44lb conger eel beached

A cod fishing session produced a surprise for Sam Quilliam when he won the battle with this huge 44lb conger eel.

The specimen smashes his personal best for the species by over 40lb and almost stripped the line completely off his reel when it took off with his lugworm hookbait that was attached to a 2/0 pulley pennel rig.

It took the 23-year-old from Southampton over 20-minutes to finally beat the eel and after he’d recovered from his ordeal he finished off his session with a catch made up of black bream, plaice and his first ever cod caught from the beach.