I'll give it a go. This story is circa 1999/2000 if I recall.
Back in the earlier days of CAG we were setup doing a fishing demo at Horseshoe lake near St. Louis. This lake had a great number of carp under 10lbs. We spent a couple hours setting up the table and display area which were about 75 yards from where I was setup with the rods fishing. The whole idea was people would come by the table/display and ask questions. They were then directed to see me at the water if they wanted to see the "fancy gear" in action. Thankfully the bite was killer that day. Fish were making screaming runs about every 20 minutes which would get everyones attention and they would be so excited that when I handed them the rod they didn't know what to think! We spent the morning letting everyone have a chance to battle our beautiful carp. Come afternoon the bite starts to die down a bit so Grandpa Bud heads out to get us some lunch and I there manning the table and rods. This is where the story and my rod take off! So there I am preaching the good word of carp to a group of locals when the alarm starts singing a slow run, BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP. The group starts the 75 yard walk to the rod. I on the other hand take off in a slight jog. I'm now about halfway there when the run stops..... CRAP I'm thinking, the fish dropped off.... Boy I was wrong!!! The baitrunner on the old Shimano 3500B starts screeeeeeeeaming and one notes the alarm BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! I full out sprint to the pod. I get about 10 yards away when the fish slows down and I watch the line that went from peeling off at the speed of light slow down and tangle around the spool. Now that the spool is locked up there's a split second pause before the rod takes off like a rocket out of the pod, smacks the alarm and shoots into the water like a torpedo. As people who have fished with me before I'm not one to be afraid of getting into the water sometimes neck deep in order to land a fish or free one from a snag. Here I am 10 yards from the pod, in a full sprint watching my rod shoot into the water.... What do you do??? Slow down? Not this guy! I make it about 4 steps across the top of the water before sinking into knee deep mud, fully clothed with 10 people watching in amazement. Hoping that the rod is stuck in the mud I search about 5 minutes and come up empty. I feel defeated and get out of the lake. Everyone is apologizing about loosing the rod and reel as I sit in anguish. This is the first time something like this has every happened to me and if it's happened to you then you know the feeling. So I regain my composure and start talking with the group. About 5 minutes of standing around the pod and talking the other rod starts this weird intermittent beeping run. Not wanting to lose another rod I strike on it only to be left with no fish on the end. As I reel it in there is the feeling of dragging some weed along with it. The hook comes up with a line running against it. I grab the line and start pulling it in and feel a pull on the other end... Can it really be the rod I just lost??? I keep pulling.... low and behold it's hooked up to a carp!!! My line!! After getting the fish safely in the net I pull in the other part of the line and get my rod back. SCORE!!! Not only did I get my rod back but I landed the thieving carp that took it! I have the picture somewhere at my grandma's house back in IL but this fish was massive. She was about 16 inches long and weighed about 2lbs! Looks like I had the last laugh. No one could believe that the luck I had that day especially me. To this day I always check that my baitrunner isn't set to loose. That's if I remember to switch it on but that's a different problem all together!