Chen Xueqiang was a bit perplexed, but Old Wu saw it clearly. With a smile curling at his mouth, he explained, "It's easy to start fishing, but to achieve a full catch, you need skillful operations! Operations require a sustained investment process!
But look at his fishing spot; it's already filled with fish stars. I estimate it's almost time!"
Another five minutes passed, and the high-frequency bobber at the fishing spot appeared repeatedly. Zhang Yang judged that the fish density was sufficient and, with a thought, for the first time, he pulled up two round, fluffy bait balls before pinching the double hooks.
Experts recognize skills; seeing the state of the double-hook bait, Old Wu rated Zhang Yang's fishing skills even higher.
"No need to watch further; what you posted on the forum is probably true!" Old Wu made this judgment without even seeing the subsequent double-fish Flying Copy technique.
Holding the equipment, Xiao Qin heard Old Wu conceding and instinctively turned to look at him, full of surprise.
However, Old Wu did not continue to explain but raised his hand to signal him to look forward.
Directly in front, Zhang Yang had completed the hook-catching and fish-piercing motion with his first rod. Two lively, bouncing big crucian carps drew an arc in low air above the water, landing precisely into the net.
Reading others' descriptions in forums feels different from witnessing such extraordinary skills firsthand. For a moment, the group of four, who had been whispering conspiracies, were instantly convinced by Zhang Yang's move!
Chen Xueqiang was very satisfied with their dumbfounded expressions, took a drag from his cigarette, and blew out a smoke ring: "How is it? Didn't I tell the truth? Seeing it with your own eyes, isn't it shocking?
Last time, when I saw it for the first time, I was completely stunned! Fish flying like this, it's damn cool!"
"Damn, this is insane! How does he do it? I tried it at home after reading the post, but I couldn't succeed even once!"
Xiao Qin stared intently forward, murmuring to himself.
Old Wu looked serious, grabbed his phone, and opened a stopwatch feature, timing Zhang Yang from the start of baiting and pressing the stop button at the next instance when two fish entered the net.
A single cast with double fish on the hook and in the net took just over forty seconds, more than ten seconds faster than their earlier calculated fish return time of one minute for two fish!!
Old Wu glanced at the timer and excitedly exclaimed, "Two fish, forty-six seconds! Much faster than our estimate!
Traveling over two hundred kilometers wasn't in vain! The fishing circle in W City truly has hidden talents! I've learned a lot, truly learned a lot!"
Beside him, Xiao Qin got even more excited hearing Old Wu's words, stood up directly from his small stool, and stepped towards Zhang Yang.
Watching the match from behind, at most four to five meters away from Zhang Yang, before Xiao Qin could approach, Old Wu grabbed the hem of his jacket.
"Why are you wandering around? People are busy catching fish; don't you even know basic courtesy?" Old Wu reminded.
Xiao Qin embarrassedly scratched his head, "Oh, right! It's my oversight!
Brother Wu is right; this trip wasn't wasted. After fishing, no matter what, I have to treat this guy to a meal and get to know him! He's amazing!
I used to think I was a fishing genius and wasn't convinced by anyone. Now I've realized I was wrong, and how ridiculously wrong I was!"
The anti-counterfeit group behind had already come to a consensus, while the battle on the field was still ongoing.
Currently, both Ma Yuhua and Zhang Yang are catching fish at a fast pace, but the difference in their fish returning efficiency is more than double.
Zhang Yang has at least a seventy percent success rate with double fish, performing the Flying Copy technique much faster in retrieving fish and unhooking.
Although Old Ma is also skilled, the process of retrieving fish close to the water surface, placing them in the net, and unhooking is naturally a notch slower than the Flying Copy.
If quantified by the number of casts, Old Ma averages two casts for every three that Zhang Yang manages.
Seeing this, some might still think a two-to-three ratio isn't a significant gap; after all, Old Ma can catch double fish, with a success rate also over half.
But is the actual impact small?
Not at all! The frequency gap results in a crushing advantage!
The short-term difference in fish gain is a minor issue; the real killer is the baiting volume!
With each cast, the double hooks bring bait into the spot.
Every two rods, Zhang Yang cast one more than the opponent in terms of baiting volume—this cumulative difference over time is insurmountable.
Quantity leads to qualitative changes, inevitably affecting the density of fish schools at the spot significantly.
This is also why Ma Yuhua can barely maintain a fragile balance with his bait flavor advantage and decent basic skills in the short term.
If an average angler performed even slightly worse, after an hour of fishing, they would be completely overpowered by Zhang Yang.
The ongoing battle concluded very soon after one hour and fifteen minutes since fishing began.
On Old Ma's side, the fish bites got slower and quieter.
In contrast, Zhang Yang had already fished over two pounds of scatter feed into the water, with schools of fish still densely packed at his fishing spot.
The double-hook bait dragged the feed, fixing the fish layer at about seven or eight centimeters from the bottom, with consistent bobber reactions along the descent.
While the competing anglers on either side had stopped catching, Zhang Yang not only didn't slow down but actually fished faster!
Before they knew it, the crowd behind him had grown from initially five or six people to seven or eight, then more than ten, and finally a large, densely packed group.
Seeing Ma Yuhua completely stop, who had previously dismissed his apprentice's claims at the shop about Zhang Yang's prowess in catching crucian carp, was now utterly stunned.