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      Coarse Fish

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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

      Fly Fishing for Trout (Beginners)

      Species Tactics

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  • Bait
    • Natural Baits

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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

      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

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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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  • 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 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

Graiglwyd Springs Trout Fishing Guide: A Troutmaster Fishery Near the Coast

August 21, 2026July 12, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Graiglwyd Springs near Penmaenmawr is a well-established Troutmaster fishery with a national reputation for fly fishing, open year-round.

Categories Locations

Llyn Crafnant Trout Fishing Guide: A Hidden Gwydir Forest Lake

August 21, 2026July 11, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Tucked above Llanrwst in the Gwydir Forest, Llyn Crafnant is a scenic 63-acre trout lake fishable from the bank or by boat, stocked with rainbow and wild brown trout.

Categories Locations

Llyn Brenig Trout Fishing Guide: North Wales’ Premier Stillwater

August 21, 2026July 9, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Llyn Brenig is one of the UK’s top stillwater trout fisheries, with 14km of shoreline, boat and bank fishing, and a full visitor centre in the Denbighshire hills.

Categories Locations

Trout Fishing in North Wales: The Best Lakes and Fisheries

August 21, 2026July 8, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

A guide to North Wales’ best trout fishing lakes and fisheries, from the vast Llyn Brenig to the intimate Llyn Crafnant, with links to visitor centres and access details.

Categories Locations

Tan y Mynydd Trout Fishing Guide: A Long-Established North Wales Fishery

August 21, 2026July 7, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Tan y Mynydd, near Abergele in Conwy, is a mature North Wales trout fishery first dug in 1971 – three fly-only pools plus two family-friendly multi-method pools, stocked with rainbow, brown, blue, and tiger trout.

Categories Locations

The Case for Barbless Hooks, Even Where They’re Not Required

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Plenty of UK fisheries don’t mandate barbless hooks. I use them anyway, and I think more anglers should consider it.

Categories Rules and Law

Grayling: The Most Underrated UK Game Fish

August 21, 2026July 6, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

While everyone chases trout and salmon, grayling get overlooked – and they shouldn’t be, especially through winter.

Categories Fish Species

The Truth About ‘Match the Hatch’ on Chalk Streams

August 18, 2026July 6, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Matching the hatch matters, but not in the precise, obsessive way a lot of fly fishing writing suggests it should.

Categories From the Bank

What Guiding on the Test Taught Me About Fly Presentation

August 21, 2026July 6, 2026 by Sarah Marsh

Watching dozens of anglers cast to the same fish taught me more about presentation than years of fishing for myself ever did.

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.

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