In reguards to smacking the eel, I do it too. The reason i do it is that it breaks all the vertebrea and pretty much paralizes the rear portian of the eel. I dont do this to elemenate tangles, i do this because the eel's tail will dance and flutter better under water, plus and this is the important part, when the eel dies, you can hardly tell its dead.
Another thing-
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& gets away with a 9 foot pole because he uses a conventional and can easily freespool... i find it difficult to eel with a 9footer and a spinning rod- i drop more bass than if i am using a 10 footer.
thats all i got to say.
