Hey John,
I too once did the "pointless" thing. Although under totally different circumstances, in Canada. This was a very thick weedbed just begging to snatch my lure, and I just knew there were huge Northern Pike lurking thereunder. I totally removed the treble hooks from a "Daredevil" and proceeded to cast over the weeds. What followed were countless strikes , almost on each cast and retrieve. The bait may have been pointless but the experience was not.

Mark