White Springs
   Fishery

I understand we have already reported this catch and I believe it is in this report

News and Reports

However I may be wrong and it might be one of the fish caught from the Somerset anglers in Feb 2010, my apologys to the angler but my information is limited.

I have only just received the photos so I have scanned the photos and placed them up on the site for everyone to see.

The angler who caught this lovely looking fish is Gary Ireland from Bridgewater in Somerset and the reported weight of the fish was 35lb 14. A cracking weight. Well done Gary and if you read this and would like to post me more details below it would be appreciated. Thanks for the photo.

On the 21st of February, i headed down to WhiteSprings fishery in south wales. When i got there i decided to set up on the old cabin swim as nobody was fishing there. For the last few weeks, this had been a spot on which i had blanked on. So with the rods cast out and all the gear ready i sat down and drank a cup of tea while the sun rised. Wtih no action, at about 12 o clock i recast a small pva bag filled with mainlines cell boilies on to what seemed to be a real hot spot. 10 minutes later I was battling it out with a small mirror which turned out to be 12lb 7ounces.   I then put both rods out on to the spot and shortly after i had another lively little mirror which weighed 13lb 2 and looked great in its winter colours.    About half an hour later i had an absolute screamer on the left hand rod and, following a spirited fight, i had a new PB Common in the net weighing 18lb 1oz.    One side of the fish looked great but the other was a bit random with the scaling pattern. After returning the fish, i had another take that felt like a big fish but unfortunatly the hooklink snapped but oh well, you cant land them all! I shouldnt have worried though because a few more minutes later, i had an absolutly stunning, fin perfect common of 17lbs exactly on the mat.    After all the action, it went dead for a few hours and then i had one last run as i was packing up. A beautiful mirror carp of 16lb 3oz was on the end and as the light was fadeing i managed to bundle him into the back of the net. 

    After a action packed day at 'Springs' i packed up and went home a very happy boy!

An update can be read here on Steven Huxter following an interview held with the angler.

http://www.whitespringsfishery.co.uk/apps/blog/show/2736374-updated-new-pb-for-steven-huxter-31lb2-specimen

Christian Du Plessis aged 25 from Caerphilly landed this beautiful 31lb 4 Mirror on the 3rd of Feb about 5.30pm in last light from the soil shed swim using a standard bolt on hair rig with safety non fixed lead system and pop up corn on his Fox Warrior ES rod and his Fox Stratos 10,000 reel lined with Adrenaline and fitted with a Fox Arma size 7 hook. He has a Pb of 38lb Mirror caught from our very own White Springs Speimen lake and usually uses Crab and Mussel Richworth bait however he decided to use Pop up corn on this line and it proved to be a winner for him. He was down for a weeks session with some of his mates and had endured the ice and snow often having to break the ice whilst in the boat with his mates to clear a channel to fish in , as we can see this proved to be successful and the proof they say is in the landing He started fishing with his dad many years ago and has enjoyed fishing ever since the age of 6, he loves coming to White Springs because of the beautiful surroundings, the charasmatic people and of course the specimen fish that can be caught here at White Springs. He has fished here for about 2 years now and since discovering White Springs it has been his main place that he enjoys to go fishing, one of his most memorable times fishing here was when he caught his PB and he tells me that he nearly let it go as the boys he had been fishing with had been winding him up by pulling his alarms and making him think he had one on, so when his alarms went with the 38lb'r he nearly ignored it thinking that the boys were winding him up again, so you can imagine his suprise when he finally started to reel in his line to find a rather large fish on the end. His advice to up and coming anglers is to go out and to enjoy yourself but not to take too many things that you read or are told too seriously and not to worry if you blank as every time you fish you should be taking things from the session away with you and use it to improve your next session, even if you blank. so just relax enjoy your surroundsing and have condfidence in your setup and the fish will come. Best of luck in your endeavours Christian and we hope to see you down here more often, tight lines.

Sorry the reports a little late this week its been a bit hectic and even though Vince gave me the report last weekend I had to go back down today as I couldnt find it anywhere for love nor money. Still better late than never.

He tells me that it hasnt been a bad week with the weather a little warmer after the last couple of weeks of snow and ice, however he says that the fishery has been very much either off or on over the last few weeks there are somedays that you cannot go wrong and then others where you struggle to even get a bite.

