I’ve pulled up an old reel, springs, and the occasional lure, like last weekend. 
I had a guy with me a few years ago pull up a shad rap he ripped out of the rocks someone else lost. He cleaned it up a little, tied it on and caught a flathead on it a while later. 
I snagged an anchor in the same area a few years prior to that, then proceeded to lose it at another lake. It was destined to be lost in the mud, I guess.
But the real cake toppers were a few years ago I was fishing the manmade inlet to a reservoir from shore. I felt something so I set the hook and could tell it was a real lethargic flathead or not a fish at all. Sure enough, it was the latter. I pulled up a HUGE raccoon that had been dead for quite some time. I reached down to pull him out of the way so I could fish and flesh just came off in my hand. I had that spot to myself that day (KILLER smell).
A few years before that I was lindy rigging the outlet of same said reservoir. I felt a little something, and couldn’t believe what I did: I hooked a dead drum in the mouth. Once again, he’d been dead for quite some time. Another boat was there watching, otherwise they woulda never believed what they saw. And I wouldn’t have either if I hadn’t seen it myself.
and hung it over the side of the boat (his boat). It sounded like a hail storm on a farm pond for a minute or so, and he then realized he had nothing to wipe with. Used a towel and tossed it over because he didn’t want it in his boat. Half an hour later, he snags something, and it turns out to be his 
a tire, a couple rods, one with a reel. Clam, crayfish, quite a few docks of coarse. A couple alligators 
