[numbskull]

As great as rigged eels work, and work they do, concluding that your experience catching fish with a rigged eel after failing with a plug means that rigged eels (or live eels for that matter) typically work 'better' than plugs is a mistake that may close your mind to what is possible and cost you lots of fish over the years (particularly if you lose or never gain confidence with plugs).

Some things for people to consider.

First, staying with a single plug too long is a mistake.
There are many times I'll make 10 (or less) casts with a needle and do nothing, then hook up on the next cast with a darter or swimmer (or vice versa).

Next realize that is important with plugs to vary the depth you fish, which is hard to do since most plugs start and stay near the top. A rigged eel (like a jig or rubber) is much easier to fish deeper (and a live eel easier yet again).

Retrieve speed is also an issue. Dogma is that slow is best. Dogma is often right but often also wrong. The experience with sluggos, multi-segmented swim baits, stick shads, and even buck tails shows that bass often prefer faster moving offerings. Rigged eels are usually retrieved faster than plugs and I'm sure that is a big factor in their success.

No question there are situations where something that gets deep and works fast will outfish a needle. That is what your experience is telling you. Rigged eels are a good way to accomplish that. There are lots of other ways as well.