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  • Fish Species
    • Predators

      Pike Perch Zander Wels Catfish Eels All predators →

      Coarse Fish

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      Carp

      Common Carp Mirror Carp Crucian Carp Ghost Carp Grass Carp Leather Carp All carp →

      Game Fish

      Brown Trout Rainbow Trout Sea Trout Atlantic Salmon Grayling All game fish →

      Sea Fish

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  • Techniques
    • Coarse Methods

      Float Fishing for Beginners Feeder Fishing Guide Method Feeder Fishing Pole Fishing for Beginners Match Fishing for Beginners All coarse methods →

      Carp Fishing

      Boilies Guide Carp Surface Fishing Margin Fishing for Carp Zig Rig Fishing Winter Carp Fishing All carp methods →

      Predator and Lure

      Lure Fishing for Pike Lure Fishing for Zander Pike Deadbaiting Spinning for Perch Drop Shot Fishing for Perch All predator methods →

      Fly and Game

      Fly Fishing for Trout (Beginners)

      Species Tactics

      Barbel Fishing Tactics Dace Fishing Tactics Stalking Chub Tench Fishing Tactics Mackerel Fishing Guide
  • Bait
    • Natural Baits

      Maggots and Casters Worms Bread Luncheon Meat Sweetcorn

      Particles and Boilies

      Particle Baits Hemp Tiger Nuts Boilies Pellets Groundbait

      Attractants and Best Baits

      Fish Oils and Attractants Artificial and Imitation Baits Best Bait for Pike Best Bait for Tench Best Bait for Bream All bait guides →
  • 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

      Fishing Reel Types Explained Top 10 Spinning Reels Top 10 Baitcaster Reels Fishing Line Guide

      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

      River Severn River Trent River Wye River Thames Hampshire Avon All rivers →

      Lakes and Reservoirs

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      Canals

      Grand Union Canal Shropshire Union Canal Canal Fishing for Beginners All canals →

      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

      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 →
  • 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 photoSarah Marsh

Sarah Marsh came to fly fishing through her father, who kept a rod on a small syndicate water in Devon. She spent her teens fishing stocked reservoirs and gradually worked her way toward wild fish on moving water - first on rain-fed freestone rivers in Wales, then on the Hampshire chalk streams she now considers home water. She holds a level 2 APGAI fly casting qualification and guides informally on the River Test and, from June to September, on a private beat on the River Tay for Atlantic salmon. Her personal best brown trout came from the Itchen at 4lb 1oz; she'd sooner not talk about the salmon that came off at the net last August. At The River Bend, Sarah writes the game fish species guides, fly fishing technique articles, and the legal content covering trout and salmon regulations. Covers: Brown trout, rainbow trout, sea trout, Atlantic salmon, fly fishing, chalk streams, Scottish rivers, close season and regulation articles

Loch Watten Fishing Guide: Caithness Wild Brown Trout

August 21, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Traditional loch style at its best, with wild browns averaging just under a pound and enough two and three pounders to keep you honest. Fly only, and better from a boat.

Categories Locations

Carron Valley Fishery: The Members-Only Water Worth Knowing About

August 18, 2026August 16, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Over a thousand acres of wild brown trout water between Denny and Fintry, and since 2021 you cannot buy a day ticket. Here is what that means if you were planning to fish it.

Categories Locations

Butterstone Loch Fishing Guide: A Small Perthshire Water That Punches Up

August 21, 2026August 15, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Around 70 acres near Dunkeld, holding rainbow, blue and brown trout, fished from boat and bank. Access runs through the angling association rather than over the counter.

Categories Locations

Loch Leven Fishing Guide: Wild Brown Trout at Kinross

August 21, 2026August 14, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Boat only, fly only, wild brown trout. Loch Leven is the water that gave loch-style fishing its name, and it still asks proper questions of an angler.

Categories Locations

Lake of Menteith Fishing Guide: Scotland’s Best-Known Stocked Loch

August 21, 2026August 13, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Boat-only, stocked weekly, and twenty minutes from Stirling. Lake of Menteith is where I send anglers who want their day out to involve catching fish.

Categories Locations

Fishing Scotland’s Lochs: Central Scotland and Perthshire

August 21, 2026August 12, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

The belt of water between Stirling and Dunkeld holds some of the most consistent stillwater trout fishing in Britain. Here is how the main venues differ and which one suits which angler.

Categories Locations

Can You Still Catch Trout in October? Yes – If You Know Where to Look

August 21, 2026August 9, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

River trout seasons are closing by October, but stillwater trout fishing can be some of the best of the year if you know where to go.

Categories From the Bank

What Bait Actually Works Best for Trout? My Honest Ranking

August 21, 2026August 8, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Where bait fishing for trout is permitted, here’s my honest ranking of what actually produces, based on years of fishing the day-ticket waters that allow it.

Categories From the Bank

Method Feeder for Trout: The Approach That Shouldn’t Work (But Does)

August 21, 2026July 29, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Method feeder tactics are built for carp and bream, not trout – so why does it produce so reliably on the right stocked stillwater?

Categories Techniques

Float Fishing for Trout: The Method Nobody Talks About

August 21, 2026July 28, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

It doesn’t fit the fly-fishing culture around trout, but float fishing for stocked trout is a genuinely accessible, underrated approach.

Categories Techniques
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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.

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