In tidal areas, you may even find them hiding under objects that have been exposed at low tide. If you want adult eels, you can use eel traps or hook and line. If you go with the hook and line method, I would suggest using barbless hooks. Also make sure you have a good hook disgorger or needle nose pliers. Eels put up a heck of a fight on light tackle.
Eels eat a wide variety of live and dead food.
In the tributaries of the Chesapeake, we caught them on everything from worms and minnows to grass shrimp. By far, the best bait I know of is a juicy leg from a soft shelled Blue Crab. Once the larvae develop into elvers, they head up into the rivers where they stay until maturity. It is believed, however, that only females make the trip upstream. Striped Bass love to eat eels, as do Bluefish.