarse fishing lake. The owner, Tom, needed a professional online presence and a way for members to book fishing pegs on the specimen lake.
Previously, the website was built using Blacknight's siteBuilder tool — a basic drag-and-drop page builder with limited functionality. There was no booking system, no member management, and no way for Tom to manage content without rebuilding pages in the siteBuilder UI.
The Problem
Four pain points that were costing time and money
Constant phone calls
Tom was fielding calls all day from anglers asking basic questions: opening hours, pricing, rules, directions. The old website didn't surface this information clearly, so people just rang him instead.
Spreadsheet booking system
Peg bookings were managed manually in a spreadsheet, coordinated over phone calls and WhatsApp. Double bookings, missed reservations, and no way to enforce cancellation policies.
Difficult to update
The site was built with Blacknight's siteBuilder, which was clunky and frustrating to use. Tom avoided updating it entirely because the process was too painful.
Overpaying for what he got
Between shared hosting (~€110/year) and siteBuilder (€80/year), Tom was spending ~€190/year for a basic static site with no booking system, no database, and no automation.
What We Built
A complete digital platform
Full Website Redesign
Bespoke, responsive website reflecting the premium nature of the specimen lake. Professional design with lake photography, clear pricing, and rules.
CMS Admin Panel
Custom content management system so Tom can edit homepage content, announcements, pricing, rules, and chatbot knowledge — all from a simple admin interface.
Online Booking System
Full-featured peg booking with day/night slots, cabin add-ons, date picker with availability, cancellation rules, and email confirmations. Invite-code registration keeps it members-only.
Admin Dashboard
Weekly schedule grid, user management, no-show tracking, manual bookings for guests, invite code settings, audit log, and late cancellation fee tracker.
AI Chatbot (Tom Bot)
Claude-powered chatbot trained on lake-specific knowledge. Answers questions about rules, pricing, directions, and species. Knowledge base editable via CMS.
Automated Emails
Welcome emails on signup, booking confirmations with slot details, and a daily summary email to Tom at 8am with the day's bookings.
Fee Tracking
Automatic detection of late cancellations within 12 hours of the slot. Running list of outstanding €20 fees with one-click collection marking.
TikTok & Social Media Strategy
Created a TikTok account and provided a full social media strategy document — content pillars, posting schedule, video ideas, hashtag strategy, and best practices.
Cost Comparison
Before vs. after — what the client pays annually
Before
No booking system, no CMS, no chatbot, no automation.
After
Full booking system, CMS, AI chatbot, email automation, admin dashboard.
59% reduction in running costs — while adding a booking system, CMS, AI chatbot, email automation, and admin dashboard that didn't exist before.
Beyond the direct cost savings, the real value is in time saved. Tom no longer fields dozens of phone calls a day about basic lake information — the chatbot and improved website handle that. And booking management that used to consume hours of spreadsheet wrangling now runs itself.
Social Media Results
TikTok — first month performance
Short-form video of the lakes, bait shop, and catches gives potential visitors a feel for the place before they arrive. The content is authentic — just Tom being Tom — and it's converting viewers into paying customers at zero advertising cost.
Technology
Modern, lightweight, zero-dependency architecture
Backend
Single Node.js server (~1,090 lines), zero npm dependencies. Auto-deploys from GitHub on every push.
Database
Supabase (managed PostgreSQL) with Row Level Security. Database triggers for automated fee detection.
Hosting
Railway (Hobby plan, $5/month). Automatic deployments, custom domain with SSL.
AI
Anthropic Claude Haiku for the chatbot. Rate-limited, ~€0.50/month. Knowledge base editable via CMS.
Outcome
A fully self-sufficient digital platform
Tom now has a professional website that he manages himself through the CMS, a booking system that eliminates phone-tag and double bookings, automated emails that keep members informed, and an AI chatbot that handles common enquiries 24/7.
The entire solution runs on modern, scalable infrastructure at a fraction of the old hosting cost — with significantly more functionality. Most importantly, Tom doesn't need to pay a web developer to make content changes. The CMS gives him full control.
Want similar results for your business?
Get in Touch