Compared to Wang Jun, Zhang Yang's fundamental skills are much more fluid. He's already mastered the technique of using the double-hook Triangle Cannon. Within less than ten minutes of starting to fish, the 3.6-meter short rod spot was already a murky area.
After the formula for Xiaohuangmian version 1.0 was finalized, this was the first formal fishing competition, and the initial fish-attracting effect before starting was quite impressive. After drawing for a little while, the bobber had started to make some movements. This indicated that fish had begun to gather below the fishing spot!
Fifteen minutes into opening, Zhang Yang already had a catch on the hook, naturally moving into a rhythm of hooking and catching fish after changing to dough bait on the lower hook!
Starting at the peak, he skipped the quick bounce phase and moved straight into rapid successions.
During this time, Wang Jun, sitting on the north bank, had also completed the preliminary preparations for attracting and gathering fish.
Holding back his fiery spirit, he was even more strategic. Winning by catching fish wasn't his main goal; he was determined to shut down the "Old Lang."
When the bait reached the bottom, the bobber had already started signaling movement, but this guy wasn't in a hurry to catch fish. He forcibly controlled the rhythm, continuing with high-frequency rod casting to gather fish.
From initially reeling in the bait when the hooks reached the bottom to reeling in when the hooks were about seven to eight centimeters off the bottom, and then to reeling in when the bobber just turned over—he increased the density of the fish schools and raised the fish layer position through strategic control.
The fishing spot was crowded with fish, yet he wasn't eager to catch them, thoroughly executing the mouth-shutting strategy Zhang Yang had previously talked about.
On the other hand, Lang Junfeng's fishing seemed much less methodical.
Old Lang felt quite confident with the addition of Jinlong Carp, but his carefulness with maintaining the spot couldn't compare with Wang Jun.
Not long after starting, the first wave of fish entered his spot.
The combination of the double-hook bowling bait lured and caught fish; he saw his first solid strike as soon as it reached the bottom!
He lifted the pole and struck the fish! Precisely hit the target!
Lang Junfeng raised the fishing rod, casually glancing at Wang Jun. Wang Jun wasn't showing any sign of starting the rodding process; he was still focused on maintaining frequency.
After a short while, Old Lang's second fish came out of the water.
The bait formula with Jinlong Carp quickly attracted fish, with the bobber signaling a clean strike. Lang Junfeng already felt he was seeing the victory of today's fish game in advance!
"What's the deal? I've already caught two, and you still haven't started?" Lang Junfeng unhooked the second fish and started bantering with Wang Jun.
Wang Jun glanced at him calmly and said nothing.
"I thought you had some secret weapon or something. If we really match skills, you don't measure up! Want to admit defeat now? Surrendering forfeits half!" Lang Junfeng continued.
"Lose? I have no plan to lose!" Wang Jun coldly chuckled and skillfully prepared another Triangle Cannon, repeating his bombardment to his spot.
"Fishing is about the catch, talking tough doesn't help! Today the fish are really cooperative, it seems like I'll keep catching. Here's the third one!"
As he spoke, Lang Junfeng struck again, catching his third fish with its hook firmly in its mouth.
Fourth!
Fifth!
Sixth!
With each fish caught, Lang Junfeng announced it as if broadcasting results, initially prompting some responses from Wang Jun, but eventually, he stopped responding altogether.
Wang Jun's lack of response seemed, in Lang Junfeng's eyes, to be a sign of guilt and frustration. The more lively the banter became, the more enjoyable it was for Lang Junfeng; he was having a great catch today.
However, Lang Junfeng couldn't yet see that Wang Jun's spot wasn't devoid of fish; he just wasn't hastily catching them!
Finally, thirty-five minutes into fishing, Wang Jun's bait scattering and fish gathering work came to an end.
The pure offensive fishing method of the double-hook Triangle Cannon, combined with the super atomization allure of Xiaohuangmian, turned the spot area into a frenzy, with the fish engaging in a wild feeding frenzy.
At this moment, while Lang Junfeng was landing his seventh fish, Wang Jun inadvertently delayed his rod lift by a second, resulting in a significant dip of the bobber with a two-grade indication along its path.
