Don - that rod sounds like overkill for eels. I would recommend a 9 footer as a primary eel stick. Something from the more inexpensive 1088 Batson to the more money Lami's, All Stars, St Croix and Loomis rods. You want to be able to load the rod up to get as much distance on the launch as eels travel only so far before a giant invisble hand comes out and slaps them straight down to the water. Unlike big plugs and metals, there is no balistic arc in eel fishing
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As for a rod, you want something durable, relativly light, and with sufficient capacity of line. A penn 6500SS is probably a good baseline for a reel. Others will use a Nautil, Daiwa... and so on.