Yuji Sakuma wrote:

Another impression I gained is that coarse fishing
as practiced in Europe is at least as technical as fly fishing is in its
practice and equipment. So much for the snobbery that some of us fly
fishers are prone to.

Saw a program on Italian TV last night about C&R fishing in streams for
what looked like small barbel, using spinning gear with REALLY long
telescoping rods and with maggots as bait. Two things that struck me
were 1) the process of attaching and regulating the float and various
split shot, involving a BUNCH of knots and tools, was WAY more
complicated than any fly rig I use, and 2) folks use slingshots to chum
a little spray of maggots around the float as it drifts downstream. The
slingshot is apparently an integral part of any self-respecting bait
fisherman's gear--used with all sorts of bait--and folks are deadly
accurate with it. Tweren't FFing, and the size of the gear seemed all
out of proportion to the size of the fish (9-12"), but it was
fascinating to watch.

JR