If you do well then you do very very well like Simon Jones mid week on the old canal on pegs 24, not the best of pegs in the conditions however he still managed to weigh in 75lb of carp and some nice slabs of bream some which weighed in at above the 4lb mark, not a bad few slabs there in such conditions, whilst Clive Beckett and his mate sat on the match lake and struggled to get a bite, yet when they moved to the pleasure lake they bagged up on skimmers and roach.

Last sundays open match on the canal was fishing ok especially after the anglers had to break ice to start and also had to keep breaking ice as it was forming around their pegs most of the day, they still however went on to produce the below results, well done guys.

1 Luke Peg 15 -35lb 8

2 Ryan Huges Peg 4 -27lb 1

3 Lyn Jones Peg 27 -23lb 8

4 Mark Jones Peg 33 -21lb 5

On the Specimen lake its been a little slower but three fish over 30lb has come out. Christian Du Plessis and Tom Jones pulled out a 31lb 4 Mirror and a 30lb 8 Mirror

 Mark Lewis on Peg 12 landed a 35lb 1 along with a 16lb2 and 15lb mirror using cell boilies size 8 big t hooks on snakeskin hook lengths. Picture below.

2 visiting anglers from Essex lost a rather large fish in their estimation at the point they went to net and land him (the one that got away eh guys? :P ) and have vowed to return to catch it again , good luck with that guys.

Last reports I had from Vince about the fishabilty of the lakes is that there is ice forming on the lakes in the mornings but mainly dissappearing by afternoon and that two lads from Somerset had managed to land 5 from the Specimen so fishing is looking like it will be cold but on this weekend, he warns to ring to make sure you dont waste your journey in the mornings however it looks good for the weekend as long as the temp doesnt drop too badly in the night.

Tight Lines All and I hope to see you there on the weekend.

I fished the pleasure lake today and

had 4 fish the best was a 11 lb

along with a 5,4,and 2 pounder carp

good days fishing

 
A good days december winters fishing at White springs fishery.

I can remember it well. I went on the old canal to fish for some perch. I started with a ledger rod down the edge to my right, I baited with red maggots,and fished a freshwater prawn on them,and did the same with the other rod,this rod was fishing to my left but with a float. This i fished over depth for lift bites.

It wasn't long before the ledger rods tip started tapping three or four taps and around it went and i was into a nice perch around the 2lb mark,so i put it in the keepnet,within five minutes the float started to slide across and out away from the bank i struck and i was into another nice perch again around the 2lb + so  again this one was in the keepnet.

That was it for the float rod.

I had TWO more good perch after that, they came on three dead,red maggots fished in the same spot. I decided to release the four perch as they had been in the keepnet for a while.So i needed some photos and a witness for one of the best days still-water perch fishing (excluding spinning for them on a nice river) i have ever had.

,The weights of the perch 1lb10oz ,2lb3oz, 2lb7oz. 2lb9oz

 total bag weight 8lb 3oz. 

Steven Huxter aged 23 from PenPedairheol was woken at 3.30 in the morning in the snow to find his lines in a frozen lake on the Soil Shed Swim and his alarm sounding, whilst playing the fish he was helped by his two mates Christian Duplessis and Tom James who broke ice in the lake to allow him to land this lovely Mirror that doubled his PB from 14lb to a lovely and very respectable 31lb2.

Well done Steven and a lovely fish caught on only his third visit to White Springs and in probably some of the harshest fishing conditions that we have seen for years proving once again that White Springs is no ordinary fishing venue

(Update-interview with the angler)

Steven Huxter likes using a standard hair rig with a leadcore and fox safety non fixed lead system, his favourite rod is his John Wilson Signature 12ft Rod with a Flan reel which he tells me is a foreign make but a very good reel coupled with TFG 12lb line and a Fox Arma Size 7 hook which he likes using in conjunction with the mainline bait range. He was down here for a quick 48hour when he caught his new PB and he started fishing when he was just 3 and a half with his grandfather and has enjoyed the sport ever since. He loves being outdoors camping and enjoys fishing with the boys and enjoying the social aspect of the fishing, he especially likes he tells me the freedom that fishing brings him and the fact that usually there are no nagging girlfriends to pester him, a sentiment I am sure that many will agree with He loves the thrill of fishing and the adrenaline and buzz of the fight and the catch and when you land your new PB of course there is nothing like it. He loves coming to White Springs because of the specimen fish that can be caught here and also the fact that it is close to hand for him and not that far to travel to. He hasnt however fished here that long and this is only his third trip to White Springs so a good result for the youngster. His advice to anglers is just to get out here on the bank and enjoy you bank time, ask the regular anglers for advice and to keep your rigs simple as they work better in the long run, he also joked with me saying that you should also try and wind Vince up as much as possible, something that again many will no doubt agree with

Good luck Steven with your endeavours and we hope to see you down here again.

