Julius Caesar first saw this opportunity when he landed on our shores, left the legions for a spot of sea-fishing and quipped, “I came, I saw, I congered.”

Congers are proper monsters of the deep. The British and world record is 133lb 4oz, caught by Vic Evans in 1995, fishing on Sea Spray II out of Brixham at a wreck six miles offshore. That’s a big creel-filler but lesser leviathans are still impressive.

“I took a boat with friends some 15 years ago and was lucky enough to boat an eel weighing 821⁄2lb over a wreck,” recalls one novice congerer. Everyone on the trip had one over 40lb, the qualifying weight for full membership of the British Conger Club. Fighting the fish was akin to hauling up a reluctant chest of drawers.

Dave Elliott skippers Ocean Warrior III and has a good record of landing lunkers, including a 103-pounder caught by Andy Matthews in 2003.

The boat’s an Aquastar 38 Sports-fisherman, fully licensed and insured for offshore wreck- and deep-sea-fishing, that nips along at 22 knots to get you to the fishing grounds quickly.

She’s moored at Newhaven on the south coast and can take eight anglers. The cost for a 10-hour trip is £600, including tackle and bait. Elliott says summer and early autumn are best, especially on a neap tide.

Dave Elliott, tel 07966 377145, or look at other charter fishing boats.