Chapter 364: Chapter 223: Same Fish Situation, Different Strategies
If someone were to interview Zhang Yang now and ask about his attitude towards Liu Xiaoyun, Zhang Yang’s mindset during the interview would definitely be very calm.
As an adult with memories from two lifetimes, after experiencing the harsh realities of society, he becomes more rational and mature. Knowing that the other person isn’t worth associating with, maintaining vigilance is enough, and there’s no need to do anything specific to them.
Zhang Yang thought this way and acted accordingly. When he realized that the first session in the afternoon was right next to Liu Xiaoyun, he simply looked up at him calmly, then quickly resumed his ready posture, waiting for the competition to start.
But Liu Xiaoyun was different. Seeing that the Zhang Yang to his left was just a young angler, he began the preparation work with malicious intent, all the while greeting him without affecting his hands and feet.
"Hey, little brother, what’s your name?"
Zhang Yang looked up at him once more: "Hello, my name is Zhang Yang!"
"Not very old, how many years have you been fishing? Who do you fish with? Do you have a master?"
Zhang Yang picked up the conversation, and starting from the second sentence, Liu Xiaoyun bombarded him with a series of questions. His motive was very clear, to dig into Zhang Yang’s background and set up some groundwork for later conversation.
Zhang Yang himself was an experienced old-timer, so how could he be led by the nose? He looked Liu Xiaoyun straight in the eye and replied coldly: "No master, just playing randomly!"
"Oh, I thought you were with Ding Wen and the others! I’m quite familiar with little Ding and his group. We used to meet often in competitions, and get along well!"
Liu Xiaoyun was just trying to make small talk, trying his best to keep the conversation going.
"Oh!"
Zhang Yang knew that the other person’s motives were impure, so he certainly wouldn’t pick up any conversation points. In the face of any kind of conversational tactics, ignoring and not engaging is definitely the best solution.
In this lifetime, they had no relationship at all, so being a bit cold to strangers didn’t require consideration of face.
Seeing Zhang Yang having no desire to converse, Liu Xiaoyun was a bit surprised.
For young, inexperienced anglers, small talk was usually an effective strategy.
By adding some groundwork before starting to fish, and then seizing opportunities to guide the opponent’s thinking once the fishing starts, it’s easy to disrupt the neighboring angler’s competition rhythm.
The result would be that he could multitask without missing anything, while the other person gets distracted by chatting and becomes less sensitive to real-time fish conditions, naturally floundering throughout the competition.
Using conversational tactics to mess with young anglers was undoubtedly Liu Xiaoyun’s forte.
But now, with Zhang Yang not engaging, he couldn’t easily find a way to continue the topic. He had to shift his focus to the angler on the other side, quickly engaging in seemingly friendly chatter with them.
Zhang Yang glanced at Liu Xiaoyun’s bait situation through the corner of his eye and noticed that the bait he was using wasn’t in a packaged bag but in a foil package. Before he even added water, Zhang Yang already smelled a very rich shrimp powder scent.
As expected of a competition master, his knowledge of bait flavors was spot-on. This top-tier shrimp powder aroma was an irresistible temptation for small crucian carp.
Stealthily glancing at Liu Xiaoyun’s bait preparation, Zhang Yang’s mind raced with thoughts.
When placed next to regular anglers, Zhang Yang didn’t need to worry too much; relying on basic techniques, he could easily gain an advantage with any fishing method. But being next to a legitimate expert, Zhang Yang couldn’t be too casual.
After a slight hesitation, Zhang Yang got up from his fishing spot and took out two small labeled bottles from his tackle box.
Building on the existing strong fishy bait, Zhang Yang decisively halved it and added a bit of wheat dairy fragrance and fruit acid-flavored propellants.
While adjusting the bait, Zhang Yang deliberately turned his body to block Liu Xiaoyun’s view next to him. After fiddling with it, he didn’t place the bait with additives on the bait tray but casually put it back into the tackle box.
At this time, Liu Xiaoyun next to him had already finished adjusting his bobber and was chatting and laughing with the angler on the other side, seemingly unaware of Zhang Yang’s adjustments.
Adding propellants during the fish competition at the Competition Pond is actually considered a basic operation.
After two years of development, fishing propellants are no longer so mysterious, but for relatively unfamiliar small crucian carp, shrimp powder’s fishy smell is still the safest and most effective choice.
In most cases, anglers only consider relying on adjusting propellants to seek an advantage when fish conditions aren’t ideal.
The propellants Zhang Yang used weren’t the market’s pure essence mixtures but top-notch items from a lab not circulated in the market.
Zhang Yang’s reasoning for doing this was simple; at this just before two o’clock time point, it’s the height of the autumn tiger’s high-temperature period.
If the fish bite is poor during this time, the bait adjusted with propellants could serve as insurance for Zhang Yang, reducing the impact on his fishing rhythm.
Soon, everyone was ready, and Ding Wen shouted loudly, signaling the start of the first session of afternoon fishing!
Upon hearing the start of the competition, Zhang Yang decisively tossed his double-hook bait into the spot directly ahead.
However, at this moment, after his first cast, he didn’t lift the rod as swiftly as he did in the morning but watched the bobber unhurriedly, observing any possible movements.
At this point, some might wonder, what’s going on?
Wasn’t this morning’s approach different? The start of fishing should quickly establish frequency to make the bait spot, right?
This is where Zhang Yang’s experience comes into play; the overall fish condition is influenced by various factors and is in a state of dynamic change. Locational factors, temperature and pressure, repeated fishing and release, all of these affect the fish’s state.