Chapter 502: Chapter 293: The Rightfully Named Fiery Fish Temper_2
This feeling was very familiar to Zhang Yang. Back when fishing at his family’s live-streaming base reservoir, catching big fish felt just like this.
Could it be I’ve caught a piglet on the first cast?
The rules at Jinghai Garden state that carp over five pounds can’t be kept, which isn’t a good thing!
Zhang Yang eased the fish’s power, letting it swim two rounds, and slowly brought it to the surface. Upon seeing the size of the fish, Zhang Yang was speechless.
A carp barely over three pounds, yet the strength it showed after hooking felt like seven or eight pounds; even Zhang Yang would believe it.
Legend has it that the pond owner, Old Ma, was skilled in managing water to care for fish. Now it seems true; the old fish was strong and healthy, a testament to excellent care!
With this kind of fish strength, using a rod with 8h hardness surely hampers things. After bringing the first fish ashore, Zhang Yang decisively changed rods to a 10h, paired with a new set of lines: a 2.5 pull within a 1.5 gauge and a No. 4 main line, 2.5 for the sub-line, and a 3.5 buoyancy big bobber.
Having switched rods, Zhang Yang’s neighbor was already reeling fish in.
This muscular man, though not tall, used a rod which appeared to be at least 12h. The grip section was as thick as a child’s arm; once a fish was hooked, the tip had limited curvature, and within five seconds the fish was out of water, then quickly netted by Flying Copy.
During the gap when the muscular man was unhooking the fish, the Fisherman nearby skillfully picked up a ball of loose feed and accurately cast it to where the bobber stood upright, showing a seamless coordination between the big and small men.
After adjusting both rod and line set, Zhang Yang fished intensively, casting over ten lead shots until the bobber started moving slightly after settling. Only then did Zhang Yang switch the rubber bait to dough bait.
Zhang Yang’s dough bait had excellent properties, lightweight density, and with the first cast after switching bait, the bobber had just started descending when there was a distinct large mouthful at the bait.
With the 4+2.5 line set, having an action between two or three marks indicates excellent fish feeding conditions. Zhang Yang quickly lifted the rod to hook the fish, skillfully raising the rod, and with the fish at water level, swiftly netting it.
During the unhooking process, a glance at the fish’s mouth showed the hook perfectly lodged at the twelve o’clock central position, a classic big-mouthed Tianjin carp, strong and active.
The struggle of this fish compared to the initial old fish was weaker, leading Zhang Yang to conclude it was a newly released fish, giving him a preliminary understanding of current fish conditions.
This typical Tianjin unsophisticated carp definitely loves scatter bait. After netting the second fish, Zhang Yang continued the intense bombarding with lead shots.
Fishing high density, quality black pit carp, Zhang Yang always adhered to the principle of fast fish, slow fishing. During the initial fishing phase, everyone tries to grab fish, but Zhang Yang wasn’t concerned about the ten or so fish gains or losses, instead focusing on maintaining the bait zone.
With good quality fish, after gathering them using scatter bait, fishing becomes doubly efficient, especially in Jinghai Garden’s ultra-high density pit. The snowball effect after managing the bait zone is striking.
Many less skilled anglers, who fish at the Garden for the first time, might catch a hundred or so pounds but remain unaware of issues since managing bait and catching rhythm wasn’t properly controlled.
For someone at Zhang Yang’s fishing skill level, deciding which rhythm suits the fish condition has nearly become instinctual.
After deciding on a fishing strategy, Zhang Yang strictly executed it over the next half hour.
Each rod carried a handful-sized scatter bait on the lead shot. When baiting, the fingertips held tightly, but the palm’s center held loosely.
This allowed the lead shot to be tight outside and loose inside, not falling during casting but quickly dispersing upon entering the water, dissolving before reaching the bottom.
With Zhang Yang casting lead shots consecutively, the bait point soon saw increased activity.
Occasionally, the bobber showed ambiguous nudges or bites. Zhang Yang would disregard any unstable bobber movements to minimize the chance of snagging fish.
During normal bottom fishing, with increasing bites, Zhang Yang lowered the bobber by twenty centimeters and cast a dozen rods further, with even more bites prompting Zhang Yang to lower another twenty centimeters.
After half an hour of intensive showing, Zhang Yang had consolidated the fish layer at the bait point to a height about sixty to seventy centimeters above the bottom.
With the fish school gathered, the subsequent catch phase becomes more relaxed.
Zhang Yang grasped a smaller-sized scatter bait on the lead, and normally cast twin hooks with dough bait.
After the bobber entered water and flipped steadily, descending slowly, the sub-line just started to swing twice before the bobber gave a clear, powerful bite indication.
Rod lift and fish hook! Successfully hit!
The hooked Zhang Yang used his upper arm to drive the forearm to exert force on the rod, utilizing the rod’s strong waist power to lift the fish from the water, then steadily netting and unhooking it!
Third fish!
With a high fish density underwater, the competition bites were distinctly beautiful, and with stable and firm tactics, roughly every ten fish caught, Zhang Yang had thoroughly sorted out current fish conditions, finding the most efficient catching rhythm.
At this moment, just forty-five minutes had passed since the official commencement of fishing.
A glance around the expansive Jinghai Garden Fishing Ground revealed at least two to three hundred anglers fishing simultaneously, with people catching fish everywhere.
Currently is the initial fish scramble period; broadly speaking, everyone seems to have good fish conditions, yet no one knows who might emerge as the pit champion today.
With normal fish condition development, the first two hours are fast-biting, changing to slower bites, with longer intervals between catches thereafter. Good fishing spots might continue to offer bites till the end.
Despite Zhang Yang fishing for less than an hour, he’s already sensed the robust fish density in Jinghai Garden Fishing Ground.
What a sensation, continually pulling fish out without pause, yet the fish layer in the bait point keeps rising, such intensity; could it force a fish to float?
After brief hesitation, Zhang Yang abandoned the idea of extreme upstream floating for big carp; whether it works is one issue, and disrupting the bait point might reduce efficiency.
Thus, Zhang Yang maintained approximately a forty-five-second-per-fish catching pace, fiercely netting fishes into his keeper, with no sign of pause.
Observing the 154th angler nearby, initially energetic in fishing, consistently catching fish, but about half an hour into the fish scramble, his bait point began having fewer bites.
That person was Xie Tianhao, an angler from Hebei, an enthusiast of black pits, spending at least ten days a month fishing at Jinghai Garden; sometimes when fish conditions are good and work isn’t busy, he might stay for a week.
Good fishing skills and familiarity with Jinghai Garden’s fish conditions mean Xie Tianhao rarely fails here; securing a decent fishing spot generally ensures a successful round.
Occasionally, if unable to get a prime spot, sitting next to one often allows him to poach fish.
Following normal logic, being close to the 155th golden spot, always casting bait frequently to lure fish, maintaining fish without mistakes like losing or disrupting the bait point, should lead to increasingly frequent bites, extinguishing the neighbor’s luck.
But now, the adjacent angler wearing a sun-shielding scarf appears steady in catching fish, while Xie Tianhao was about to halt.
Something’s off, really off!
Detecting the anomaly, Xie Tianhao observed Zhang Yang’s actions for a while and soon broke into a cold sweat!
Timing closely, seeing Zhang Yang catch five fish consecutively, Zhang Yang’s catching pace remained unchanged, with identical bait bites upon bobber flipping in almost mirror-like fashion.
An outsider sees the excitement, an insider knows the reason; any angler smooth enough to align with the fish condition like this must have solid fundamentals, certainly a pro.
When did Jinghai Garden host such a big demon king?