From a very amateurish fisherman, I wonder if we are so far behind. I kind of got the impression from the posts on "rigs" that bait and location were the primary success starting points. I have good and bad days, like all of us, but this usually relates to my fish finding, not fish catching. For me, personally, I don't think any advances in rigs mean I will bring more fish home. Besides, I'm sure the Italian fish would have absolutely no idea where the car park is.