Chapter 329: Chapter 205: Evil People Will Eventually Be Punished_2
After analyzing the situation through the method of elimination, the actual fish condition might just be that there’s a large carp among the released fish species!
Large carp are timid and cautious with bait. Once released into the reservoir, they take a relatively long recovery period. It’s likely the three to four-pound carp have started feeding, while the larger ones haven’t.
Just as the thought was being processed, I saw Zhu Wu next door suddenly jerk his rod, creating a piercing noise as the fishing line sliced through the water.
The next second, the rod that had just been elevated to nearly sixty degrees was pulled back down with terrifying force, as if a hook had snagged a shark on the run.
In this situation, if the angler had slightly more experience, they’d tilt the rod to one side or stab it directly into the water, or simply discard the rod and use a losing rope to resist the impact. They could endure this most hazardous impact.
However, Zhu Wu, who values money over life, uses a large enough setup: No. 4 main line, No. 3 leader, and No. 10 Iseama hook. After hooking the fish, he doesn’t finesse the fish; he opts for brute force, leading naturally to disaster.
Snap!
The rod was pulled flat like a tug-of-war, breaking from just ahead of the handle’s section, scattering into four or five pieces. The material of the imported rod seemed excellent, giving way in the explosion. Zhu Wu was left with less than eighty centimeters in his hand, with the rod tip and setup pulled into the water disappearing quickly.
"Damn it! What a crappy rod, cost me over five thousand, and the fish broke it before I even saw it!"
Fuming, Zhu Wu threw the rod handle to the ground, venting his frustration with a few stomps. A high-end Japanese pure original imported DAIWA Nabori was ruined just like that.
Zhu Wu’s bad luck serves as a wake-up call for Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang observed that his assessment was likely correct—there’s still a big fish in the reservoir!
The fish Zhu Wu encountered was probably a whopper!
Why say this?
Firstly, the powerful escape exhibited the situation on the surface.
Secondly, the bait-taking location was in the scattered area between Zhu Wu’s old and new fishing spots, picking up bait outside the zone, a cautious behavior typical of large fish.
Explaining how that fish broke the rod might have multiple explanations: water depth, fish size, or the hook snagging somewhere other than the mouth, like the fins or even the tail. All are possibilities.
With this in mind, Zhang Yang quickly made new adjustments.
He took out premade nugget bait from his fishing box, swapped the scatter bait for original pond pellets, using a 5.4-meter rod to coat the bait and make full casts.
Zhang Yang’s mindset was simple: the spot had already stalled, treating desperation with hopeful strategy, adjusting the fishing method to see if a miracle might occur.
Why use a 5.4-meter rod with nugget bait at full cast? It was intentional.
The 5.4-meter rod is lighter, after a while of casting, it can establish a new fishing spot at the circumference of the standard hole. If activity stirs ahead, switching to a 7.2-meter rod would easily reach the point where the pellets disperse upon entering the water, forming a fresh spot.
Thus, after a simple fishing method adjustment, Zhang Yang quickly returned to casting frequency.
Double hooks squeezed with soft sticky bait, wrapped around in original pond pellets, then cast into the farthest point of the setup. Once the bobber settles, if no bite occurs, the next cast quickly follows.
Talking about this casting frequency might sound easy, but maintaining it for long demands quite a lot in terms of physical strength and willpower from the angler.
Persisting for ten minutes isn’t difficult; if fish keep interacting with the bobber, casting enthusiasm remains high. The challenge lies in facing high energy drain without any visible hope.
The average person would become sluggish after several dozen casts without a response, but Zhang Yang is different. In competition, his determination seems to turn to steel, persistently casting under the blazing sun at a steady forty seconds per cast, maintaining this for over an hour without altering his motion.
Just when Zhang Yang considered he might need to adjust his fishing method again due to flawed judgment, hope finally appeared.
Near the first drop location where the double hook bait entered the water, inconspicuous bubbles of varying sizes surfaced.
Previously mentioned was the difference in bubbles among fish species; Zhang Yang just needed a glance at those bubbles to know that a large carp was outside the spot, at least ten pounds and upward for sure!
Next moment, Zhang Yang decisively and gently lifted the setup, turned to place it behind him while switching to the 7.2-meter rod prepared prior to fishing, squeezing two nugget baits on the double hooks, then wrapping them in a thick layer of original pond pellets.
After baiting, Zhang Yang’s eyes scanned over the lead seat, having a sudden inspiration, he added an additional piece of lead on the lead seat, opened the space beans on both ends of the lead seat.
With this micro-adjustment, the original hook-less balanced four-eyed slightly dull tuning became a duller setup where the lead sinks directly to the bottom with both hooks lying on the bed.
After adjustments, Zhang Yang cast the rod in a rare standing posture, utilized core muscles with arm power to propel the double hooks approximately to eighty-percent rod range at the new spot’s perimeter.
Once cast, Zhang Yang wasn’t hasty about reeling and casting frequency. He remained ready to lift the rod at any moment, watchfully tracking the bobber’s response to ensure a fish was biting so he could react swiftly.
Waiting.
Protracted waiting.
Considering such high-frequency casting has solidified the bottom spot long ago, the coupling effect of the nugget bait is superb; it won’t dissolve and slip off the hooks in the short term.
This way, Zhang Yang maintained his fishing stance, waiting for fifteen minutes without reeling, anticipating that sudden bite.
Sadly, the bobber showed no activity. Without the gentle ripples stirred by surface winds, Zhang Yang would have otherwise had an illusion of casting the setup into his kitchen water tank.
Darn it, were the fish stars earlier false? Zhang Yang felt slightly unsettled, rubbing his head unconsciously.
Just after his right hand left the rod’s handle for less than three seconds, the bobber suddenly swished and disappeared from sight.
That’s right, not a tremble, not a subtle dip!
It vanished, the bobber vanished instantly!
A multifunctional float weighing over three grams with a visibility of at least 1.5 cm per eye, the four eyes leave five cm exposed above water, yet it disappeared in a flick.
Zhang Yang reacted instantly, hastily gripping the rod handle, simultaneously counting silently, one, two, three!
On three, he lifted the rod and struck at the fish!
The rod successfully bent, the force underwater passed through the setup to the tip, then channeling to the arm.
Heavy! Very heavy! Lifting felt as if the hook had snagged the bottom, the fish seemed completely immobile!
For Zhang Yang, experienced at dealing with such tactile sensations and states, he was certain this was undoubtedly a giant catch!
Using the 3.5 main line and 2.5 leader setup, paired with new No. 4 Kanto line, not overly authoritative yet strong enough, Zhang Yang felt assured of its robust reliability.
Zhang Yang steadily held the rod, lowering his center of gravity, preparing for the big fish’s initial exertion.
After approximately five seconds of stalemate, the fish remained still, Zhang Yang hesitated.
Could it have pooled?
It’s not uncommon for big fish to pool; if this were a live stream from his reservoir, Zhang Yang would knock the rod handle to stir the fish promptly.
But today’s stakes were different, with championship on the line, Zhang Yang refused to take any risks.
Thus, he matched patience with the fish!
With roughly three hours left until the competition ends, Zhang Yang had ample time to fight the fish.
His current standings in the fish count were decent; securely landing this big catch should ensure top-ranking performance. Up till now, no one else had caught a fish over ten pounds.
Holding still for three minutes, the rod bent, finally the fish moved!