Several anglers called to say I should not be condemning the fishery just yet and that given a warm spell the early disappointment anglers had endured could well all be forgotten.

I was very surprised to hear from carp anglers who suggested that the water had untold potential and could even hold a record fish!

As we rarely get to hear or see any big carp that are taken I needed some proof and was promptly provided with several photos.

No-one could answer the main thrust of my argument though - where are all the youngest fish? And why are we and some very, very good anglers not catching the big weights of bream we used to only a couple of years ago?

Carp anglers can be very guarded as to where and when they have taken their fish. Pre-baiting and a lot of time and money ensures only a small percentage of fish taken are ever reported on.

So I was really pleased to see first hand the sport Stamford rod Craig Westley had been having over the past year at Ferry Meadows.

It would be grossly unfair of me to divulge his locations as he has spent countless hours marking out gravel bars, deep troughs, weed beds and feeding areas on both lakes.

What I can do is show you the fruits of his labour on a very recent outing on the fishery, a cracking 27lb fish taken by the way in daylight hours.

That dispels the theory that you can only catch the big carp at night.

He took the beautiful fish on hair rigged double sweetcorn after two sessions of pre-baiting. Put the time in and you could be holding one of Ferry Meadows' many monsters!

IT is not just Ferry Meadows that can produce big carp though.

Mark Panton and his son Ross have been season ticket holders at Gerards Carp Lake out at Maxey for some time and have been taking fish even in the cold conditions.

A recent red letter day saw young Ross bag over 20 carp in a days fishing, culminating in a fine 27lb fish being taken on a Method feeder to round off a cracking day for the Stanground youngster.

The name Panton will of course ring a bell with some of the slightly older match men in the area. Dave Panton is the head of the family and was regarded by many as one of the best local rods in the 80s and 90s.

Dave still performs well but nowadays he too fishes Gerards and no doubt passes on all his vast knowledge to his grandson. Perhaps we have another match star angler in the making from the Panton family, or will he stick to banking big carp?