Watched a real battle yesterday from our bedroom window. A heron had positioned himself on the riverbank at the bottom of our garden & was looking for his breakfast.
Suddenly, he caught an eel (about 18 inches long) in his beak and brought it up on to the bank. There was then an almighty battle between the two of them which lasted for several minutes.
I had an Alsatian that caught an eel once in Boscastle harbour, she plunged her head into the water to get the stick I'd just thrown and came up with it round her neck.
I caught a conger once fishing in Cork Harbour it was about 6ft long the shipper took one look said " I'm not having that Fluffing thing on my boat" and cut the line