Best eel of the season

Eel fanatic Tony Arbery has banked the biggest ‘snake’ of the season so far. 

The 7lb 6zo fish was part of a three-eel haul and was taken during an evening session on a southern pit with his dad Len. 

Tony told Angling Times: “I was unsure whether it was an eel or one of the water’s rare big carp that had been hooked, for it made repeated efforts to reach a sunken tree – but pretty soon after the fight suggested it was an eel. 

“At this point my knees went wobbly, for it very nearly made the snags, taking line in a series of short, sharp, almost uncontrollable bursts of power – despite that I managed to steer it to the net.”

A dead roach hookbait mounted on a size 4 ESP Cryogen Gripper tied to 35lb Kryston Quicksilver hooklinks proved to be the downfall of the specimen.

Tony’s running rig incorporated a light 1oz bomb.