Andover Canal

Golden Pond Fishery sits on Fullerton Road between Andover and Stockbridge in Hampshire, with the entrance postcode SP11 7LA. It’s associated with the former Andover-to-Southampton Canal, and the lake keeps that canal-like shape rather than feeling like a wide-open square pit. A tidy little venue for anglers who fancy a bit of proper float fishing and a few features to pick apart.

• 1 lake: Golden Pond Fishery lake
• Fish: carp, tench, roach, perch, rudd, crucian
• Tickets from: 2026 annual membership — £200
• Find it: Andover · SP11 7LA

Based on how each lake is set up — not a ranking.

Golden Pond Fishery sits on Fullerton Road between Andover and Stockbridge in Hampshire, with the entrance postcode SP11 7LA. It’s associated with the former Andover-to-Southampton Canal, and the lake keeps that canal-like shape rather than feeling like a wide-open square pit. A tidy little venue for anglers who fancy a bit of proper float fishing and a few features to pick apart.

There’s one lake, covering roughly 1 acre, with 16 well-spaced fishing swims around it. One swim is suitable for wheelchair users, which is a useful touch. The car park is close to the lake as well, so there’s no massive hike with the barrow or a mountain of kit. Handy when you’re carrying everything but the kitchen sink.

The fishing is described as margin-focused waggler work rather than full-on big-carp tactics. That points you towards the edges, around the lily pads, under the overhanging willow trees and along the marginal water plants. A light, accurate approach should be a good starting point, with the waggler working the water carefully instead of simply launching it into the middle and hoping for the best.

There’s a proper mixed coarse line-up in the lake. Green and golden tench, rudd, perch, crucian carp and roach weighing over 2lb are all listed. Specimen carp are reported to 23lb on the official website, while older listings mention carp to approximately 28lb. So, while the venue isn’t aimed purely at chasing carp, there are still some cheeky lumps lurking in the mix.

For a first session, it makes sense to have a look around before settling in. Check which margins offer cover, watch for signs of fish around the lilies and willow trees, then build the swim gently. Margin baits and waggler tactics look the obvious route, while surface baits may be effective during calm evenings. Bring balanced tackle rather than over-gunning it, and ask the bailiff or fishery contact what’s been working before you get clipped up.

The fishery is members-only, with limited annual memberships advertised for 2026 at £200. Fishing is available all year according to the official website, from dawn until dusk, but night fishing isn’t permitted. A maximum of two rods may be used, and anglers must fish from the designated swims. Barbless hooks are required, with no keepnets allowed. Bring a landing net and unhooking mat, and leave the radios, fires and dogs at home.

Facilities are nicely straightforward, with an onsite toilet, hand-washing facility and the nearby car park. For membership enquiries, the official website provides a contact form, and Jeff Hounslow is listed with the fishery. Before travelling, it’s worth confirming the current membership position and any day-to-day arrangements, then pack a sensible float set-up, margin baits and enough kit to fish comfortably through daylight.

Good background reading. Most of it is a few years old, so treat it as a starting point and ask on the day.

Videos linked by the fishery

• Our read

  Checked Sept '26 — “Golden Pond Fishery is a compact, members-only coarse venue on Fullerton Road, between Andover and Stockbridge. It has a canal-like one-acre lake, 16 spaced swims and a tidy mix of tench, rudd, perch, roach, crucians and carp.”

This is our own summary of recurring public feedback and the venue details we checked, not a copied customer review or a promise you’ll catch. Feedback changes, so we keep it separate from the Tackle Index score.