THE LARGEST EEL.

Auckland Star, Issue 38, 14 February 1929, Page 9

THE LARGEST EEL.

A THIRTY-FOUR POUNDER. CAUGHT NEAR WHANG AREI. FOUGHT OVER THREE HOURS. (By Telegraph.—Own Corrcsitourtent.) WHANG AREI, this day. Probably one of the largest eels ever caught in Xew Zealand waters is a o-H----pounder landed by two young men, Leo Care, of Cambridge, and Pat Smith who, while fishing from a dinghy in Hatea •Stream, 200 yards above Hail" Pool, noticed a black form swimming in clear water. A flatfish spear, made of two shark hooks straightened out was at once used with effect, the sharp point penetrating the monster deeply just behind the ear. The tide was high for a time, and a battle with the slippery fish continued from 10.45 a.m. until 2 p.m., when, after escaping many times, the eel was finally landed on a spear. From the tip of its tail to its mouth, set with rasplike teeth, the eel measured exactly six feet in length and it was 18 inches round the girth. When opened it was found to have an empty stomach but was immensely fat. It had a liver as large as a bullock's. Recently ail eel caught at Inglewood weighing 31 ill), was considered to have been a record.