Isnt casting and reeling pretty much the same as slow trolling it along the fishy areas? You are in constant contact with the eel and basically leading it over areas with fish.
spent many years fishing with my brother all around fisher island at night and tried many things and other stuff does work but nothing compared to fishing live eels, in trolling ya id go tube and worm which imitates an eel but to troll a live eel has got to be a pain because anyone who has fished em knows what they do to your line. Way we did it was fairly simple almost like fishing shore line from a boat casting a rubber worm with no weight trick is to keep in contact with the eel at all times and slowly retrieve you can feel the eel vibrate and can tell when a fish takes it because you will feel the bump in the line on your finger...just a suggestion to try I have pictures albeit developed ones to prove its success many nights with 6-7 fish over 40'
Think of the difference in trolling a plug and tossing a plug. you want the splash and all that swimming action from top to bottom to cover the water column
40 foot stripers!!! lol...I agree, nothing like casting eels at night. And Fishers Island is our #1 spot.