Bowl Swim Tactics With Liam Carpenter

After several weeks of extreme temperatures and slow fishing, the weather moderates and Liam Carpenter gets ready to catch some carp..

How 16 year old Liam Carpenter unlocked the bowl and island features at Oakview Lake. His tactics result in his first ever forty pound carp catches.

Fishing Approach

A lot of time was spent observing fish activity around the lake. Although carp were seen feeding in several areas on both sides of the island, Liam decided to target the bowl margin from its closest swim. This option also gave him access to the back left side of the island, which allowed him to spread his baits into a wider fishing area if the carp moved off his margin spots.

Patience Rewarded

The first couple of days were unproductive and Liam was tempted to fish elsewhere. However he stuck with his initial ideas because he knew the fish were still around his baited areas. Liam focussed all his attention on observation and making minor adjustments to the position of his hook baits. In doing so, he discovered areas that had been swept clean of silt by carp feeding. His patience and effort was rewarded with a 37lb 1oz mirror and he knew he was finally on the money.

The Switch to Open Water

Liam landed a few nice carp from the bowl margin, including two mirrors weighing 35lb 8oz and 39lb. Just as the catches from the bowl margin started to slow down, he noticed fish showing in open water between the bowl and the island. He decided to scatter boilies across the area and fish singles. He was rewarded with his first ever forty pound carp and went on to smash his personal best again with a stunning 46lb mirror. Liam's fishing map shows his original catches along the bowl margin and the open water that bagged him his 40s.

Liam's success started with close observation followed by a great deal of patience and making minor positional changes. His real success came when he spotted the fish moving into open water. Even though time was running out, Liam remained patient and scattered boilies over the area. This kept the carp where he wanted them and got them feeding with confidence. Then it was a simple matter of placing singles on a pre selected spot at the edge of the baited area. Great angling Liam Carpenter!