Chapter 333: Chapter 207: Conspiracy? Strategy!_2
"Damn! You just wait!" Zhu Wu pointed at the two with a faltering confidence, unwillingly starting to pack his things.
In less than three minutes, his gear was mostly tidied up, and under everyone’s "attentive gaze," Zhu Wu was asked to leave the competition area.
Seeing Zhu Wu being driven away firsthand, Zhang Yang finally felt a sense of vindication in his heart.
Speaking of being upright and candid? Zhang Yang is definitely upright when handling legitimate matters.
But when it comes to playing dirty, Zhang Yang isn’t any goody-two-shoes either.
Using staff and competition rules to achieve his own goals is something he’s also skilled at.
If Zhu Wu had been a bit more rational, it might have only resulted in a warning; but since he wasn’t calm, the only treatment was being driven out of the competition!
...
With Zhu Wu being asked to leave, Zhang Yang’s neighboring fishing spot opened up.
Zhang Yang glanced at his watch; about 100 minutes were left until the competition ends at three. He casually rolled two balls of hemp bait, coated them with a thick layer of native pond pellets, and cast them toward the area between his fishing spot and Zhu Wu’s.
Zhu Wu, from the start of the competition until now, had continuously replenished the spot with pure imported Marukyu bait several times. Now that he’s gone, it’s perfect to reclaim the territory. Zhang Yang suspects there may be large fish active around.
And indeed, Zhang Yang guessed it right. Zhu Wu only encountered one big fish but hadn’t caught it, whereas with Zhang Yang’s native pond pellet hemp ball technique, the bobber quickly showed a response.
Almost identical to the first big fish’s bobber action, it unexpectedly pulled four eyes black.
Zhang Yang counted silently one, two, three, then calmly struck again to hook the fish!
Heavy! Very heavy! Another big one!
This fish gave Zhang Yang a similar feeling to the first one; once hooked, it moved very stably. The resistance transmitted through the rod tip and the underwater tackle was substantial.
Zhang Yang sat on the tackle box and maneuvered a few rounds, feeling a bit pressured. He couldn’t help but get up from his spot, crouched down controlling the fish for a while, and stabilized the situation temporarily.
About 15 minutes later, the big fish exhausted its energy, slowly emerged from the water, belly up.
"Report! Weigh the fish!" Zhang Yang merely glanced at it before raising his hand to call the judge again!
This fish was slightly larger than the previous twelve-pounder, Zhang Yang felt hopeful about breaking the single fish weight record, so he called the judge again.
The judge came over to assist with weighing it, sure enough, this hefty fish weighed 7.18 kg, roughly two pounds heavier than the previous six kg one.
The new single fish weight record was set, Zhang Yang delightedly threw the fish into the keep net.
Now with these few large fish caught consecutively, the total weight should be among the top, and the single weight should have a good advantage too. The grand prize, a small car, seemed to be waving at Zhang Yang.
Just as the competition seemed increasingly promising and victory in sight, from the forty-something spots over a dozen positions away from Zhang Yang suddenly came the sound of a strike from the rod!
This sound, for anglers, was heavenly, but for Zhang Yang at the moment, it made his heart tense.
Keeping his position, Zhang Yang, upon hearing the commotion, turned curiously like the other anglers to look.
Too many people in between, couldn’t see the angler clearly, but the angler stood up to maneuver the fish, vaguely visible was how largely the rod bent, the fish battle seemed very intense.
Damn? Could that person’s fish be bigger than mine?
Seeing the opponent’s maneuver, Zhang Yang, previously humming a tune with victory in sight, grew subtly nervous.
Near spot forty-something, the anglers there had fast catches in the rush fishing stage before the competition. If this big fish weighs more than Zhang Yang’s record, it poses some threat to the overall first place!
With a slight anxious mood, Zhang Yang kept an eye on his bobber while cautiously observing the distant maneuver situation. After a straightforward maneuver for nearly twenty minutes, this fish too was eventually flipped belly up.
During the judge’s assistance in weighing, Zhang Yang seized the chance while casting to glance a few times, upon seeing the outline of the big fish, his heart skipped a beat.