Tight Lines.

Tight Lines Everyone.

Despite the very cold and windy conditions last week, the anglers still turned up in force with us having to turn some away trying to get onto the specimen lake, with the lake being full and the anglers bivvied up ready for the weeked they woke up to find the lake had frozen over and snow was on the ground, however the fish was still feeding for some.

Lee (Afly) Calford of Llanelli at the start of the week managed to pull out a 12lb approx Mirror (shown below) and a 14lb10 Leather (shown above) in the last few hours of a 48hr marking the start of the fish starting to come out on the bank again to the specimen lake for this week.

Steven Huxter from Caerphilly caught his first fish for 2010 on only his third trip to Springs smashing his previous pb of 14lb and taking it to a fantastic 31lb 2. Waking up in the morning to his alarms he had to have the ice broken in order to land the fish, but what a start to the year.

Martin Matthews from Carmarthen having had to pull two of his rods out due to the ice still managed to get two takes on his single rod and landed 2 fish using just the one rod one after another, whilst the other anglers looking on with shouts of Jammy ****** floating across the bank proving that if you find the fish then you will be able to catch even under the worst conditions.

The Pleasure lakes have seen their share of anglers braving the weather and a visiting angler managed to land a lovely 15lb 'er from the Cabin swim of the Pleasure Lake along with 5 other reported fish ranging between 3lb to 9lb in weight.

On the canals the perch and bream are still being found using maggots and the winner of the last match held on them was Rob Jones with a nice weight of 89lb 2. 

Please dont forget that the majority of fish caught go unreported at the lakes so if you do know of fish being caught there that hasnt been reported to us then send WhiteSprings a pm to let me know the details and I shall post it up or better still members can report their own catches.

White Springs has an amazing offer on at the moment for accomadation. You can book your holiday for anytime in the year during the month of February and receive a massive 30% discount. Deposit is required.

Dont forget to buy your membership at the tackle shop for the year 2010 which will give you a massive 50% off all lakes during the month of February, what a bargain.

Tight lines

The match and canal lakes have seen some good weights coming out especially in the last few matches being held on them and on the other lakes the Pit has seen a few 15-18lb carp have come out , but the place to be has been on the Pleasure lake for the carp, bream and a couple of nice 3 1/2 lb perch even making a welcome show to the anglers there. On the Specimen side of Springs the lake has been quite slow due to length of time it was frozen for, however they are starting to make an appearance with a Angler from Brecon on his first visit pulling out a 24lb Mirror from the Point on a night time run and a couple of smaller chunks coming out as well.

Dont forget that memberships are due for renewal and anyone buying their membership now will be entitled to half price fishing on the memberships already discounted prices during the months of Jan and Feb in 2010, so if you are looking to save then with the membership coming down to only £50.00 for the year it will save you loads and is definately worth getting so dont delay get yours today.

Been very quiet on the catch front lately as obviously the lakes like every other fishery up and down the country have been frozen in what can only be described as the coldest and worst winter for over 20 years if not 30 years. We saw the specimen lake with over a foot of ice at some points and the Pleasure Lake for the first time in who knows how long started to freeze over as well.  I noted in last weeks carp talk that there were hardly any reports of any fish coming out anywhere up and down the country yet White Springs still managed to pull out the odd 30 here and there during this freeze. Not bad eh?

With the temperature rising and the lakes now fully unfrozen as many a previous winter fisherman will tell you there is now only one place to be fishing and that is here at the Springs.

They will tell you that White Springs has always fished well in the Winter and it will be interesting to see what comes after one of the coldest spells we have experianced. Will keep you posted.

