Birthday eel haul includes 7lb 8oz monster!

BARRY McConnell treated himself to a 10-day trip to celebrate his 63rd birthday and ended up catching six specimen eels to a best of 7lb 8oz!

The Derby rod targeted the margins and silt gulleys on two difficult Midlands gravel pits and found success from the off, as he explained:

“I spent the first two days fishing an easier water and caught the two four-pounders, before moving on to a much harder 100-acre pit.

“The 7lb 8oz fish, which is my fifth over the 7lb mark, came the day before I was due to leave and I knew from the moment I struck into it that it was in a different league,” said Barry, who used lobworm and dendrobaena worm balls.

Barry’s other fish weighed 4lb 1oz, 4lb 4oz, 5lb, 5lb 13oz and 6lb 5oz - what a session!

An eely good birthday present for Barry McConnell in the shape of this 7lb 8oz eel