A big part of the fun of fishing an eel is slamming the hook home and having the tip stay down
It's hard to unlearn 30 years of doing it one way--especially at 3 AM, 4 hours into a tide, after being awake since 6 the previous morning.
I rarely--if ever--gut hook fish with eels. Bass usually take the snake back in their throat and crush it before they swallow it.