Long haul comes good
A bunch of hair-rigged worms was the winning hookbait when Mark Salt won his battle with a impressive 8lb 1oz eel.
The huge fish was caught by the environment officer for the National Anguilla Club – the body devoted to eel fishing and research into the species – when he visited a syndicate water in Middlesex and used five lobworm sections on a short hair.
It’s the Hertfordshire specialist’s second eel over the 8lb mark from the venue, and he beat it to the bank with the help of a Dyson rig consiting of a circle hook tied to a 45lb Quicksilver Gold hooklink.
“I fished for eight nights and packed up soon after dawn each day. The big one came during the very last session,” said Mark.
“I’d had two eels, weighing
4lb 10oz and 4lb 8oz, along with a few blank nights – and they were cold ones too – but I stuck to the task. What a reward the eight-pounder was!
“The night that produced the fish was perfect for big eels, as the barometer dropped after a sustained period of high air pressure.
“The fish fell just 1oz under my current pb and is without doubt the longest eel I’ve ever caught.”
Mark’s rig allowed him to pop his hookbait up 12ins off the bottom, and he used a small free helping of dead maggots and chopped worms to help attract the eels into his swim.
His list of big eels makes impressive reading. Along with the two fish over 8lb, he’s banked no fewer than 13 eels over 6lb and two fish over the 7lb mark.
