Eel fanatic Tony Arbery has banked the biggest Anguilla of the season in the form of this remarkable 7lb 6oz specimen.

The fish was part of a three-eel-haul and was taken during an evening session on a southern pit with his dad Len.

Tony told Angling Times: “I was unsure whether it was an eel or one of the water’s rare big carp that had been hooked, for it repeatedly made efforts to reach a sunken tree – but pretty soon after the fight suggested an eel.

“At this point my knees went wobbly, for it very nearly made the snags, taking line in a series of short, sharp, almost uncontrollable bursts of power, but I managed to steer it to the net.”

A dead roach hookbait proved to be the downfall of the specimen, which Tony mounted on a size 4 ESP Cryogen Gripper tied to 35lb Kryston Quicksilver hooklinks.

His rig incorporated a running rig incorporating a light 1oz bomb.