This clear and solid dip couldn't be ignored; Wang Jun struck and landed his first fish!
In one swift action, the powerful waist strength of the 8h fishing rod immediately forced the fish out of the water, with the top hook hanging precisely at 12 o'clock in the fish's mouth. The red elastic pellet was still intact.
The high fish density in the spot made the efficiency of elastic pellet fishing no slower than using soft dough bait.
Because farmed fish are inherently drawn to pellets, using elastic pellets as hook bait produced an exceptionally aggressive bite.
Wang Jun did a few more test casts and realized that the dough bait only provided about a single grade of strike, whereas using elastic pellets resulted in exaggerated dips of two to three grades!
With elastic pellets on the hook and such aggressive bites from the fresh fish, Wang Jun naturally saw no need to switch back to dough bait. He increased his fish-catching frequency, rapidly catching up in his fish count.
After consecutively landing four fish, Lang Junfeng next to him realized something wasn't right!
"You... you did it on purpose!"
Wang Jun squinted and smiled: "What do you think? Did you really think I had no bites? You caught eight fish; guess how many casts it takes for me to catch up?"
Eight fish, eight casts! At roughly forty seconds per cast, in less than ten minutes, Wang Jun closed the gap and matched Lang Junfeng's catch.
What was even more frustrating for Old Lang was that as Wang Jun began his rapid-fire successions, the bites in Lang's spot noticeably slowed, with longer intervals between each catch until they completely halted!
This kind of setback had happened more than once when Lang Junfeng fished against Zhang Yang, yet Old Lang hadn't learned his lesson.
Li Chunsheng had reminded his junior brother multiple times, but in terms of insights and understanding of fishing, Lang Junfeng was like dog meat unfit for the feast; he had suffered similar setbacks more than once.
When using ordinary bait formulas, he couldn't gain any advantage, and now that Wang Jun was equipped with the advanced bait, there wasn't even the slightest chance.
Another five minutes passed, and Wang Jun continued his high-frequency fish-catching state, while the previously lively Old Lang was now completely baffled!
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, ten minutes ago it was nine fish, and now it's still nine fish. You better pick up the pace! What, now that you know you can't win, you lack motivation? Should I concede you a half-surrender?" Wang Jun's lips curled into a smile as he leisurely watched Lang Junfeng.
"What bait are you using? I..."
Lang Junfeng was a bit flustered, unable to understand why, despite using the same bait as the opponent, he was losing so pathetically.
"The same bait? You mean Jinlong Carp, huh? That stuff is what we left over, and you're treating it like a treasure? Look at my bait, is it Jinlong Carp?"
At this point, spurred by the other's reminder, Lang Junfeng finally focused on Wang Jun's bait.
A light yellow sandy powder, the likes of which Old Lang was seeing for the first time!
Another impressive bait in play? Jinlong Carp barely debuted long ago, and now there's so much new bait from Zhang Yang again; is there no end to it?
Once the enthusiasm within him diminished, Old Lang's fighting will quickly collapsed, losing all interest in continuing to fish. His mind was filled with the thought of the new bait.
Even when fully focused, he failed to gain any advantage, losing focus altogether meant there was no hope left. With his spot having ceased bites, Old Lang was utterly demoralized, losing the final chance for a last-ditch attempt.
His fate was sealed, with losing the fish contest being just a matter of time.
...
While Wang Jun was on a rampage with his rapid-fire catches, the other four or five anglers using Xiaohuangmian's new bait at the fishing venue were not idle either.
The super atomization property of the new bait demonstrated its effectiveness remarkably in the field. In situations where it normally took half an hour to attract fish, switching to Xiaohuangmian brought fish to the hook in just twenty minutes at the max. With a slightly higher casting frequency and better spot control, it was easy to steal catch success from neighboring anglers, with a high offensive impact.
Seven o'clock marked the start of fishing, and by eight-thirty, including Zhang Yang and Wang Jun, all six anglers using Xiaohuangmian were continuously catching fish, with Zhang Yang, who had no neighboring anglers, instantly jumping into rapid-fire-phase.
Xiaohuangmian's first official appearance immediately displayed an absolutely dominant performance in practical fishing competition!