300 go street fishing in Paris

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PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- About 300 fishing enthusiasts gathered in Paris to cast their rods into the River Seine for what organizers called Europe's largest street fishing competition.

Organizers of the fourth Open Street in Paris said the 300 anglers -- from as far away as Belgium and the Netherlands -- stood at the roadside and cast into the Seine in an attempt to land some of the perch, zander, catfish, eel, salmon and dozens of other species populating the river, Radio France Internationale reported Thursday.

"The first idea is to have fun," said Maxime de Pommereau of French Touch Fishing, the organizers of the event.

"We practice a no-kill policy," he said. "You take a photo of the fish (for your blog) then put it back. We use lures, mainly plastic, we don't use live bait. We're not waiting for the fish, we're trying to find them, so we walk a lot."

Renaud Theis of French Touch Fishing said finding the fish can be challenging for street fishers.

"The difference with someone fishing from a boat, is that on the shore you really have to make it happen here, you can't say I'm going to move offshore ... you have to make it happen, so you have to adjust."