| Warren Gaunt, better known to his pals as Wol, fished a southern gravel pit to take a personal best eel of 5lb 14oz. Warren takes up the story:  It turned out to be quite an awkward night as the wind really did blow and this made it difficult detecting bites with the newly made ultra light bobbins. The Dog (Andy Nellist) appeared at around 1am to say he’d just had an eel the same weight as his other PB, 5lb 1oz. This place is just getting better I remember thinking to myself and although not having had one myself (I’m only on my third trip) it’s certainly got what we’re after. Most of the night I spent next to the rods and did hit hard a couple of definite takes but only to have the lightweight rig come flying out of the water. I could hear The Dog’s indicators also bleeping away in the wind and by now it was pouring with rain. I sat under my brolly picturing Andy appearing now and again from under the heavy-duty ground sheet which I had lent him as he’d forgotten his brolly. I chuckled at that.  4.15am and with all the indicators bleeping away it was driving me nuts but with daylight starting to just show and the rain getting heavier I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I was packing up. Sod the tench and the float rod which I’d set up in the hope of having a go for them at first light, I’d been up and down like a yo-yo all night; no sleep, and I was knackered. Home and bed seemed like a good idea. Just then the left hand rod gave a positive indication and I was on it like a bullet, staring at the bobbin. A positive rise and I instantly struck hard. The water erupted and the fish immediately made straight for the bankside rushes. I pushed the rod with arms stretched as far as I could out into the lake in a bid to pull the fish away from the bank. This worked a treat and I soon had this wriggling mass of muscle directly in front of me, pulling and thrashing. Andy had lost a good fish the previous night (cut the braid) and I think a lot was to do with the head thrashing like they do when you try (in vain) to get them over and into the net, which is no easy task. Once this fish, which I could see was a good one, started doing this I let it go a tad and tried to play it out rather than haul it. After three attempts at netting it, which really is hard work, I managed on the fourth. On the bank I peeled back the mesh of the net to see this huge great snake-like thing looking at me. What an amazing sight, the biggest eel I have ever seen and only my third trip out after them and it’s in the bottom of my net. On the scales I’m stunned, a whopping 5lb 14oz, and a personal best. I place the fish in a retention net and nip round to tell the Dog who congratulates me and waffles on that he’s wet under the groundsheet I lent him. Do I really care? No! I laugh at that and tell him I’ll see him in a while to do some photos. We photograph both fish in the pouring rain, which was comical. Then we sat back and nattered for some time about this new water and its potential. Could we break the 6lb barrier, or even a monstrous seven? Who knows, I cant wait to get back and try.” |
Welcome!Log into your account
