Huge river eel banked! — Angling Times

Paul Codman was left stunned during a recent session on the River Kennet, when what he thought was a good barbel turned out to be a large 6lb eel.

He told Angling Times:

“I’ve been fishing the River Kennet hard for the last few weeks in search of barbel and chub, and found some success in the form of a few barbel to a best of 9lb 8oz.
“During my most recent session I fished a few swims in daylight with no success, which was hardly surprising really as the sunshine was brutal. So I decided to fish through the night and settled into a deeper swim.
“One rod was cast mid-river, and I lowered the other into the margin. Both featured running rigs with luncheon meat on the hair.
“The night turned out to be uneventful but that all changed at dawn when the mid-river rod simply smashed round!
“The fish moved downriver quickly but as I gained line and began to bring it back towards me it felt odd – not like a barbel should. When it broke the surface I was shocked to see it was a huge eel, and I hurried to manoeuvre it into the waiting landing net.
“It was hooked perfectly in the bottom jaw and went a massive 6lb on the scales!
“It was a really unusual fish to catch in the river but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. The hardest part of the whole experience was holding it up for the camera!”

Paul Codman and his 6lb River Kennet eel