Rodbaston Fisheries

Rodbaston Fisheries sits at Rodbaston College near Penkridge, Staffordshire, with the published postcode ST19 5PH. The college estate covers roughly 160 hectares, so this is a sizeable education and aquaculture setup rather than a little puddle tucked behind somebody’s shed. Handy one to have on the radar if you’re local to Staffordshire and fancy finding out what the fishing side is all about.

• 1 lake: Main water
• Fish: carp
• Find it: Rodbaston · ST19 5PH

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

Rodbaston Fisheries sits at Rodbaston College near Penkridge, Staffordshire, with the published postcode ST19 5PH. The college estate covers roughly 160 hectares, so this is a sizeable education and aquaculture setup rather than a little puddle tucked behind somebody’s shed. Handy one to have on the radar if you’re local to Staffordshire and fancy finding out what the fishing side is all about.

The site is linked with South Staffordshire College’s Fisheries Centre and Aquaculture Centre. The fish-production side breeds common carp, mirror carp, F1 carp, green tench, barbel and ghost carp. There are ornamental koi, goldfish and shubunkins in the mix too, although that doesn’t automatically tell you what’s stocked in any particular angling water.

There’s some proper fish-production kit behind the scenes. The centre includes fry-rearing mud ponds and recirculation systems used for broodstock, incubation, rearing, growing and holding. The aquaculture operation is described as CEFAS registered, and the site says it supplies fish to fisheries and fish farms for restocking or growing on. That gives the place a strong fisheries feel, even though the exact public angling setup isn’t laid out.

The Rodbaston carp strain was developed from broodstock sourced from Orchid Lake and Horseshoe Lakes. The centre reports supplying common carp, mirror carp, F1 carp, green tench and barbel. So, if you’re trying to work out what sort of fishy interest might be involved, there’s a decent spread of species in the wider operation. Just don’t assume every one of them is present in the water you’d be fishing.

This is one to ring before chucking the gear in the motor. No official public angling page with named lakes is available, and lake sizes, peg numbers and swim capacities aren’t published. There’s also no public day-ticket price, overnight price, season information, recreational opening time, night-fishing policy or booking system listed. Basically, save yourself a wasted journey and get the current position nailed down first.

The aquaculture contact number shown is the fishery, although the checked information identifies it for aquaculture enquiries rather than confirmed angler bookings. Ask whether recreational fishing is currently available, which water applies, how access works, what tackle is suitable and whether there are any bait, hook or landing-net requirements. Once that’s clear, keep the first session simple: balanced tackle, a landing net, unhooking kit, spare rigs and a few bait options. On a new venue, have a proper look at the margins, signs of fish and any obvious features before clipping up and settling in. Bob on planning beats a cheeky last-minute faff.

We're not sure on ticket prices here — we couldn't find reliable, up-to-date prices online, so give the fishery a ring or check their own site before you go.

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 — “Rodbaston is tied to South Staffordshire College’s fisheries and aquaculture centre at Penkridge. There’s some interesting carp and coarse-fish pedigree here, but the public angling details are seriously thin — no confirmed lake names, ticket prices, opening hours or rules are published in the checked facts.”

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.