I don't know if you clicked on the link shown but there is a big discussion there on rigging them. Lots of guys do use big hooks. I got nothing against even 10/0 hooks as long as they are super sharp like the chemically sharpenened ones. I don't think the hooks will give you a keel effect no matter how big.
The rigged eel is different than a live eel. You don't wait on the take , etc like a live eel. You nail anything that touches it immediately. Its as good as a snag as it is a lure. I catch as many bass foul hooked on the tail hook as i do mouth hooked on the head hook. Big bass will often wach the eel , then come back to eat it. Sometimes they just wack it with no intention of eating it. (bad mood maybe!
). Anyway , rigged eels are not like a live eel in the way they hook fish or in the way you fish them.
I have caught fish to 34 pounds on the tail hook. The best is when they get foul hooked under the chin where they can shake their head in the fight.. A twenty pound fish hooked under the chin will feel like a whale with the leverage it can get with its head shaking.