Chorley Springs Fishery

Top Pool

Ideal for pleasure anglers, Top Pool is the first water you come to from the main car park at Chorley Springs and holds 18 Pegs. It has a central island which is the main feature to fish to and is classed as an easy water to fish with high match weights more than achieveable.

Ideal for fishing either pole or waggler, Top Pool produces good catches whether fished close in, out in open water or up against the island. Although only relatively small, it can also be fished on the feeder.

Good head of mixed fish

Top Pool holds a good head and mix of fish including common, mirror, ghost and leather carp which run to 10lbs and average between 5lbs and 6lbs; tench to 6lbs and averaging 2lb 8oz, bream to 5lbs, perch to 3lbs as well as good sized roach, rudd, golden orfe, chub and barbel. As a result anglers never know what they are going to catch next.

Looking across Top PoolThe pool is just under half an acre in size and has a maximum depth of eight feet. It is surrounded by a three feet deep shelf which runs about four feet out from the bank. The shallower parts of the pool are at the entrance end. It has a picturesque central island as the main feature to fish to.

Anglers fishing maggots or sweetcorn are advised to start by feeding a handful of hook samples and then keep topping up with half-a-dozen samples. However, if you are going after the bigger fish it pays to use bigger baits.

Middle Pool

Ideal for pleasure and younger or less experienced anglers, Middle Pool is the smallest pool at Chorley Springs with 13 pegs and is probably the easiest to fish, making it a great pool for families and newcomers to the sport. Like Top Pool, Middle Pool can again be fished on either pole or waggler close in or in open water, or on the feeder.

Middle Pool holds a good head and mix of fish including common, mirror, ghost and leather carp to 10lbs and averaging between 1lb 8oz and 2lbs; tench to 2lbs; bream to 3lbs; perch to 1lb 8oz; plus a large head of roach and rudd to 1lb. Stocks have also recently been supplemented with the addition of more tench and crucian carp which now run to between 2lbs 8oz and 3lbs – beautiful fish!

There’s plenty of cover on Middle Pool

Not as open as Top Pool with plenty of trees and shrubs around the banks, like the other coarse fish waters Middle Pool has been improved with the replacement of the former grass pegs with purpose-built block paving pegs which will ensure a firm base with good drainage in wet weather.

Having a bowl shaped bottom, much of the pool is between three and four deep around the edges before the bottom slopes gradually to a maximum of eight feet in the centre.

When going for the silver fish, anglers are recommended to use maggots, worm, sweetcorn or hooker pellets on fairly stout tackle, feeding little and often with samples of hook bait. If going for the carp, maggots, bread, sweetcorn and pellets are again useful baits although it is expected decent results will also be obtained with small boilies and luncheon meat.

Bottom Pool

Another easy water to fish which regularly throws up good pleasure weights, Bottom Pool is about a third of an acre in size and holds 17 Pegs. Again it is ideal for fishing either the pole close in or in open water or the waggler in the margins or open water. Again, some anglers are also producing good results on the feeder. Like Top and Middle Pool, this water holds a good mix of fish including common, mirror, ghost and leather carp to 12lbs but averaging between 5lbs and 6lbs.

Anglers never know what they’re going to catch

There are also some nice bream to 5lbs; hard-fighting perch to 3lbs; a large head of crucians; good stocks of roach and rudd to 3lbs; and chub to about 1lb. All this means that anglers never really know what they are going to catch next.

Bottom Pool has plenty of bankside cover with reeds growing in some of the margins and plenty of open water from all pegs. Being furthest away from the main car park it is also likely that Bottom Pool will be least fished of the three coarse pools, although it will be easily accessible from the Specimen Pool car park.

Bottom Pool is quite a bit deeper than the other two coarse pools. A shelf runs about three feet deep up to four feet out from the banks which then drop to about five feet before shelving gently towards the centre where some 14 feet of water can be found. The shallowest part of the pool is again at the entrance end, but all pegs are easy to fish on waggler or pole.

Experiment with baits and techniques

As with the other Chorley Springs waters, experimentation with baits and techniques should pay off. As with Top and Middle Pool, however, it is expected that maggots, worm, sweetcorn and soft hooker pellets will produce fairly consistant results for anglers targeting the silver fish.

Those after the carp, however, should scale up their tackle to be sure of being able to handle 10lb fish. Although there are no real snags in the water, hooks and lines should be strong enough to handle these.

When targeting the carp, 10mm pellets, luncheon meat, sweetcorn, bread and worm should give good results whilst giving anglers chance of hooking into some of the bigger tench and bream.

