JR,

I have never bait fished, and probably never will, but like you, I found it
interesting that coarse fishermen release everything they catch and have
been doing so since before it became the popular thing to do among fly
fishermen. Of course, the reason they release everything might be because
most of the things they catch are inedible; although I did read one story of
a coarse angler getting an incidental catch of a trout and disgustingly
throwing it back in. Must have been like a chub to a fly fisherman.

Best regards,
Yuji Sakuma

"JR" wrote in message ...

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