Cannock Chase Angling Club Waters

Hazelslade’s large fishing pool sits just off Cannock Wood Street, near Cannock, Staffordshire. The published address is Cannock Wood Street, Hazelslade, Cannock, WS12 0PQ. There’s a small free car park at the front of the reserve, which is handy for getting the gear out without a massive faff. Just remember, the car park closes shortly after dusk throughout the year, so keep an eye on the clock.

• 1 lake: Hazelslade large fishing pool
• Fish: carp, crucian, roach, rudd, bream, tench, perch
• Tickets from: 7-day adult fishing permit, 2024/25 — £49.80
• Find it: Cannock · WS12 0PQ

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

Hazelslade’s large fishing pool sits just off Cannock Wood Street, near Cannock, Staffordshire. The published address is Cannock Wood Street, Hazelslade, Cannock, WS12 0PQ. There’s a small free car park at the front of the reserve, which is handy for getting the gear out without a massive faff. Just remember, the car park closes shortly after dusk throughout the year, so keep an eye on the clock.

This is a proper mixed coarse water, with common carp, crucian carp, roach, rudd, bream, tench, gudgeon and perch listed. That gives you a fair few ways to fish it, whether you fancy a patient session for carp or tench, a bit of float work for the silvers, or simply seeing what turns up. The pool is wrapped in wood pasture, wet woodland, grassland and reed beds, so it has a nicely natural feel rather than looking like a bare commercial lake.

Fishing is catch and release, and you’ll need a permit before setting up. The season runs from 16 June to 16 March each year, with the closed period approximately from 17 March to 15 June. Worth checking the dates before loading the car, especially around the start and end of the season. If it’s your first visit, a quick word with the permit issuer or council countryside service could be useful for any current guidance on pegs, access and where anglers are expected to fish.

The hours are straightforward: dawn until dusk. Night fishing doesn’t fit with that published rule, and no night ticket or night-fishing permission is listed, so this is one for a daylight session rather than an overnight campaign. Take the usual sensible kit for a new water — a couple of options for presenting bait, spare terminal tackle, a landing net and unhooking kit — then let the conditions dictate whether you fish close in, search the open water or work near the reed beds where permitted.

A circular walking route runs around the pool, with footpaths leading towards Beaudesert Old Park and Castle Ring. The front of the pool has surfaced paths, but other routes may be unsurfaced, muddy or slippery, so decent footwear is a bob-on idea. Access to the reserve is through a kissing gate, which can be fully opened with a RADAR key. The access guide says there are no marked accessible bays, so it’s worth planning that bit before turning up.

There are no toilets, café, tackle shop or on-site refreshments listed in the official information, so pack the brew, bait and any snacks before heading over. Permit details come through Cannock Chase Council’s Civic Centre, Beecroft Road, Cannock, WS11 1LP. The 2024/25 fee schedule lists a 7-day adult permit at £49.80 and a 7-day junior permit at £21.80, but it covers Hazelslade Nature Reserve and Milking Brook fishing rights without clearly splitting the price between them. No separate day-ticket price is listed, so check the current position before making the trip.

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

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• Our read

  Checked Sept '26 — “Cannock Chase Angling Club Waters centres on the large fishing pool at Hazelslade Local Nature Reserve, near Cannock. It’s a permit-only, dawn-to-dusk venue with a solid mixed coarse list and a seasonal fishing window.”

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.