Giant eel taken just 30 minutes after casting out!

ANGLERS targeting big eels by design often have to endure many blank nights before they taste success – but not Ian Pryke, who struck into this 7lb 12oz specimen just half-an-hour after casting out a deadbait!

When the Felixstowe all-rounder arrived at the Suffolk stillwater he had earmarked as having big-eel potential he could never have envisaged that he would land one of the heaviest of the season before he’d even settled into his swim properly.

Ian tells us:

“Just 30 minutes after setting up I had a slow run, picked up the rod and leaned into what was clearly a very heavy fish. It made several powerful runs that were difficult to stop, and I knew that it could only have been a huge eel on the other end. 

“My legs were shaking when it surfaced and I brought it towards the bank – I had to stay calm to get it safely in the net. I was still shaking as I put it into the sling!

“When the needle on the scales edged round to 7lb 12oz I was in shock. It was the specimen of a lifetime.”

Ian’s eel demolished his previous PB of 3lb 8oz and took a roach tail fished on a size 6 barbless hook and a running leger rig.

Ian Pryke with the giant 7lb 12oz specimen eel