There are stories of massive creatures in the Mississippi River that I've heard about for decades. Now, there's some proof that at least some of those fish tales are true as fishermen have just caught a massive eel in the Mississippi River near Hannibal. I just came across this amazing catch (literally) by the Illinois River Biological Station. Like true sportsmen, they released the eel back into the river after capturing these pics. This is the first account of an eel that I've seen in the Mississippi River.