Many cities in the UK have urban gems like the one I'm fishing today. Small ponds or park lakes that most anglers barely batter an eye lid at

But they can contain some pleasant surprises - this one in the Rivelin Valley of Sheffield for example has some cracking roach to target in the clear water on the pole. You could use a whip or very light waggler too

In clear water roach love to intercept bait on the drop so that's how I gear up. My floats are slim Chiantis with strung out shots, 11s on a deck rig and tiny 13s on a shallow rig

The deck rig has a 4 x 14 (0.4g). I have a mega tiny 3 x 8 (0.05g) for a really slow fall for bigger fish later on too shallow

These smaller waters are very simple for me - I like to loosefeed. On a bigger water or a more coloured one I'd probably put in a bit of Squeez-Ready™ Groundbait to get fish in the area

Today it's just maggots with Sensate™ Powder on & 3mm 2in1 Bait 3mm Black

Bigger roach love 2in1 Bait Black 3mm, it's like hemp. You don't need to feed loads in cold weather, 4 or 5 at a time is often enough

Feed them for a while before you try them, just like hemp to get the fish confident on them

They can be mounted straight on a size 16 Green Gama hook like a pellet. It's much easier than faffing about with hemp

Maggots can be just 'nicked' through the fat end on the same hook

When catching on the drop it pays to work hard, regularly lifting the rig out and laying it back in again. Try and get the hookbait to fall amongst the loosefeed

I like to keep a long line of 2-3ft above the float to keep the pole away from the fish. This is why a tiny crystal waggler would work too