IT’S the death of a legend – a megastar of the fishing world.

Every year hundreds of fishermen would head to Hampshire in their quest to catch one of the most influential and famous fish in carp fishing history – the Nutsey Mirror.

Carp facts

• Carp have been recorded as weighing up to 60lb.

• The fish can reach lengths of 1.2m

• In the wild they are thought to live for 12 to 20 years. However, captive mirror carp have been recorded reaching almost 50.

• The mirror carp is the first recorded mutation of the common carp.

• The fish earned its name due to its large mirror-like scales

• The original common carp was found in the inland delta of the Danube River about 2,000 years ago, and was torpedo-shaped and golden-yellow in colour.

But today the fishing community across the country is in mourning – devastated that the carp, described as a “warrior”

who had been caught more than 340 times, has died aged 40 years.

At its heaviest, Test Valley’s Angling Club’s figurehead fish weighed in at 54lb.

When the news broke, a group of anglers headed down to Nutsey Lake to lay a St George’s flag over the spot where it has been buried after he was found floating lifeless in the water. It’s thought he died of old age.

But this will just be temporary as the club makes plans to plant a weeping willow and local fishermen club together to pay for a memorial plaque to ensure its legend lives on.

One of the last people to catch the fish was Scott Day, owner of Tightlines Angling Centre in Totton, who caught it when it weighed 52lb, in July.

The 33-year-old had been targeting it since October 2010 and still has a bad back from lifting it out of the water.

He said: “This fish was a warrior.

A true legend and I am gutted that it has died.

“That fish gave so much happiness to so many anglers and I am just thankful that I finally got to catch it before its death.

Some of my friends who never caught it are devastated and feel like they have lost a brother.

“The thing about Nutsey Mirror is that it was one of the last great English strains of carp – a thoroughbred.”

The carp was stocked in the lake in 1977, weighing just 8lbs, but it soon grew and as did its legend, attracting many of the UK’s most famous anglers, including Terry Hearn, who dedicated a chapter in his book and 30 minutes on his DVD to the fish.

Mark Simmonds, the Daily Echo’s fishing expert, said: “It is a major loss to the club and the whole fishing community.

“It was a very well known, much respected and loved fish.

It was one of the last proper home-grown fish that had grown up in the lake.”

• Anglers are welcomed to leave their memories of Nutsey below.