I found the trickiest part of eeling is handling eels. Never, ever, let 6 eels loose in the trunk of your BMW! Seriously, work out the schedule between your bait shop, fishing times, and plan what to do with leftovers. I find I can keep them alive 48 hrs even in warm weather in a nested (double) bait bucket, but it takes a little thought.
BTW, I use an 8'6" Ben Doerr and 6500 Penn reel. Tried a 10' Ben Doerr, and didn't work as well for me. I'm tempted to switch to a conventional setup.