Double figure eel

[davelumb]

Had my first eel session of the year yesterday and did OK. A much better take to eel conversion rate than usual. Using two brand new rods - so the new tackle jinx was broken. Landed four and dropped one off. All around the pound mark except one. Which was...








...about half that. Which is why this isn't in Catch of the Day.

This got me thinking about another water I was eel fishing about ten years ago. I put a fair bit of time on the place over a couple of summers never catching anything bigger than two and a half pounds, but plenty of bootlace action as soon as the sun set. Worms or deads. Another angler had similar results a year or so later. Even the carp anglers didn't report the (unweighed) four and five pounders that take their boilies everywhere else. I'd been told that if you are always catching small eels then a big one isn't going to happen. For that and other reasons I wrote the place off.

Scroll forward to earlier this year when I was shown a photo of an eel that was netted when the 'nuisance fish' were being removed from there. It was a poor photo, the eel was a writhing mess, but it's girth was obvious from the grip of the bloke's hands. Asked to guess its weight, apparently it had been weighed, I thought it around the eight pound mark. Wrong. Just shy of eleven pounds! I could believe it.

Bang goes the bootlace theory. However, this has given me the incentive to keep on fishing the water I'm on these days, and others that throw up lots of small eels.

How do these monster eels avoid capture? Do they have supersenses that alert them to rigs, or do they, as I have seen suggested, feed only on bloodworm, snails, and other small stuff? They certainly are a mysterious fish. And maybe there are more really big eels out there than we imagine. Off to tie up some more hooklinks now.

[Happy Hayes]

Was the Eel removed Dave .
Any Chance of posting the picture
Regards
Tom

[davelumb]

Was the Eel removed Dave .
Any Chance of posting the picture
Regards
Tom

Returned. Don't have the photo, was shown it on a phone. It was a big fecker!

[nicksuper7]

not got big being stupid dave.

[davelumb]

not got big being stupid dave.

I think big eels must be the smartest fish around. Even the medium sized ones are cleverer than me!

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

I would guess that all fish can be caught and if its still in there, you have every chance! Im sure fish can be preoccupied on a particular food source but baiting/pre baiting can get them round to your way of thinking.
The trouble for me is fishing a water with just one fish in mind which I have never liked.

Cheers, Alan

[BillCollins]

I doubt that big fish are really any "smarter" than smaller fish?.. It's just that generally there's far fewer of them and maybe by virtue of their size they don't have to be even nearly as competitive when feeding, which can make it seem like they're smarter.

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

I doubt that big fish are really any "smarter" than smaller fish?.. It's just that generally there's far fewer of them and maybe by virtue of their size they don't have to be even nearly as competitive when feeding, which can make it seem like they're smarter.

Trying to catch a 2lb barbel from the Trent is much harder than catching a double coz there is far less of them, dont make them any smarter though!

Cheers, Alan

[Neville Fickling]

not got big being stupid dave.

I think big eels must be the smartest fish around. Even the medium sized ones are cleverer than me!

No comment

[BillCollins]

I doubt that big fish are really any "smarter" than smaller fish?.. It's just that generally there's far fewer of them and maybe by virtue of their size they don't have to be even nearly as competitive when feeding, which can make it seem like they're smarter.

Trying to catch a 2lb barbel from the Trent is much harder than catching a double coz there is far less of them, dont make them any smarter though!

Cheers, Alan

Exactly

[stubbojo]

when i have been filming one pit i fish in the winter has shown some big eels passing the camera , they look very big ,
but tried to catch one in the summer months to no avail yet , but have heard of a carp angler had an 8lb fish a few years back
an old deep quarry venue .......very strange fish indeed.

[Mike J]

This may help Dave because I once hooked and sadly lost an absolute monster eel.
I was fishing a fry shoal using small rudd livebaits fished in midwater in a very deep pit. Its power when hooked was unstoppable even on the same gear that i had previously used to land umpteen 20lb+ pike. It broke off by snagging me then twisting up the 30lb wire trace until it looked like a mini birds nest.
Pat liveie in mid water in the deepest area on heavy tackle is the way I would go.
Why? Because a really big eel has no predators so it doesn't need to stay near safety, and it gets big by eating larger and larger prey because the extra time needed to digest large prey does not present a danger of it being predated upon.

As supporting evidence, one of the largest conger eels ever landed was caught by a netter nowhere near any structure.

I hope your wish comes true

.

