NOVPUB
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Quietly Enter the Village, Don’t Fire
"I only caught six fish! Zhang Yang suggested I change my rod, but I didn’t! I should have listened to him! These in the basin are the handbaits, right? I’ll take some..."
"Take as much as you want, if it’s not enough, I’ll make more! Why didn’t you change the rod when Zhang suggested it? You’ve dealt with him long enough to know he wouldn’t trick you!"
Upon hearing about today’s great catch, with Old Zhao only catching five fish, Wang Jun was speechless.
"Ah! One wrong decision, too late to regret! This is how it is today. We’ll sum it all up when we finish fishing and get back to the shop!"
The two were casually chatting when Zhang Yang caught a glimpse of Zhao Bingguang’s bobber out of the corner of his eye.
He saw the electronic bobber didn’t have the usual biting motion but instead slowly went under and then got completely submerged.
Zhang Yang didn’t have time to get up to grab the rod before hearing a swish, as Old Zhao’s fishing rod got dragged into the pond by a fish!
"Old Zhao, your rod’s been dragged away!"
Zhang Yang got up and shouted toward the south bank. Hearing this, Old Zhao started running back!
Even though he was fishing, Zhang Yang didn’t react in time, and Old Zhao, still on the south bank, couldn’t change the fact that the fish had dragged the rod into the pit.
The headlamp shone on the water surface, vaguely showing the rod handle sticking out, while the rod tip and most of it were pulled into the water, slowly swimming toward the center of the small reservoir.
"Damn! A bit unlucky today! Thought it wasn’t biting anymore, and now it’s dragged into the water! How on earth do we deal with this!"
Old Zhao was somewhat annoyed, but there was nothing he could do!
No need to even ask, everyone else paid to fish here, and at this time of night, they wouldn’t just let him wade in to retrieve the rod. He could only wait till the next morning to take in the rods and paddle to the center of the shore to retrieve it.
Just then, Zhang Yang asked, "No other options?"
"We’ll wait. When it’s bright out, I’ll have Old Diao paddle the boat and get it for me. The rod shouldn’t be lost!"
Zhang Yang shook his head, "That’s not certain! The rod handle is still afloat now because it’s hollow inside, giving it buoyancy, but the rod’s seal isn’t that great. If it’s submerged all night, water will get in, and if it sinks by then, where would you find it in such a big pond!"
"So what do we do? Have Old Diao bring the boat over now?"
"No need. Did you bring a casting rod with you in the car? Any rod with a reel will do, whether it’s a spinning rod, sea rod, or rock fishing rod!"
"Are you planning to use this method to retrieve the rod? I have one in my rod bag; let me grab it from the car!"
Soon, Old Zhao retrieved a sea rod from the car, still with a set of bomb hooks on it.
Zhang Yang gave it a glance and, after confirming it was okay, he bit off the Number 4 nylon line connecting the bomb hook, found a sinker from the tackle box, tied it firmly, tested the feel, and had Old Zhao shine the light on the rod handle’s position before casting it out.
The first cast landed about half a meter off. After getting familiar with the force and regaining the feel, Zhang Yang, on the second cast, easily placed the sinker around 30 centimeters in front of the rod handle.
The sinker is heavy and will sink once in the water, so the fishing line will form a force angle with the rod handle. Old Zhao’s rod handle still had Zhang Yang’s wrapped keel handle tape, increasing the friction between the fishing line and the rod handle.
Recklessly pulling at this moment would definitely not work, and it might even scare the fish, causing it to escape further.
However, Zhang Yang didn’t yank back, instead cautiously feeling the tension, confirming the fish wasn’t startled before slowly reeling in.
Patiently fine-tuning the position on the bank, maintaining a certain angle of tension, he slowly reeled it in. In less than five minutes, Zhang Yang had pulled the rod to shore, where Old Zhao, who was already prepared, quickly swooped up the rod, job done!
"Damn! The fish didn’t escape! I’ll let you pull my rod, damn, if I catch it, I’ll smash it!" Old Zhao angrily bent the rod to let the fish tire, and quickly netted it up.
Saying he’d smash it was just angry talk; in such hot weather, a dead fish would spoil overnight. Old Zhao still put the fish into the fish basket.
After such an episode, Old Zhao didn’t dare to roam around anymore. He patiently added some more groundbait, squatted at his fishing spot with Zhang Yang, chatting quietly while keeping an eye on the spots.
Gradually, they caught a few more old fishes in the pit, and before they knew it, the first half of the night had passed.
After midnight, the fishing ground became quiet. A few friends who had things to do tomorrow packed up early, sold their fish, and drove off. Zhang Yang roughly counted based on the bobbers in the water, confirming there were still 18 people continuing to fish.
For over an hour, no fish had surfaced in the whole pit, and Old Zhao was contemplating leaving, whispering, "Xiao Zhang, at what time should we leave?"
Zhang Yang took a puff, exhaled a smoke ring, and replied, "Why, getting tired?"
"A little. If there’s no bite, maybe we should leave early? I’ve caught nine fish already, not bad! Hanging around all night for just a few more fish isn’t that meaningful! I don’t have much going on, but don’t you have to look after the shop tomorrow!"
It makes sense; with night fishing, after midnight, the fish activity slows significantly, so it’s not very cost-effective.
"Alright, we’ll wait a bit, once the lights in the prefab house go off, we’ll leave! Would anyone at the market still be open at this hour?"
"Yes, I know someone who buys fish and sleeps in their shop; we can call them when we arrive, we’ve been there before!"
"Great!"
The two made their plans and waited until half past twelve when a tipsy Diao Changhe came out of the prefab house shouting.
"Anyone still taking their rods and fish back? If not, I’ll be resting!"
No one answered, and Diao Changhe wasn’t surprised; those headed out had left over an hour ago!
Before long, the lights in Diao Changhe’s prefab house went out. Zhang Yang sent a QQ message to Wang Jun on the other side, sharing their plan, and Wang quickly replied ok!
The three of them quietly packed up their gear and loaded it onto the car, then Old Zhao brought down a large plastic storage box, normally used for miscellaneous items, from the car. Under the faint night light, he picked up the fish basket and threw it into the storage box, and together they managed to lift over a hundred kilos of fish into the car.
On the opposite side, the fellow anglers also noticed the movement of them packing and lifting the basket, but at night it was hard to see clearly how much fish there were. Those curious enough to shine a headlamp just saw the two of them carrying the box and turning into the car.
"Old Zhao, you’re packing up?" At this moment, Hou Xiaojun from the south bank shouted.
"Yep! Done fishing. My wife just called, saying she’s not feeling well, so I’m heading home to check! You guys continue here; the bite should pick up near dawn!" Zhao Bingguang casually made up an excuse.
"Let’s meet again later, drive safely!"
"Alright!"
On the other end, Wang Jun also loaded his fishing gear and catch into the car behind them. The two cars, one after the other, left the Oil House Fishing Ground!
At this moment, a drunk Diao Changhe lay on his bed, snoring away.
...
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Explanation①: Yin Piao: Due to low bobber sensitivity and factors such as adjustments, after fish biting the bait, the bobber doesn’t show a strong downward motion, but rather a gradual lowering, which is called Yin Piao.
