Lavensheath Reservoir near Colchester, a water with no known big eel form, has thrown up a monstrous fish of 9lb 4oz to shell shocked matchman Bob Hewint.

And what makes the Conard, Suffolk angler’s catch more amazing is that he caught it during a match on a small piece of breadflake intended for small tench…. and on the pole!

And the fish, which Bob described as ‘truly scary’ was beaten on a size 18 hook, No 6 elastic and just 2.6lb line!

The venue is a ‘farm reservoir’ which holds lots of small tench, and locals say it has never before produced a big eel.

However, it is landlocked and experts say these kind of waters do have potential to produce large eels, becomes they can encourage fish to stay in them rather than make the journey to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.

The catch comes just two weeks after schoolboy Kyle Baldwin landed a 9lb 8oz eel from another day ticket water, Swan Lake near Skegness in Lincs. Both fish are thought to be in the top 20 eels ever landed in this country.