Eeling problems

A 9ft rod with a 5500 ss is a great outfit for fishing eels on the cape, but I agree with Saltheart that your line is probably the culprit of your troubles. I use 30lb fireline on my 5500's and they work great. Fireline acts more like mono than braid and it tends to be more forgiving in my opinion. The 30lb test fireline is only 12lb diameter so it is well matched to the 5500's spool. As far as swivels go, I havent had a problem with the cheaper barrel swivels, but have recently switched to the SPRO brand swivels which are small but very strong. Try the 80 or 130lb size. The 130 is about the size of a normal 75 pound barrel swivel.