Weeks of drought had lowered the water level drastically on the Farnborough AS stretch of the River Blackwater at Camberley this week, with the effect that all the colour had dropped out, leaving it crystal clear and very shallow, every feature of the bottom being clear from bank to bank. This had been a last minute decision to fish, it being cool for a change, but with a supply of bread in the freezer, bait is never a problem and I arrived mid afternoon for a couple of hours fishing.

There were no signs of fish, as I mixed up a small batch of groundbait, just enough to see if there was anything in the shallow water to catch, liquidised bread, ground pellets with ground hemp, damped down to form a couple of firm balls and introduced ten feet out, to wash down with the flow. I then set up my 12 foot Hardy with a 5 No 4 Ali Stem stick float in the hope that the groundbait had done it’s work and attracted something into the swim. Plumbing the depth had shown no more that two feet in the narrow channel in front of me, but first cast the float bobbed and sank immediately, the strike causing a roach to flash over, putting a bend in the rod, as the fish fought on the short line. The current runs close to this bank, due to an upstream bend and the roach was soon on it’s side, ready for the landing net.

Proving that the roach was no fluke, the following trot saw rapid bobs of the float, then a dive as I held back with a dace hooking itself, tumbling up from the bottom to rotate across the surface and swing into my hand, where the little powerhouse continued to fight.

Looking down into the river, no fish could be seen, but next cast a fish took under my rod top and rushed off. Lifting a finger from the spool of my ABU 501 allowed line to run free, before bringing a small chub to the surface and the net.

Following a pair of smaller roach, I plopped in the second small ball of feed and chased it down with the float that buried, as another decent roach took the 6 mm punch of bread on the size 14 barbless hook.

It had been two months since my last visit to the Blackwater, due mainly to the high temperatures, but I now wished that I had made the effort, as these fish were in their prime and full of fight. This roach another clonker.

I mixed up more groundbait and fed a couple of small balls, then trotting through again, the float running off downstream, as a chub chased after the feed, fighting hard when hooked, veering over to the shallows mid river, before it gave up with it’s white mouth on the surface. Good sport on light tackle.

Regular small balls of feed kept the roach coming, depite a strong downstream wind, followed by a rare sight, Rain, which penetrated the overhead trees, but did not dampen the dry ground.

The roach were getting bigger, coming from further down the swim, when a familiar swirl anounced the arrival of a pike, as it chased after a hooked roach. The roach swam back upstream to me in panic, as I reeled it hard, skimming across the surface, while the small pike followed. I swung the roach in and the pike turned away, but settled mid stream, no doubt waiting for the next offering. I decided to pack up, as I hate feeding pike, this one of about 3 lb could badly damage one of these pristine roach, or more likely chase off the shoal. It was a shame, as I still had a good hour’s groundbait left and was building a decent net of fish on the punch.

It had been a busy session, better than I had expected, as the Blackwater usually fishes well, when it has a bit of colour in the water.