If I were looking for a springer I would be looking for breeders who breed for hunting (even if I were not going to hunt with the dog). Someone who is going to invest the time to train a gun dog will want to be as sure as possible they get a pup that will have a long healthy life (bred for work and health). To find one of these breeders I would start with the parent breed club or a hunting/field trial association.
Here is a good question for breeders:
“How many pups are you keeping from this litter?”
If the answer is none you have a better sense of why they produce this litter.