 If you do have any catch reports you would like to add, please become a site member and you can then add your own reports as it is difficult for me to be at the bank 24/7 and even if I could I would rather be fishing :P

I know that 75% of the catches are currently being unreported on the site so please if you catch then post it up pictures or no pictures, or pm me WhiteSprings on the site and I will gladly do it for you.

Thanks Alex

On the 17th dec i went down springs for a 24hr session on a freebie as i had won the nov competition which i really enjoyed, two reasons for this was one not having to pay vince to fish, his face was a picture we all know how much he loves to have your money cheers vince ha ha. now about the fishing i was the only one fishing that night as the other two anglers that had been fishing were going home as i arrived. thats the thing i love the most about the winter is its always nice and quiet as all the summer anglers pack away their gear until next spring. having set up on the old cabin swim my favourite i had to wait until the following morning for my one and only run which was well worth the wait and the freezing conditions as it was my old mate the big common at a new p b weight of 33lb on the button, the fish is in tremendous condition like a bar of gold with its winter colouring. i've now caught this fish five times in the last two years it obviously likes my bait and having its photo taken with me ha ha. i dont understand how people dont fish down springs in the winter as i've always had my best results down there during this period, its definately the best winter water around this area. i know its hard fishing with the cold and the long dark nights but the rewards are there for those who percivere. merry christmas everyone and maybe see you down springs soon.  cheers zoee.

Sorry I havent got the full details as I am away for a week or so, however the fishing looks like it is really picking up at the moment as we have had reports of lots of upper twentys coming out, with quite a few thirtys gracing the bank including a catch of a 35lb from the Island from a couple of lads from Somerset ( awaiting pics), Martin has been fishing hard on the old cabin and has pulled out the fish known as Colin the Carp again which usually weighs in at around the 30lb mark (thank you to Lee for the correction) along with a shed load of others ranging from approx 15lb upwards. Well done Martin, I hope that the proper report will be up shortly in the meantime it will be published in the South Wales (Swansea) evening post as usual.

Tight Lines

This week I managed to catch up with Vince and he gave me the updates and news from from White Springs.

Its been a good week especially on the pleasure lakes, the new stock seem to have stirred things up, last Sundays match on the old canal was won by a young 13 year old junior Aaron Slyman after arriving for the match late with the anglers drawing his peg for him, he went on to win the match with 78lb 8 oz. In second place was postman Steve Davies with 70lb 4oz.

The pirates also had a mid week match on the match lake with the winning weights coming from Keith Tucson on peg 12 with 113lb 13oz. In second place was Geoff Walker with 61lb 7oz and in third place was Gordon Furlong with 52lb 1 oz which are good weights for this time of year and especially with the cold and changeable weather.

On the pleasure lake carp are still coming out Alex Morris caught 5 nice size carp whilst fishing the night session from out of the cabin.

The New Canal is also producing good weights with bags of 50 - 60 lb being regulary reported.

The Pit and the Speciman lake has slowed up this week for the bigger fish, but plenty of fish up to 20lb are still being caught and after a couple of good weeks on the island the fish seem to have moved away to other parts of the lake this week.

The two photo winners for Octobers White Springs Photo Competition was Lee (Alfy) Calford with his 34lb 9oz PB named Billy The Bear. Lee won a 48hr session ticket courtesty of Vince White Springs site owner for submitting his photo and it coming in first. Second place was awarded to junior Lewis Mcdonald with a very nice 25lb mirror, which also became his new PB he won a day ticket also courtesy of Vince. So well done to those guys for their success both in the competition and also their PB's.

Keep your photos coming in, it is not the biggest or smallest fish it is the quality of photo, the title and any writeup with the photo that makes it a winner.

Also the Carpand.Co.uk Social was held over the weekend and was a resounding suceess with fun being had by all.

With christmas drawing in it has become that time of year for you to start thinking of next years membership, maybe even presuade someone to get it for you as a nice xmas present. Prices for the membership can be viewed from the prices page of the site.

Best Regards Vince

Being a relatively new comer to the angling world Lee (Alfy) Calford has only fished for about three years, yet has taken the sport by storm with a recent spate of high profile catches and a very successful year, here at White Springs. On catching up with Alfy I managed to grab a few words with the young sucessful angler and get his thoughts on fishing.

