Shearwater Lake

Shearwater Lake is a 36-acre fishing lake on the Longleat Estate near Warminster, Wiltshire, surrounded by woodland. That’s a proper expanse of water, with a mixed-coarse line-up rather than just carp on the menu. If you like the idea of a woodland setting and a choice of target species, there’s plenty here to get you interested before you’ve even sorted the tackle.

• 1 lake: Shearwater Lake
• Fish: carp, bream, pike, perch, roach, rudd, tench
• Tickets from: Normal day ticket — quoted by the angling association — £15 plus £2.49 booking fee, £17.49 total
• Find it: Warminster · BA12 7DG

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

Shearwater Lake is a 36-acre fishing lake on the Longleat Estate near Warminster, Wiltshire, surrounded by woodland. That’s a proper expanse of water, with a mixed-coarse line-up rather than just carp on the menu. If you like the idea of a woodland setting and a choice of target species, there’s plenty here to get you interested before you’ve even sorted the tackle.

Carp are present, alongside large shoals of bream, pike and perch. Roach, rudd and tench are also listed in the fishery directory, so this isn’t simply a venue for sitting behind carp rods. The bream are a particularly useful part of the picture for anyone choosing a coarse-fishing session rather than a carp-only trip. Just keep expectations sensible: the supplied details don’t put weights on those fish or promise a PB.

The first bit of practical business is booking. Longleat requires online prebooking through Catch and doesn’t accept cash payments on the day. No rocking up with a few quid and hoping to sort it on the bank, then. Overnight fishing is available through 24-hour sessions too, with the angling association pointing those bookings towards Catch. Check the session you’re actually buying rather than assuming every ticket follows the same timetable.

There’s a separate discounted arrangement for Frome and District Angling Association members. Their two-rod day ticket costs £10, must be booked through Clubmate at least 72 hours ahead, and needs to be shown in the Clubmate Fishing app. Exchange-ticket anglers don’t get that discount. The association specifies arrival at 08:00 and departure by 18:00 for this arrangement, so it’s one to organise in advance, not a last-minute cheeky trip.

Parking is included in the fishing ticket, but your vehicle must end up in the visitor car park. Vehicle-accessible swims can be used for dropping off equipment only; they aren’t an invitation to leave the car beside your rods. Vehicles must not cross the dam wall or spillway, although pedestrians can cross the dam wall. Keep to 5 mph on site and give pedestrians priority. A little planning here should save unnecessary faff with the kit.

Shearwater Cabin café is an on-site facility, giving the venue something beyond the fishing itself. For navigation, the angling association lists BA12 7DG, but the supplied coordinates identify the western end of the lake rather than a confirmed entrance. One last distinction worth keeping straight: Longleat says the public car-park gates are usually locked by 21:00, but that isn’t a published fishing-session finish time. Sort access around your booking, especially for an overnight stay.

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 — “A proper big-water option on the Longleat Estate: 36 woodland-fringed acres with carp, large shoals of bream and plenty of mixed-coarse variety. Book ahead, sort your parking and choose between a day session or a 24-hour stay.”

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.