I have been "lurking" around this forum for over a year and a half (mostly from my work connection) and have learned a great deal. My thanks to you all. My question is this... I am planning on purchasing a new bait feeder and rod soon and due to my budget I've settled (more or less) on the Diawa SealineX . I do mostly chunking from shore and boat but want to do more eeling this year. I had a 8' Ugly rated for 3/4-3oz and it felt over loaded w/ an eel. Will the 9' (1-5oz) Diawa be a better choice or was I too shy w/ the lighter pole. Obviously the 9' length is a consideration when I'm on a boat. I guess I want the rod to be all things if I'm only going to have one for a while...

Hi there and welcome!

You can't go wrong with the Daiwa Sealine X reels! They cast like butter right out of the box and are perfect for shore or boat fishing. Smooth as a baby's bottom.

I guess it boils down to what size you would want. Most guys in the surf will use the SloSH 20 or SloSH 30. If you're going to use it for both surf and boat, I'd go with the 30. If it's just for the boat, then you might want to consider going as large as the 50.

You mentioned you would be chunking. To be perfectly honest, an Ugly Stick (heavy) would be just dandy for the task. Might want to consider a 7-8 foot stick instead of the nine, which might be a bit unwieldy for the boat.

My suggestion: get two rods - one for boat and one for the shore, but use the SloSH 30 for both.

-WW