Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 862 - 577: First Catch

According to normal fish-playing experience, when a fish undergoes three charges and retreats on the slipknot rope, its energy is greatly expended. If the angler can arch the rod, it indicates that the fish’s energy reserve underwater should be quite low.

But over on Zhang Yang’s side, just as he was catching his breath and hadn’t even wiped his sweat yet, the fish charged forward again with such force and speed that he felt uncertain inside.

"Damn it!" Seeing the rod nearly pulled flat by the fish again, Zhang Yang helplessly complained and released the line once more.

Then followed a process of reeling in and charging forward twice more.

After five rounds altogether, finally, Zhang Yang conquered the fish that had not shown itself in the water.

"Holy crap!"

Upon seeing the fish, Zhang Yang couldn’t control himself and burst out with profanity.

Goodness, the heavy-duty No. 5 New Guandong hook was caught on the fish’s tail.

No wonder the fish’s strength felt abnormal; the hook was lodged in the tail fin, so even a fish weighing only three pounds could exert the force of a ten-pounder.

Moreover, the fish he caught now looked to be at least seven or eight pounds, its belly turned up, with a mouth large enough to fit an adult fist, silently opening and closing.

Xiaowei: "Wow, what a big mouth!"

YOYO glanced over: "Hahaha, caught on the fish’s butt! No wonder!"

After expressing his amazement, Zhang Yang couldn’t help but smile widely, finding it a rare mishap considering his understanding of competitive fishing to hook the fish in such a manner.

"Even though this fish was tough to reel in, it’s definitely over five pounds! Xiaowei, bring the digital scale over, I’ll weigh it for you! It’s time to start fishing!"

Zhang Yang used a towel to wrap around the position behind the fish’s gill cover, then tied it onto the hook of the digital scale.

4251g.

Weighing eight and a half pounds, Xiaowei officially caught a fish worthy of the fish basket.

"Hahaha, I’m the first to catch one! YOYO, you better hurry!" Xiaowei personally embraced the big fish and tucked it into the basket, proudly showing off to her friend.

YOYO pouted and muttered, "Hmph, I’ll catch a big one next time!!

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the bobber suddenly dip sharply, and YOYO hurriedly lifted the rod to strike. Got it!

"This is a big one! It’s putting up a fight!" YOYO held the rod with both hands, using the Hua Clan’s method to play the fish.

YOYO hooked the fish in the mouth, making it much easier to play than a fish hooked in the tail, and using a No. 6 main line with a No. 5 tippet, there was little worry about the hook easily snapping, so YOYO steadily brought the fish up.

YOYO was correct; the size of his fish was almost on par with the first big fish Xiaowei caught, weighing in at over 3900 grams, also meeting the criteria for the basket.

So there it was, Zhang Yang brought these two ladies to fish, worked through the night into the morning, and both ladies had already caught fish while Zhang Yang himself, the expert, hadn’t yet had a breakthrough.

Never mind setting a new record with a giant fish; he hadn’t even caught a small one that wouldn’t go in the basket. Were it not for helping Xiaowei land her fish, Zhang Yang’s presence in today’s fishing efforts would be quite low.

But Zhang Yang wasn’t anxious; it was only half an hour into the start of fishing, with plenty of time remaining for the five-hour session.

Going for big catches means going for big catches; these ten-pound-eight-pound middling-sized fish are just bordering on adulthood among silver carp, and Zhang Yang isn’t too interested in those.

Next door, Xiaowei and YOYO, having pinpointed the right depth, quickly started reeling them in one after another. Zhang Yang glanced at their bobber positions and, after casting, casually adjusted his bobber twenty centimeters higher.

Now fishing at a greater depth of three meters, there was a difference of about half a meter compared to Xiaowei and their fishing depth.

Over the next hour or so, Zhang Yang maintained a stable, albeit not too brisk, fishing rhythm, with few movements on the bobber after reaching destination depth, but he wasn’t bothered, steadily casting one after another.

Time unknowingly reached nine o’clock, and next door, Xiaowei and YOYO’s fish bites started to slow down. Zhang Yang knew it was because the fish school’s movement was being disrupted amid constant fishing, with signs of dispersing.

Zhang Yang quickly shouted, "Fish are biting slower, you two add some more bait!"

"Okay!" Xiaowei obediently laid down her rod, gathered bait from behind her, and repeatedly squeezed walnut-sized balls before tossing them near the fishing spot.

There was still no action on Zhang Yang’s side, fearing that Xiaowei’s feeding would scare the deep-lying old fish away, so Zhang Yang deliberately balled up bait on both hooks for additional feeding.

Using relatively large bait balls, there wasn’t immediately a good feel during casting, ending up slightly off target.

Offset from the main fishing spot by about half a meter to the left.

Having double-hooked bait for feeding, Zhang Yang cast more lightly, and once the fishing set entered the water, the bait quickly dispersed; by the time it settled, the bait on the bottom hook had completely dissolved.

Just as Zhang Yang’s bobber was slowly rising due to the bait continuously dissolving, he suddenly noticed a subtle sideways bobbing motion.

There are fish nearby!

Bait reaching a depth of three meters and still causing such action signals there’s likely fish activity in the surrounding water layer.