Damn it, what you fear comes true, the size of that fish is evidently larger than Zhang Yang’s current single fish weight record!
Weighing in the net like a little piglet, it looks nearly twenty pounds by estimate!
Does the duck that was about to be in the mouth fly away just like that?
Feeling a bit anxious, Zhang Yang glanced at the watch time; 77 minutes are left until the competition ends at three, a little over an hour!
What to do? What to do? What to do?
Zhang Yang, feeling the pressure, began to think rapidly in his mind!
At this moment, the bobber which had been silent for nearly half an hour showed some movement again, slightly sinking below the middle, and soon bobbing back up!
Zhang Yang’s attention was focused on analyzing the overall competition situation and didn’t notice the bobber’s small movements.
At this critical moment, he was distracted.
This can’t be entirely blamed on Zhang Yang; after seven hours of competition, Zhang Yang was almost constantly highly focused. Now with someone surpassing him in single weight, Zhang Yang clearly felt the pressure; not noticing the bobber’s minor movements is understandable.
The next second.
Only to see Zhang Yang’s bobber, thud thud! Followed by two exaggerated downward movements, directly going black, disappearing into the water.
When Zhang Yang habitually snapped back to reality and glanced at the bobber, nothing but empty water was visible, simultaneously, the rod handle he grasped transmitted forward-pulling strength.
Ssss!
The rod’s coating rubbed against the fork’s hook head, emitting a light sound, Zhang Yang snapped awake, tightly gripping the rod.
Damn! Just distracted for a moment, almost had the rod dragged into the water!
Instantly reacting, Zhang Yang single-handedly placed the rod’s handle forward, shook his wrist making a gentle upward hooking motion.
In fact, from an observer’s objective analysis, Zhang Yang’s rod strike was slightly late; had the fish consumed the bait without lifting the rod, then turned and started leaving, only then did he realize.
For any inexperienced angler, the instinctive reaction would be to abruptly raise the rod, using the rod’s strength and the tackle’s durability to directly battle the fish head-on.
But who is Zhang Yang — though the mind might wander, it’s normal, yet in crucial moments he’s conditioned with reflex actions, he wouldn’t go wrong!
The gentle forward probe followed by an upwards motion allowed the hook to solidly penetrate the fish’s mouth, while not excessively stimulating the underwater large fish’s senses.
Reflecting on the next second’s reaction of the large fish: though it fled, the force level wasn’t as extreme, reaching a state of earnestly exerting strength.
This tiny difference afforded Zhang Yang a chance to rectify the unfavorable situation through tactical operation.
The hooked large fish moved stably outward, Zhang Yang struck late, with the underwater tackle pulled straight creating a state where the rod couldn’t rise up at all.
In this critical moment, Zhang Yang decisively tilted the rod to the left while lowering his body’s center of gravity entirely.
The underwater fish continued exerting force confronting the tackle, stalemate lasted approximately two seconds, and Zhang Yang suddenly restored holding the rod to a normal posture, after one second, again tilted to the left.
This motion might sound somewhat complex when described, but in onlookers’ eyes, it appeared rather simple, as if Zhang Yang rhythmically swayed the rod back and forth.
This is none other than the renowned Cui fishing maneuver, recognized alongside the Hua Clan rod-holding technique, within the angling community!
Fishing media personality Cui Bingliang used this fish control method more than once during fishing show filming, initially not acknowledged by the wider angling community. After some time, it gradually gained recognition, receiving real-world validation within circles of anglers who favor big fish catching.
In situations with scarce operation space on the verge of fishing rod being tugged flatline, sometimes this ingenious swaying technique proves impactful when used skillfully.
In that instant, Zhang Yang’s temporary reaction to maneuver the fish had become a conditioned reflex, directly utilizing this maneuver!
Demonstrating effectiveness through action, after several oscillating rod directions, the fish slowly adjusted its swimming direction, the rod eventually started rising.
Zhang Yang regained control over the fish maneuvering situation, finally breathed a sigh of relief.