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River Bend

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      Game Fish

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      Sea Fish

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  • Techniques
    • Coarse Methods

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      Carp Fishing

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      Predator and Lure

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      Fly and Game

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      Species Tactics

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  • Bait
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      Particles and Boilies

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      Attractants and Best Baits

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  • Gear
    • Rods

      Choosing a Fishing Rod Buying Your First Rod Rod Test Curves Explained Top 10 Carp Rods Top 10 Coarse Rods Top 10 Trout Rods Top 10 Sea Rods

      Reels and Line

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      Terminal Tackle

      Fishing Hooks Explained Fishing Hook Sizes Fishing Leads and Weights Terminal Tackle Guide Fishing Floats Explained

      Lures, Nets and Kit

      Types of Fishing Lures Landing Nets Guide Top 10 Landing Nets Top 10 Carp Bivvies Best Fishing Baits PowerBait for Trout All gear and tackle →
  • Knots
    • Essential Knots

      Palomar Knot Improved Clinch Knot Grinner Knot (Uni Knot) Blood Knot

      Carp Rigs

      Knotless Knot Hair Rig Carp Rigs Overview
  • Locations
    • Rivers

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      Lakes and Reservoirs

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      Canals

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      By Region

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  • Rules and Law
    • Licences

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      Close Seasons

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      Catch Rules

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      Other Rules

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  • From the Bank
    • Getting Started

      First Fishing Session Checklist Fishing Etiquette Getting Started with Lure Fishing

      Water Reading

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      Tactics and Tips

      Seasonal Fishing Guide How Weather Affects Fishing Overnight Carp Fishing Unhooking and Handling Fish Safely

      Blog

      Why I Stopped Fishing Boilies Reading Water: 20 Years of Pike Fishing Why I Switched From Bait to Lures All blog posts →
  • Start Here
    • Getting Started

      First Fishing Session Checklist Fishing Etiquette Getting Started with Lure Fishing

      Water Reading

      How to Read a River How to Read a Lake

      Tactics and Tips

      Seasonal Fishing Guide How Weather Affects Fishing Overnight Carp Fishing Unhooking and Handling Fish Safely

      Blog

      Why I Stopped Fishing Boilies Reading Water: 20 Years of Pike Fishing Why I Switched From Bait to Lures All blog posts →

Avatar photoDan Whitfield

Dan Whitfield started fishing aged seven on the canal at the end of his road and never really stopped. He spent his twenties and thirties on the match circuit - club level rather than national - before deciding he'd rather catch one decent fish than a net of small ones. These days he mostly fishes the River Trent for barbel (personal best 14lb 2oz), the Oxford Canal for roach and skimmers in winter, and the occasional gravel pit when tench are spawning and the surface fishing is too good to miss. He's a former club secretary and still helps with junior coaching at his local angling club in Nottingham. At The River Bend, Dan writes the coarse species guides, river fishing technique articles, and the match and pole content. Covers: Barbel, bream, roach, tench, carp (coarse context), river fishing, canal fishing, feeder, float, match/pole

What I Actually Look For in a Carp Rod (After Twenty Years of Getting It Wrong)

August 18, 2026July 22, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

Test curve obsession, wasted money on extra rods I never used, and what I’d tell my younger self about buying carp rods.

Categories Gear

A Season Targeting Big Roach: What Actually Worked

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

A dedicated season chasing specimen roach taught me that less really is more when it comes to bait and feed.

Categories Techniques

Fishing the Close Season: What Anglers Actually Do When Rivers Are Off-Limits

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

The coarse close season on rivers doesn’t mean fishing stops – it just means it moves. Here’s how I spend those three months.

Categories From the Bank

The Tackle I Actually Use vs What’s in My Bag

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

An honest look at how much of my tackle bag gets used regularly, and how much is dead weight I still carry out of habit.

Categories Gear

What I’ve Changed About My Barbel Fishing Since Turning Forty

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

Age hasn’t made me a worse barbel angler, but it’s changed what I actually do on the bank, sometimes for the better.

Categories From the Bank

Is Match Fishing Dying in the UK?

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

Club match turnouts are down almost everywhere. Here’s what I think is actually happening, and why I’m not as worried as some.

Categories From the Bank

Why I Stopped Fishing Boilies and Started Catching More Carp

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Dan Whitfield

A season of blanking on heavily-boilied waters taught me something most carp anglers don’t want to hear.

Categories From the Bank
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From the Blog

  • The Best Baits for Chub: The Species That Eats Almost Anything
  • The Best Baits for Perch: Worms Win, But Not Always
  • The Best Baits for Carp: What I’d Actually Put On After Twenty Years
  • Loch Watten Fishing Guide: Caithness Wild Brown Trout
  • Loch Awe Fishing Guide: Ferox, Pike and Brown Trout in Argyll

View all posts →

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The River Bend Fish it properly.

UK fishing knowledge, written properly. Species, techniques, locations, gear, and the rules - all in one place.

Species

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From the Bank

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