Tony:
albino eels. I've been making them for years without realizing it! Thanks. I typically buy a dozen at a time; use 4-6 per night and leave the rest in a tightly sealed with mono silly little $2.39 buy it at any bait shop bait bucket which I tie off the mooring. The buckets are in fact white. When I buy the eels they are bnlack, day one they turn brown, by day 2 or 3 they are blonde on top and white underneath. Eels are great fun; as you say, there is nothing like that first thunk or that oh so subtle pickup that you can barely feel unless you have the line in your fingers. The mayo container makes sense; I'd rather have something w/ some structure and firmness than groping around in a bag for an eel.
To the guy who says how:
As Tony says - travel light. I make up 4 eel rigs for a night; 50 or 60# black swivel at the top; 40-60# mono leader about 18-24" long, 5/0..9/0 CIRCLE HOOK tied to the end. If you buy commercially made eel rigs they will use Siwash hooks which have a 25-75% gut hook ratio depending on your eeling skills. Circle hooks have a 5-10% gut hook ratio for novices. I'll get to the technique in a bit.
For starters pick one spot and fish it; leave your bait bucket sealed and up on sand; not rocks. Carry a cloth or in my case a piece of mesh bag to grip the eels. Take one eel out of the bucket and drop it on sand and let it get sandy. Now grip it firmly behind the head and *quickly hook up through the chin and out one of the eye sockets; lip hooked eels come off after one or two fish; eye socket hooked eels stay on forever.
Once the eel is hooked get it in the waterinstantly; don't even cast it; just flick it in the wash; this allows it to swim as opposed to tangling in an eel ball. If an eel gets wrapped in the line and makes a couple knots its almost impossible to clear it and use either that eel or eel rig.
After one or two flick casts into the wash you can start fishing with it. Eel fishing is slow; toss it out; drift it in current, let it swim in the wash; let it go down the water column; I typically toss it out only 10 or 20 yards from a jetty tip and keep it barely moving. Don't let it get in the rocks thoguh you want to swim it right down the sides of a jetty where bass hang. If your on a jetty don't forget to fish a cast or two parallel to the beaches on either side right behind the 2nd wave. When fishing a beachfront this way I sometimes treat an eel like a slider in the moonlight tossing it out parallel to the beach, keeping my tip high and retrieving fast enough that the eel is on the surface; making a wake. I've taken some spectacular fish that way with a THUNK as Tony says.
When your drifting or swimming an eel use either a conventiaonal reel or a bait runner spinning reel and leave the drag on clicker setting, you want little if any resistance when a bass picks up the eel. I always have the line through the thumb and middle finger of my left hand for additional sensitivity. If a bass picks up an eel and comes towards you with it the take is more a removal of weight than a hit.
If you are using a Siwash hook and you get a hit; one one thousand, two one thoussand; three one thousand; SET! Any longer and the fish is gut hooked. Guaranteed.
If you are using a circle hook; no fuss, no problem, let it run 3 seconds,5 seconds, 10 seconds, as long as you want. Once your sure the fish has the eel do *NOT* set, simply crank at a steady pace till the line goies tight; do not jerk, do not raise the rod, just continually crank until the line comes tight. Circle hooks look weird but have at least a 75% hook ratio when used correctly. Also if you miss or the fish slips of, stop immediatly, open your bail or free spool out 5 yards of line and wait; the bass will often come back again.
Whew!; enough typing with my morning coffee; thats a start..