When I was a (Bored) kid at Westport in the summer, we tied herring to the main line on a salmon rod (no hooks weight or anything), cast out a short way, let a gull pick it up and freespool him for a hundred yards or so. This allowed time to get it in the gullet before we flipped the lever. Nothin' like watching a seagull do a backward snap-roll mid-air.