My friend and I showed up before sunset at a nice rocky outcropping along a beach. We were there for the night with permits to take our 4 wheelers on to the sand. So waiting for dark we plugged a little and my friend snagged a menhaden on a popper trebble hook. He was going to toss the bait fish back in but I said hey , I'll take that.
I tied on a big hook and cast the whole live fish out to swim around and spiked the rod into a sand spike tube.. I turned , walked about 15 feet , saw the rod bend , chased it down as it went skidding across the sand and just nabbed it at the waterline.
Reeled in a 37 pounder.
Another 20 seconds of inattention and I'd have lost that rod and reel.