[davelumb]

This may help Dave because I once hooked and sadly lost an absolute monster eel.
I was fishing a fry shoal using small rudd livebaits fished in midwater in a very deep pit. Its power when hooked was unstoppable even on the same gear that i had previously used to land umpteen 20lb+ pike. It broke off by snagging me then twisting up the 30lb wire trace until it looked like a mini birds nest.
Pat liveie in mid water in the deepest area on heavy tackle is the way I would go.
Why? Because a really big eel has no predators so it doesn't need to stay near safety, and it gets big by eating larger and larger prey because the extra time needed to digest large prey does not present a danger of it being predated upon.

As supporting evidence, one of the largest conger eels ever landed was caught by a netter nowhere near any structure.

I hope your wish comes true

.

Years ago I lost a decent canal eel on a paternostered live intended for pike. Oddly the same day I landed a pound plus perch on one! In my more recent eel campaigns I've been fishing baits off bottom in open water for a few years. Some nice ones landed but still no monster. if that huge one is still around I've no chance of catching it having left the syndicate five or more years ago and apart from the waiting list the subs increase has put it out of my price band.

[Mike J]

This may help Dave because I once hooked and sadly lost an absolute monster eel.
I was fishing a fry shoal using small rudd livebaits fished in midwater in a very deep pit. Its power when hooked was unstoppable even on the same gear that i had previously used to land umpteen 20lb+ pike. It broke off by snagging me then twisting up the 30lb wire trace until it looked like a mini birds nest.
Pat liveie in mid water in the deepest area on heavy tackle is the way I would go.
Why? Because a really big eel has no predators so it doesn't need to stay near safety, and it gets big by eating larger and larger prey because the extra time needed to digest large prey does not present a danger of it being predated upon.

As supporting evidence, one of the largest conger eels ever landed was caught by a netter nowhere near any structure.

I hope your wish comes true

.

Years ago I lost a decent canal eel on a paternostered live intended for pike. Oddly the same day I landed a pound plus perch on one! In my more recent eel campaigns I've been fishing baits off bottom in open water for a few years. Some nice ones landed but still no monster. if that huge one is still around I've no chance of catching it having left the syndicate five or more years ago and apart from the waiting list the subs increase has put it out of my price band.

There you go, we are both in the same wavelength.
In my experience they will in any water that has a connection however slight, to a river and many other places that have not. Ive heard of a few biggies that have recently come from a local gravel pit where fishing is free and another that came from a farm pond which has all but dried up.
Just a case of wading through all the available places until you hit the jackpot, then never leaving it!

Good luck, if you get it right and its certainly the one species that would really shake up the angling world.

.

[fenland piker]

The largest eel I landed came to a small rudd livebait fished around 2 feet below a float on a drain maybe 6 feet deep in the middle of a sunny day, never had a decent one on a ledger.

Many years ago I witnessed what must have been a near double figure eel removed from a weed screen/ eel trap on the intake of the stock ponds at a trout fishery in Bucks. it was thicker than my arm and an incredible size. Safely returned back to the lake by the bailiff without weighing. I later ran that fishery and often saw decent eels at the stock pond outlets.

From experience I believe eels are similar to some other predatory species in that the very largest specimens occupy a completely separate niche and behave differently to smaller ones. During my time running the trout fishery I often watched the very, very large perch which would hunt small trout in the same way that a pike would, very solitary with a specific patrol/ ambush area when they were on the feed and after feeding they disappeared back to the deepest part of the lake or the thickest snags. Very large cannibal brown trout would behave in similar way, patrolling a limited area where the fishermen couldn't fish and after feeding they tended to sit in numbers under an old derelict boat house.
It seems like the largest specimens of some species will adapt to the environment to find the safest and lowest energy way of feeding and then specialise in that niche where there is the least danger and competition for the easiest reward. Think how some of the largest fish live permanently under fish cages or in the outfall pipes of fish farms where the habitat is otherwise awful but they get constant food for little risk. or on commercial ponds where the banks become massively undercut by carp and the largest eels and perch will stay in those undercuts most of the time, mainly feeding nocturnally.

I recently watched a decent 5-6+lb eel in the middle of Kings Lynn, in a stagnant drain maybe a foot deep, completely buried in weed directly under where people fed the ducks. Every time someone threw food in, it appeared and gorged itself before reversing back into the hiding place. There was no sign of any other fish at all in the area and it had obviously found the perfect place to just live and grow without competition.

[davelumb]

The largest eel I landed came to a small rudd livebait fished around 2 feet below a float on a drain maybe 6 feet deep in the middle of a sunny day, never had a decent one on a ledger.

