Eel in overflow

[geo1]

I was cleaning my daughters 29 gal. Aquapod last night and discovered her snowflake eel (long thought dead) is in the overflow area where the pump is.
While we were delighted to find him after 3 months, we are perplexed about how to retrieve him.
I tried sticking my hand in there, but the term "slippery as an eel" has real meaning now.
He hides under the pump and won"t come out.
Short of draining the water, what can we do to return him to the tank?
Thanks!
Geo.

 

[bdhb12]

turn off the pump and pull it out for a sec and net him against the wall?

 

[alix2.0]

dont feed the tank for a few days and then hold a chunk of food at the top of the water in the overflow, net him when he goes for it?

 

[richtrinh82]

i hate when fish go into the overflow. usually the bigger the easier it is to net it out. gluck

 

[geo1]

Thanks for the ideas.
I removed the pump and grates from the back and tried to catch him.
After an hour and a half, and we were both tired, he hopped in the net.
After 3 months, he was returned to the rocks. He seemed to be very hungry!
As a precaution, I have put a small net over the overflow are to hopefully prevent jumping in the future.

 

[whisk]

one crazy story! pretty cool he survived that long.