Chum Man- I bet you'll be interested in handlines when you go down to some places in california and watch old "poor" people or just young families fishing from a pier. There are people who can tell you of tales regarding big striped bass caught off a very high concrete pier on handline. No joke, and it's usually the old men who get 'em. It's not too uncommon to see people using handlines for perch or flounder. In fact, whenever I go crabbing off a dock, I just bring a reel with line and bait some hooks, drop it down and see what bites. I've had real fun catching small perch that hit the bait as it falls through the water column.