Many years ago I witnessed what must have been a near double figure eel removed from a weed screen/ eel trap on the intake of the stock ponds at a trout fishery in Bucks. it was thicker than my arm and an incredible size. Safely returned back to the lake by the bailiff without weighing. I later ran that fishery and often saw decent eels at the stock pond outlets.

From experience I believe eels are similar to some other predatory species in that the very largest specimens occupy a completely separate niche and behave differently to smaller ones. During my time running the trout fishery I often watched the very, very large perch which would hunt small trout in the same way that a pike would, very solitary with a specific patrol/ ambush area when they were on the feed and after feeding they disappeared back to the deepest part of the lake or the thickest snags. Very large cannibal brown trout would behave in similar way, patrolling a limited area where the fishermen couldn't fish and after feeding they tended to sit in numbers under an old derelict boat house.
It seems like the largest specimens of some species will adapt to the environment to find the safest and lowest energy way of feeding and then specialise in that niche where there is the least danger and competition for the easiest reward. Think how some of the largest fish live permanently under fish cages or in the outfall pipes of fish farms where the habitat is otherwise awful but they get constant food for little risk. or on commercial ponds where the banks become massively undercut by carp and the largest eels and perch will stay in those undercuts most of the time, mainly feeding nocturnally.

I recently watched a decent 5-6+lb eel in the middle of Kings Lynn, in a stagnant drain maybe a foot deep, completely buried in weed directly under where people fed the ducks. Every time someone threw food in, it appeared and gorged itself before reversing back into the hiding place. There was no sign of any other fish at all in the area and it had obviously found the perfect place to just live and grow without competition.

Probably a lot in that where eels are concerned.

[stubbojo]

dont underestimate the power of a big eel , had one on a 3lb tc rod took half a mackerel, it was just snout hooked on one of my trebles fought a lot harder than a pike
and it was not a monster approx 5lb ...but seen bigger fish pass my baited rigs on camera ......thank goodness i had heavy braid on at the time ....

[DJM]

The largest eel I landed came to a small rudd livebait fished around 2 feet below a float on a drain maybe 6 feet deep in the middle of a sunny day, never had a decent one on a ledger.

Many years ago I witnessed what must have been a near double figure eel removed from a weed screen/ eel trap on the intake of the stock ponds at a trout fishery in Bucks. it was thicker than my arm and an incredible size. Safely returned back to the lake by the bailiff without weighing. I later ran that fishery and often saw decent eels at the stock pond outlets.

From experience I believe eels are similar to some other predatory species in that the very largest specimens occupy a completely separate niche and behave differently to smaller ones. During my time running the trout fishery I often watched the very, very large perch which would hunt small trout in the same way that a pike would, very solitary with a specific patrol/ ambush area when they were on the feed and after feeding they disappeared back to the deepest part of the lake or the thickest snags. Very large cannibal brown trout would behave in similar way, patrolling a limited area where the fishermen couldn't fish and after feeding they tended to sit in numbers under an old derelict boat house.
It seems like the largest specimens of some species will adapt to the environment to find the safest and lowest energy way of feeding and then specialise in that niche where there is the least danger and competition for the easiest reward. Think how some of the largest fish live permanently under fish cages or in the outfall pipes of fish farms where the habitat is otherwise awful but they get constant food for little risk. or on commercial ponds where the banks become massively undercut by carp and the largest eels and perch will stay in those undercuts most of the time, mainly feeding nocturnally.

I recently watched a decent 5-6+lb eel in the middle of Kings Lynn, in a stagnant drain maybe a foot deep, completely buried in weed directly under where people fed the ducks. Every time someone threw food in, it appeared and gorged itself before reversing back into the hiding place. There was no sign of any other fish at all in the area and it had obviously found the perfect place to just live and grow without competition.

Probably a lot in that where eels are concerned.

I agree with you, I have often thought that exceptional fish must behave differently, which is why they are so infrequently caught, I think that this relates to most species.

[Richard.]

I doubt that big fish are really any "smarter" than smaller fish?.. It's just that generally there's far fewer of them and maybe by virtue of their size they don't have to be even nearly as competitive when feeding, which can make it seem like they're smarter.

Depends on the fish. Chub are definitely an exception to that with the bigger ones being much wiser to hook baits than their less cautious smaller pals.
I trott floats for chub very frequently in summer on small clear rivers and the intelligence level between the bigger and smaller chub is undoubtedly obvious.

I’d say in most cases your probably right Bill but chub definitely get much wiser as they get bigger. Probably one of the smartest fish in the river I’d say.