Norwegian record European eel: 3.85 kg

About European eel

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has a long, snake-like body, thick slippery skin with tiny scales, and a single continuous fin formed by the dorsal, tail and anal fins. The lower jaw juts slightly, and the dorsal fin begins well behind the pectoral fins, which separates it from the conger. Females reach about 1.5 m, while males rarely exceed 50 cm. Eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, and the leaf-shaped larvae drift with ocean currents to Europe. Near the coast they turn into transparent glass eels and migrate into rivers and lakes. There they spend many years as yellow eels feeding mostly at night on bottom animals and small fish. Finally they become silver eels and head back towards the spawning area. In Norway eels live in fresh, brackish and salt water. Numbers have fallen dramatically, and the species is Endangered (EN) on the Norwegian Red List 2021. It is fully protected, and fishing for it is banned in Norway.

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Store norske leksikon, Fiskeridirektoratet, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Saltvann
• Best month: Juli
• Red list status: EN (2021)

See the species guide

Biggest European eel in FishComp

555 g (14 % of the record) by Emrik Hansen. See the catch

How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.