Yeah, that really stinks ... and know how you feel.
A number of years ago, while fishing down in So Co I had what I believed to be an old Atoms 40 that I bought at a yard sale -- excellent shape but no box
-- it caught so many fish for me that I couldn't not use it. The line somehow snagged when I cast, the lure snapped off and shot out like a ballistic missle, sailing further than I could ever imagine casting. I had another rod right next to me but fell a few feet short on every cast. The lure finally bobbed into the current and disappeared.
I just hope that who ever wound up finding it has used it with the same success that I did and held it in the same reverence. The question may arise, why'd you ever use it in the first place? ... because it caught a heck of a lot of fish and it does not have a lot of value to me if it is on a shelf ....