"After arriving at White Springs I had no choice but too settle down on the Island swim due to the Speci Lake being pretty full, with the school being on half term. Around an hour after casting out one of my alarms broke into life! At first the fish came to the surface and came straight in but as soon as it caught sight of the net it was off again tearing away like a good un, A 15 minute battle with the monster ensued, until finally my mate managed to slip the net under this stunner of a fish known as "Billy the Bear". When we landed the fish it was a rush to see it as this is my first ever 30+ Mirror which came in at a stunning 34lb 6oz and a made it a new PB for me! Thank you Springs.

Lee was using his favourite Rod which is a Nash Hooligan and Reel being a Wychwood Big Pit lined with Diawa Sensor 10lb line and a standard bolt rig with Suffix Black Silt core. The bait he used was Mainline Cell boilys which he tells me he has used very sucessfully at the Springs. His previous Personal Best was 31lb 12 common which I understand was also caught at White Springs. Asking him what advice he would give to up and coming anglers and was so special to him about White Springs he told me that ....

"Never ignore the margins, keep it simple dont complicate things, my philosphy is to keep it simple and it will work nearly every time, in fairness, it has for me so far this year, and it has been a blinder of a year here at White Springs Fair play! Everyone is very good down there and you just gotta love the place, its great to meet the colourful charactors that come here and the social side of things are brilliant and the owner Vince is great. What more can you ask for? I dont get a lot of time to travel because of family and work commitments so its only White Springs I really fish at but what a place the fish here are just stunning and I love it here."

Alfy told me that the reason he started fishing was that he loves the outdoors and enjoys the relaxation and  the social side of things with people that come to White Springs. His favourite bit of kit he owns he tells me is his trusty old fox catapult and his most memorable experiance fishing was this session with his new PB and even his rod getting pulled in by one of the fish. He did we will add in fairness to him manage to get it back after a little while or so

Alfy finished his 24 hour session with a resounding 25lb 6oz mirror a 17lb mirror and a 13lb mirror and of course his 34lb 6 oz Billy the Bear making up a new personal best and finally getting his rod back to complete a fantastic 24hr session here at White Springs.

 With Alfy proving that the fish are back on the feed you know that it is the right time to come down and get that personal best yourself. If you see Alfy on the lake I know from personal experiance that he is a great bloke to talk to and will give you some really sound advice that will help you in your fishing.

Well Done Alfy on your new Personal Best and what a lovely fish in the shape of Billy the Bear at a lovely 34lb 6oz.

Tight Lines Mate.

Even though the lake has been a bit slow over the last few weeks due to the weather things have improved with the specimen lake which has proven to be back in form for some of the local anglers who visited us lately showing that the fish are back on the feed ready for the winter.

Regular Lee (Alfy) Calford recently done a 24hr session with us on the 28th and 29th of this month. Lee jumped on the island due to the lake being full using a Nash Hooligan, Wchywood Big Pit, Diawa Sensor 10lb line and Mainline Cell boilys and within 1 hour landed his first fish which included a new PB of a stunning 34.6lb mirror known as "Billy the Bear" and a nice 25lb 6oz mirror a 17lb mirror and a 13lb mirror completing a fantastic session at White Springs. The report can be read here http://www.whitespringsfishery.co.uk/apps/blog/show/2044869-alfy-and-34lb-6oz-billy-the-bear-on-speci

Another angler this week to do well was Luke Mainwaring on a 24 hour session who got 2 carp at 25lb and a 19lb both mirrors off peg 8. So it proves that the fish are on the move again.

A young and up and coming angler 15 year old Chris Andrews who usually fished The Pit Lake had his first 24 hour session on the specimen lake fishing the cabin peg no 7 (new cabin) to land two lovely mirror carp at 16lb and a 15lb 10 oz whilst fishing the margins. well done Chris. You can read this report by clicking here http://www.whitespringsfishery.co.uk/apps/blog/show/2020651-chris-andrews-oct-speci-lake

Dont forget the specimen lake is full this weekend 6-8th November 2009 with the Carpand.co.uk Social Fishing Get Together.

White Springs has been restocked as part of its 20 year fishery management program and Victor Hopkins fished the old canal on Thursday and called in to say it was his best days fishing for some time, other anglers have said the same thing this last week as our new fish have settled in nicely, we have stocked 600 new carp across some of the pleasure lakes sized between 3 1/2 to 4lb each and with some very nice fish. A report on this will follow shortly.

