Man catches 25lb eel after 10 minute struggle

A man who caught an eel weighing 25lb (11.3kg) said he felt his rod bend and had to get his friend to help reel it in.

Sam Walsh caught the fish off the shore at Bognor Regis, in West Sussex on Friday night, using a sardine on a loop rig.

A typical eel would weigh somewhere between 2.2 and 4.4lb (1-2kg).

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex, Walsh said: "I was fighting the fish for 10 minutes - it was going left and right, we didn't have a clue what it was. My mate went into the water to see if he could drag it out."

He said it was the biggest fish he had ever caught - although he could not weigh it because he forgot his scales.

But his friends were able to provide an estimated weight based on similar-sized fish they had caught before.

The eel was returned to water shortly afterwards, something Walsh says he does with "99% of the fish" he catches.

He added: "It's just a sport for me. If I can show someone online how good it is, or they can rekindle their interest, then I have achieved my goal."

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