Having watched the locals catching tiny fish and keeping them in a kiddies sand bucket i fed 3 balls of damp micro pellet as far a i could chuck it and whacked flake out on a waggler ..bingo ,the cypriot next to me went mental as i slipped the little mullet back.

They will! Cypriots keep EVERYTHING they catch, shoot, or trap with bird lime! They will SHOOT you, if you get in the way of their target!

I lived there for 6 years, so I think I've seen just about everything from them.

Going fishing with them is a test of patience and forbearance. They have no concept of quietude and stealth. Consequently many good catch chances get spoiled in their company.

I once watched with amazement as a guy with a big old 12 bore did what can only be called a Disney Prance along a hedgerow, in pursuit of something. I watched him let loose with both barrels at point blank range, before diving headfirst into the undergrowth. He emerged with the shattered remains of............... A MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!

On the "Glorious 12th" the medical facilities expect several dozen deaths and serious wounds!

Different culture. Different outlook!

Browsing the boards, I was reminded of one of the strangest things I/ve ever caught....... and that was in Cyprus!

We were spending a Barby weekend, with guitars, booze and whatever, on the beach. It was a small cove not far East of Paphos. Among the rocks surrounding the beach and cove there were thousands of little Goby-like tiddlers.

As an exercise in observation, I experimented with bread crumbs and a variety of sinking hooks, to work out the best method for catching them for live bait. None of my efforts were successful.

Anyway, fortified by a bottle of local "beer" (reputed to contain 6 known poisons and several unknown). I progressed to dabbing a minute, self-built spinner, to see how small a fish would bite.

Imagine my surprise when a bloody great King Rag darted out from the rocks and fastened on to the spinner!

That ragworm was he start of an entertaining session, in which I used the worm to catch a form of sprat, which was sliced to catch successively larger fish, including several Flying Fish! (in the water, not flying!)

FYI, the smallest fish I have ever caught weighed in at 3gm! We were fishing the West Winner for Sole. I was using my lightest, self-build rod and a 1/0 hook. The damned hook was bigger than this leaf-like baby Sole! I kept it, took it home and weighed it on my scientific beam balance, then ceremonially returned the little blighter to the sea............. amid catcalls of "Bully!".

The same goes in Southern France.

Had a week on a canal holiday with work. All the locals fishing had buckets and they threw in all fish caught, no matter how small.