Young 12 year old Aaron Preece from llanelli also got into our new stock guided by his father and Clive beckett of Llanelli junior coarse fishing club got 50lb+ on the match lake. Fantastic result for such a young angler who is showing some real promise.

All in all a very good week on the lake with the fishing picking up for all forms of anglers. We look forward to you visiting us whilst the fish are biting

Tight Lines Everyone.

Chris Andrews (15) and his friend Jack Lewis (15) both from Birchgrove, fished the Specimen Lake for the first time on a 24 hour session overnighter in the New Cabin Swim. With his Shimano Vengeance rods and Shimano Big Bait Runner Long Cast reels and using the CC Moore Live System Baits he pulled in a lively 15lb 10oz Mirror Carp on Monday night (shown above) and a lovely 16lb Mirror on Tuesday morning (shown below).

His personal best is currently standing at 23lb 14oz Mirror and Chris loves White Springs for the big lakes and the big fish, his advice to up and coming anglers is to use the margins and above all to be patient. He says that too many people these days throw a line in and expect to catch and too many people of his age haven't got the patients, you gotta have the patients!. He enjoys fishing for the buzz of catching a fish and the atmosphere of fishing with the boys but above all he enjoys the peace and quiet that comes with fishing on such stunning lakes such as the Specimen Lake. Normally found on the Pit he decided to brave the big waters of the Specimen lake here at White Springs to go after the big fish that the lake is famous for and a good result for his first attempt at fishing the Infamous Specimen Lake. Well done Chris Andrews and we hope to see you back here more often.

Tight Lines mate.

The full resolution photos can be downloaded from here. (Right click and save target)

http://www.whitespringsfishery.co.uk/catchnews/ChrisAndrews15lb10oz27Oct2009.jpg

http://www.whitespringsfishery.co.uk/catchnews/ChrisAndrews16lb0oz2Oct2009.jpg

Along with a cold I have been nursing since last week the weather has now also changed to become more windy and has now come with the rainier conditions that has slowed the fishing down a little bit more than usual. the turbulant weather changes has driven the fish down whilst they prepare for the winter months that already seem to be here.

The specimen lake has been a lot slower the last couple of weeks with an easterly wind blowing, but some nice fish are still coming out.

Lee Calford (Alfy)  in true form pulled out a 29lb mirror whilst outside the Old Cabin, a consistant angler that has performed well all year and shows us that even when the rest of us are struggling with the weather the fish are still willing to come out for Alfy .

Tony Brown on peg 11 fishing midwater using white chocolate boily got a stunning 28lb mirror.

Jason Williams on peg 10 fishing down the side in front of the bushes, pulled out two lovely carp at 22lb and a 18lb 8oz.

SparkyJon in his usual fasion came down and showed us how it was done as he also pulled in a 17lb Mirror in mint condition.

On the pleasure side of fishing the Pit has turned up a couple of nice fish.

Doug Joseph got four carp all ranging from 15lb to 19lb using popup monster crab over pellet.

On the pleasure lake Derek Giles in the early morning fishing betweeen the islands got three carp to 15lb in weight.

On the match scene Gordon Furlong landed 49lb 9

Ron White fishing in the Wednesday Pirates Match sat on a golden Peg and won in bad conditions with 30lb 6oz. Second place went to Geoff Walker with 28lb 7oz  

Hopefully that is out quiet week over with and the fish are on the feed ready for the winter.

Self Employed Plasterer/Builder Richard Sheppard (44) from Fforestfach, Swansea is a very sucessful plasterer/builder and has been for the last 24 years. He has been very sucessful in both his working and personal life and is considered a master tradesman, however like many of us he has known what it is like first hand to experiance the ups and downs that life can throw at you. Despite this Richard has always held his head up high and taken the rough with the smooth and it is this attitude towards life that has made him the man and the fisherman that he is today. This weekends session was no different as the fish we believe due to the sudden cold spell went quiet earlier in the week, and didnt start back up on the feed until the first day of the weekend. Thinking that he was going home empty handed, good fortune smiled on him this weekend and on the last day of his session he struck gold not once but twice with two fantastic catches, one 18 1/2lb in the morning and then romping in this fantastic 23lb14oz Mirror carp in the last few hours of his session this Sunday. Fate has a funny way of looking after those good people I believe and this weekend was a shining example of this on the famously difficult Specimen lake.

