After reporting last year that Steve Ricketts had broken the longest-standing coarse species record with his unbelievable 11lb 3oz eel, we genuinely didn’t think we’d see a fish of that calibre again anytime soon, especially considering it took 45 years to surpass the previous record.
However, as we know fishing is full of surprises, as angler Shane Lee can certainly testify to, as just this week he banked a truly giant eel weighing 11lb 2oz. The incredible fish was caught at the Stour Valley Fishing Complex in Kent, where Shane is a bailiff, and while he was aware the venue contained a few eels, he had no idea a specimen of this size was lurking in there.
"I was fishing as I normally do in one of my favourite swims on the main lake here at Stour Valley during an overnight session," Shane told us.
"There wasn’t much activity in the swim, so I decided to get my head down for the night as I had a busy day ahead," he added.
"At some point in the early hours I was woken up by a screaming take, and when I got to the rod, I could feel the fish shaking its head, and I knew it was probably one of the lake’s eels," he added.
After a fairly uneventful battle in the darkness, Shane managed to bundle the huge fish into the net despite its best efforts to writhe itself free. With morning not far off, and knowing how difficult they can be to deal with, he decided to sack the eel so he could get some help with photos once the sun came up.
"When I initially tried to unhook the eel, I couldn’t get my hand around the fish and that’s when I realised it was a good one, but I still had no idea just how special it really was," he recalled.
"Not really being able to sleep after that, I woke up early to get a proper look, and I couldn’t believe what greeted me in the sack, it looked even bigger."
"I called my good friend Steve Henderson to come and help with the weighing and photos and I just told him it was a good fish, he was just as shocked as I was when I lifted the eel out of the water."
After getting everything prepared, they placed the fish on the scales and were astounded as the needle swung around to 11lb 2oz. It was at this point Shane realised he had banked the fish of a lifetime and that the eel in his hands was one of the biggest the country may ever produce, with the fish potentially being over 50 years old.
"The fish fell to a garlic-infused Chorizo Boilie from Elevate Baits. It's a bait I've caught loads of fish on before and have complete faith in," he said.
"Now that I know what's actually in the lake, I'll definitely be putting in a few more sessions targeting the eels as I think there might even be fish bigger than this in here."
"It's a capture I'll never forget and may well be the best fish I ever catch," Shane concluded.
IF YOU WANT TO NIGHT FISHING, HERE IS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET STARTED!
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