Carp Hustling at Bishops Bowl - Mitre Pool

 

Bishops Bowl Fishery is our local specimen carp fishery. Owned and managed by Shaun and Sarah Smart, Bishops Bowl offers a challenging carp angling experience for, all levels of angler.

The fishery is currently undergoing development to improve the quality of the pegs / swims, tracks and access to the lakes, which is welcome but, don't worry, it isn't for the time being, having any impact on the fishing or, availability, of either of the specimen carp lakes.

The complex also offers course fishing and hosts popular matches on several, purpose built, course and match lakes. You can check out Bishop Bowl Fishery's website for more details here - http://www.bishopsbowlfishery.co.uk/

As our name suggests, it's the CARP we're after! From what we've seen so far, the quality of the fish in the two specimen lakes at Bishops Bowl makes this place an extremely worthwhile challenge!

Here's a couple from our first outing in February 2014.






This is the other half of Carp Hustlers, 'Gibb', with his Winter Mirror. Weighing in at just under 12lbs, she wasn't a monster but nevertheless, an extremely welcome catch on a cold February morning! She fell to a Mainline Baits Hi-Visual, Pineapple Juice Pop-Up, fished as a single bait (no free offerings), just a little Korda Pineapple Supreme 'Goo' applied directly to the pop up to enhance the flavour. This little beauty was caught from the 'Mitre' Lake, peg 2, about 30 yards off the bank.



Just 40 minutes later, this little lovely fell to the same bait from the same position.

 

We've just started our carp campaign at Bishops Bowls this Feb. To ease ourselves in, we've opted to start with the smaller of the two specimen lakes, 'Mitre Pool'. The plan is to conquer this water before moving on to the beast that is 'Green hills' (which we'll tell you about later).

Mitre Pool (in places) is seriously deep. It's a 5.6 acre lake, with depths varying from 4 to 34ft. There's a good head of double figure fish with Mirrors and Commons going to 20lb with possibly a dozen or so 25lb + and probably a couple up to 30 or just over.

They call this the runs water, and while it is easier than 'Green Hills' and you will get a run - it's still cold at the moment and in the winter, this is a difficult lake. The depth of the pool means 'finding' the fish can be a challenge and blanking several times is probably to be expected (at least that's what I'm telling myself) - but as you can see with our pics, when they do come, the rewards are worth waiting for!

Popular pegs seem to be 1, 2, 4, 13, 14 and 15. Although, fish move, so any peg will produce fish given time, strategy and conditions.

About 12 months ago The Mitre Pool was drained. The pictures taken at the time give a fascinating insight to what lays beneath - These are must see images! So here they are; If you click on the images you'll see an enlarged image.





This is a view looking directly into Peg 15 - You can see the water mark on the reeds which indicates the level of the water before the pool was drained





This is a view across the pool from Peg 14



This view shows peg 14 in the middle, and to the right, peg 15

This is the right hand side of the pool, top left hand corner is peg 1, moving around to peg 2, 3, then peg 4 to the right hand side of the image

Looking out from peg 1. Directly opposite is peg 15



The deeper water (up to 30ft) in front of peg 5, in the distance is the back wall of 'cliff face'.

It's a decent sized lake, it's deep and packed full of underwater features. There's some serious snags close in to the cliff face (at the back of the pool), and we've found beds of muscles. Having said that, Shaun (the owner), has worked extensively to clear the larger obstacles from the lake - apparently, last year, a car was removed from the deep water in front of peg 5!

As I write, I've blanked on this lake three times in a row! It's getting embarrassing and frustrating. Particularly, when the other half of Carp Hustlers 'Gibb' (my brother) is on fish number 3! To be fair though, the time I've had on the pool has opened my eyes to the various features, the lake patterns, feeding areas, so rather than being too despondent I'm actually getting more confident and can't wait to get back on the bank. It's only a matter of time, I'll be landing a monster soon! 

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong necessarily, it's not an easy lake and the water is still very cold. If anything, I may have been a bit liberal with the free offerings - I think the trick here (winter and early spring) is single hook baits and if you feel the need to get some offerings out there, 'very little' is the key.

I must just also give a big shout out to Shaun and his wife Sarah. Both extremely welcoming, 'down to earth' and will do whatever they can to help. They're currently developing new on-site facilities but in the meantime there is a well stocked tackle shop, hot and cold food is served (and delivered to your peg). Their bailiff 'Nigel' is a decent fella too. He's well informed, helpful and will do what he can to put you on the fish (as will Shaun). Definitely worth a chat with either one of them.

Our advice - arrive early, have a chat with Shaun and Nigel, walk the lake, look at the water, look for the fish. If you can, be prepared to move about.

We've had our own success from Pegs 15, 1 and 2. And we've seen others do well on 3, 4, 13 and 14.

If you want a challenge in a natural environment with excellent quality carp you've gotta try Bishops Bowl Fishery!

I'll leave you with Gibbo's latest catch. This beautiful 18lb mirror came in on a warm Sunday afternoon (the first week in March 2014) from Peg 15. This was on a chod rig, size 6 hook, using a hi vis Pineapple Juice pop up (again)!

 

Keep Hustling!!