i would think so ,seems like the pools alive with them ,the river is very small but crystal clear ,dont no if eels return to river or if they stay in river as they grow ,but you no the saying ,there goto be bigone,s if there,s small one,s might be better off dead baiting for big one,s ,lost a belter years back on canal (lancaster) had it on a sand eel deadbaiting for pike ,i played it for sometime and when i got it to net i hadnt hooked it ,the eel was holding on to the bottom of the sand eel looked at me and just let go and slid away was gutted .i,d say 6lb + easy .but thats fishing for you