R"eel"y Good Start.

 

 I can't remember the last time I caught an Eel by design, let's just say I have forgotten a lot and needed to brush up. That said on various platforms there is a wealth of knowledge and tutorials etc to help blow the cobwebs out of ones mind to remind you of past experiences and teach you new things and how to implement that into your angling. 

 I spent a few hours setting up my gear and watching said videos so that by Wednesday evening ( a few weeks back ) I would be primed and ready to tackle the seemingly baron canals on East London. Given the fact Eels aren't liked by many means they are largely an unknown and having only seen a couple of dead ones floating against lock gates or in rafts held up by canal boats at mooring it intrigued me. Also given the fact the specimens I had found dead were very big, one I estimated to be between five and six pounders when alive, it looked bigger still, but with bloating and decomposition beginning some of the size had to be taken into account.

 Coupled with the cormorant predation on the canals I can't imagine there are many bootlaces around so that would potentially mean if I were to get a run it would be a good fish, a 2lb specimen to begin with was my target and once I've achieved that weight bracket then I'd move on to the next with a 4lb fish an ideal fish to really get my campaign going and a six pound specimen my ultimate canal goal.

 I arrived at the canal and headed straight to one of the lock basins as I would have thought these areas would be a natural place for food stuffs to settle thus a good place to start, only concern was that the sun was still bright and thought I may have to wait for dusk. 3 hours later and still bite-less ( as I thoroughly expected ) the sun had dropped beyond the built up horizon of the London skyline.

 Using the "Twig Rig" which I will go into more detail on another post was deployed, one baited with a small cube of meat, the other a fresh Roach head. The reason for using the head first is the head contains quite a lot of blood and juices, this being the attractive part of the fish and hoped to speed up the process of catching an Eel.

Bingo!

 Just twenty minutes into night and the meat rod bleeped a couple of times and then the line started to peel off the spool where I then picked up the rod and struck, but oddly, nothing. It was clear upon retrieval of the meat that it was indeed an Eel that had been eating the bait with the tell tale triangular nips out the sides. I quickly got the bait back out and within 5 mins the rod was away again and this time I made no mistake with the setting of the hook. 

 And as much as the Eel tried to evade the net it was ultimately in vein. I had got my first Eel of the campaign on the bank and it wasn't a bad one either. This fish was swiftly followed up by another around 1lb 8oz and was good to know I was in the mix. 

 I stayed until around 10pm when I decided to call time on the session but was a very good start and truly believe that there are bigger fish there, just need to get the time to target them and do the deed!

 The photo of the biggest one below at 2lb 5ozs. 

Tricky to hold....

29.5 inch length, 5.5 inch girth.