I'll jump in...my first swimbait fish was during the summer of 2001. it was 8.2 lbs. and I caught it at about 10:00 at night on an 8 inch trout AC plug. I was in my pontoon boat and she crushed it about a rod length from the boat. I was so surprised/startled I probably would have fallen out if I wouldn't have instinctively tried to anally inhale my boat seat.
It made an indelible impression on me about the importance of fishing out a cast completely before I start surveying the water for the next cast.