In warmer weather, floating bread and dog biscuits should also give some lively sport for those who enjoy surface fishing, although anglers are requested to keep free offerings to a minimum to avoid disturbing other anglers.

Specimen Pool

Reached by driving along the entrance track and through the first field car park, the tree-lined Specimen Pool is completely different in character from the three smaller coarse pools, being much larger and having a more irregular shape, two islands but again with plenty of features and bankside cover. Approximately an acre in size it is the largest water at the fishery and has nine well-spaced pegs and a maximum depth of nine feet.

Mirror carp to just under 30lbs

Stocked with mirror carp to just under 30lbs, Specimen Pool holds common carp to over 20lbs together with a large head of double figure fish. All of the silver fish were removed from Specimen Pool during a recent netting operation and as a result line strengths of 10lbs and over are recommended. All anglers must have a decent sized landing net and suitable unhooking mat.

This pool is equipped with spacious golden gravel pegs, some of which are double sized, which offer a choice of swims to fish to. The pool is served by its own car park which means that anglers do not have far to take their tackle when setting up.

The double first peg down the steps near the entrance to the pool offers several different swims to fish to including down the channels to the left and right, towards the island or out in open water in front of the peg.

Far end peg opens up plenty of water

By contrast, the large double peg at the far end of the pool gives access to a wide expanse of open water and the choice of fishing in front of the peg, to the island or in the bays to the left and right. As a result both are popular with anglers.

Specimen Pool reacts well to all types of fishing with both modern and traditional techniques both providing good sport. When it comes to baits, boilies, pellets and meats of various guises are all expected to work well with floating baits including dog biscuits and bread expected to take their fair share of fish in warmer weather.

Whilst Specimen Poll has an average depth of seven to nine feet, it has an undulating bottom and there is a sandbar which runs out from the far island towards the far bank. Here the water shallows to about three feet.

The Runs Water

Opened in 2011 and stocked with a large head of low to mid double figure mirror and common carp, this water also holds a good head of decent quality silver fish. It is reached by driving along the entrance track, through the first field car park and then past the Specimen Pool.

Runs water has matured quickly

Although it is a relatively new water it has matured quickly. Indeed, it looks as though it has been established for far longer than is actually the case with plenty of bankside vegetation and two tree-clad islands which give it bags of character. Just over half an acre in size it offers 23 block paving pegs are well spaced and have plenty of room for bivvies or more than one day-ticket or longer stay anglers.

The pool has banks which drop steeply at 45 degrees to a bottom which shelves gradually from five feet deep at the entrance end to nine feet at the far end. However, the bottom rises steeply towards the islands where the overhanging trees provide cover for fish, giving good features to fish to.

Good number of carp to 10lbs

Although the average size of the carp is about 5lbs there are known to be a large number of fish to 10lbs together with good sized tench, bream, roach, rudd and perch. Again, line strengths of 10lbs and over are recommended and all anglers must have a decent sized landing net and suitable unhooking mat.

Most anglers who fish for the carp use boilies and the water responds well to waggler and pole fishing as well as to traditional and modern carping techniques. Anglers targeting the carp on the pole are recommended to use 12 to 15 elastic to a Size 12 hook whilst waggler anglers should again fish a Size 12 hook to 5lb or 6lb line. Successful baits for the carp include small cubes of luncheon meat a quarter of an inch to half an inch square and sweetcorn.

Pole and waggler are good for the silver fish

Anglers fishing for the silvers mostly use pole or waggler fishing lighter tackle than they would for the carp. Fishing maggot high up in the water only a foot deep has proved a very successful technique for the bigger roach and rudd when combined with feeding floating pellets whilst fishing a similar method mid-water with sweetcorn also catches the roach, rudd and carp.

Anglers after the bream and tench fish maggots, sweetcorn and small cubes of luncheon meat either on the bottom or in mid water feeding sinking feeder pellets and samples of hookbait.

Runs water available for matches from April 2022

Following the addition of 1,000lbs of carp between 2lbs and 5lbs, the Runs Water accepted matches from April 2022. Booking can be made by telephoning or emailing the fishery. There are three categories of prices depending on the number of anglers wanting to fish with a minimum of six anglers per match. Groups of six anglers are charged at £50.00 with each additional peg charged at £10. The cost for up to 12 anglers is £100.00 with additional pegs again charged at £10.00 whilst the whole pool with its 23 pegs can be hired for £200.00. Matches must be for a maximum of five hours.