Monster eel falls to drop shot lure

A predator angler has boated one of the biggest eels ever taken in the UK – during a lure fishing expedition to a Midlands reservoir! 

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, rod James Knights was drifting his boat in search of perch when the 9lb 8oz monster nailed his drop-shotted Zman TRD lure in 27ft of water. 

He said: “I’d already had a great day on the perch front, catching numerous fish to just over 4lb, when this giant eel made an appearance. 

“The fight was absolutely immense – the fish felt very heavy from the off and I had no idea what I had hooked! 

“There were lots of thumping head shakes which made me suspect it was a big perch, and it didn’t strip lots of line from the reel as a big pike would. I truly didn’t know what I’d hooked.”

Halfway through the fight the eel managed to wrap itself around a buoy, which gave James a nervy few minutes as he tried to free it.

“I had to drive the boat around the buoy multiple times, and on three or four occasions the eel swam backwards into the chain to try and break me off,” he added. 

“Eventually I managed to drag it free, which is when I finally saw this gigantic eel.
It had taken my lure square in the mouth!

“On the scales it went 9lb 8oz and it was by far the biggest eel I have ever seen – if I’d lost it I would have thought it was a 20lb carp.”