Richard is no stranger to the quirks of the Specimen Lake as he has fished here at White Springs off and on for the last 15 years and has watched the site grow from strength to strength, he can remember when there was trout fishing here at the Springs and has seen some lovely fish come out in his time. A self taught fisherman who takes pride in everything he has done, he is one of those genuine fisherman that seems to grace our banks that has a real love for the sport and a real love and passion for the fish, and meeting and talking to him for the first time this weekend was a real pleasure.

Richard has a personal best of 29lb 15oz Mirror which was caught roughly 3 months previous here at White Springs just missing out on the 30 Club by a whisker, he is determined however that he will achieve his goal of hitting that magical 30 and over and if anyone can do it I believe Richard is the type of man that will do it.

He started fishing as many do with a mate of his and since that start has grown a love for fishing that has given him so much pleasure over the years. He told me that he loves the relaxation and pleasure that fishing can bring and the wonderful escape that only fishing can bring from the stresses of work and life.

"I just love being outdoors Al, I have never been an indoor type of person I just love the countryside, love being outdoors and I love the sense of peace and tranquility that something like fishing can bring you."

Using his Grey Prodigys with his Diawa Entoh 5000 spooled with 17lb Adrenaline with a inline running 2oz flat pear lead and a Korda kurv-shank size 8 he caught both fish today and also his PB previously using a 10ml Spicy Sausage Popup.

Asking him which was his best bit of tackle he told me that it was his Delkin Alarms Tx1+ and asking him what advice he would give to up and coming fishermen he recommended that people should read as much as they can on fishing as this has helped him greatly over the years, his only regret was that he didnt read more on fishing earlier in his life.

He also spoke passionately about the importance of fish care and recommends any fisherman to invest in a fish care/medi kit, a sound bit of advice in my book and says that you should just enjoy fishing as each days fishing is a new experiance and never the same twice. That is so true

If anyone is looking for a real master craftsman in building and plastering and for a job to be well done they can contact Richard on 07875357012.

We wish you all the best Richard and hope that you get that magical 30lb very soon.

Tight Lines mate.

I finally manged to get down to the banks this weekend to fish for longer than a few hours so I took opportunity to catch up with some of the fisherman that graced our banks this weeked and despite the cold weather snap it has been a productive weekend at the Springs so we have only reported weights over the 9lb mark, which actually counts me out lol but hey thats fishing. I can only apologise for the lack of reports on the site at the moment but we are working on it, the site revamp has taken longer than I thought. We are planning a page where you can submit your own catch reports to the site and more on that news will come soon as the coding nears completion.

Richard Sheppard  (44) from Fforestfach, Swansea despite the weather romped in a beautiful 23lb 14oz Mirror and a lovely 18 and a 1/2lb Mirror from the Speci Lake, you can read the report here.

Jerry McKenny (37) from Carmarthen graced our banks again for a few days session and romped in even though the cold spell has turned it quiet over the last few days a few gorgeous looking fish in fine form and gracing us with a 21lb Mirror, 2x 18lb Mirrors and 14lb Mirror (which we managed to video) and a 10lb Mirror on our banks using hemp and his own secret brew. As some of you know Jerry is a well known Coracle fisherman and loves to come down to the Springs to relax from his usual job, a busmans holiday if I have ever heard of one Well done Jerry and we look forward to when you come down with us again.

Gareth Walton (27) from Baglin, Port Talbot fished the Speci and pulled out a 12lb and 9lb Mirror.

Ian Lovering (35) Neath pulled out a nice 22lb Common from the Speci.

Dan Wallis (27) from Bristol and a new comer to the Springs pulled out a 12lb Common within the first few hours of his session using a cell boily. We hope you enjoy your stay m8.

John Flewin (25) from Neath and also from Swansea Angling Centre (01792 796633) fished a day ticket on the Pit and pulled out a lovely 12lb 2 oz Mirror.

Alan Franklin (50)  of Bargoed reported a slow day on the match lake but still managed to pull in a respectable 44lb at the time of writing.

Well done to you all in what can only be described as some hard fishing due to the weather and we hope to see you all back in the near future.

Tight Lines Everyone.