NOVPUB
Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Target Sixty-Five Fish
Duan Ziming took a cigarette and lit it, frowning as he said, "Not very familiar, I’ve seen the older one a few times, but it’s the first time I’ve seen the young guy who’s very nimble!"
"Do you think it might be the location?"
"It’s possible. I heard that in the last match, the two of them were also at the north bank middle section and had a good catch!"
Upon hearing the inquiry, Hou Xiaojun, who was one fishing spot away, spoke up, "The older one is Old Zhao, Zhao Bingguang! The young one is Zhang Yang, the owner of Famous Yang Fishing Gear in town! Today’s 800 pounds of fish were organized by them for fishing! Normally, it’s 500 pounds!"
"Old Hou, do you know them?" Duan Ziming curiously asked after hearing Hou Xiaojun’s introduction.
"Kind of. I’m more familiar with Old Zhao. I’ve only seen Zhang Yang a few times during spring wild fishing in the Wen River but never interacted with him!
I’ve heard from friends that the bait Zhang Yang sells is quite popular recently! Xiaolin and the others bought it for stealthy fishing, and the catch was pretty good!"
Upon hearing Hou Xiaojun say Zhang Yang’s bait is impressive, Qian Wenbo grinned, "Amazing bait? Haha, this is interesting! Where is his shop? I’ll check it out later to see if it’s really as good as they say!"
"It’s on the commercial street behind Government Street; Famous Yang Fishing Gear, you can’t miss it!" 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝘤𝘰𝑚
"Thanks!"
...
The two on the north bank were still catching fish, but after about an hour of fast-paced fishing, the bite slowed down.
Zhang Yang tried adding some Triangle Cannon, but the fish bite in the spot did not significantly improve. After fishing for a while longer, Zhang Yang knew that most of the fish nearby had been caught and today’s fishing scene was just like that.
"Old Zhao, switch to the 5.4-meter rod, set up a new spot straight ahead. Most of the fish in the short rod spot are gone!" Zhang Yang advised.
"Switch now? You’re not going to keep teasing them for a while?" Old Zhao asked.
"Switch. There’re still a few fish in the spot, but they’re eating very cautiously. I’ll figure out a way to get them out. You should switch to the long rod; you might still trick a few old fish!"
"Alright!"
After discussing the fishing plan, Zhang Yang pushed the lead seat down beneath the bobber, switching from regular fishing to the Da Fei lead method (Explanation ①).
After adjusting the fishing method, the double hooks were no longer pinching Triangle Cannon but were instead casting a large and a small bait straight into the fishing spot.
The Da Fei lead method can increase the fishing distance to some extent.
In this situation, the remaining fish in the spot were clearly more timid and cautious about eating bait, staying on the edges of the spot to pick up bait scraps and not daring to enter the spot.
Zhang Yang didn’t hurry to switch rods but adjusted the fishing method to achieve more distant bait placement, perfectly addressing the current cautious fish situation.
The Da Fei lead method worked well; on the first cast, after waiting less than thirty seconds, a fish took the bait, successfully going into the net!
Following this, Zhang Yang caught another three fish in front of the short rod spot, thus completely clearing out the short rod spot with no signs of fish activity left.
Zhang Yang turned on his headlamp, put away the short rod, switched to a long rod, and slowly fished the remaining fish in the distance using leads with a few balls of bait.
A well-satisfied Old Zhao couldn’t suppress his curiosity and asked, "If I’m not mistaken, I caught about twenty-four fish today! How many do you have in your fish net?"
Zhang Yang replied, "Thirty-one fish! Seventy to eighty pounds of fish, I think!"
"That many? I was the one catching fish first, and you started chasing after I was done!"
"Yes! My rod recovers fish quickly, and since I didn’t turn on the light, you didn’t notice!"
"Altogether fifty-five fish, which is almost as many as our total the last time! Fishing from the same spot as me, you sure missed out a lot!"
Zhang Yang nonchalantly said, "You got it wrong. If we switch to long rods and we each catch five more fish, wouldn’t that be sixty-five fish? At two and a half pounds each, that’s one hundred sixty pounds!
With more fish released, there must be more momentum after the initial rush. Keeping up the pace, we should have the opportunity to catch five more fish!"
The later fishing indeed went as Zhang Yang predicted.
The two of them split the remaining bait and steadily fished in the spot. Over the next three hours, they caught four to five more fish each.
At just past eleven thirty, the prepared bait was used up, and Old Zhao pouted and suggested, "No more bites, and the bait’s all gone. How about selling the fish and packing up? At this point, it’s not worth preparing more bait!"
Zhang Yang’s bait had run out a little earlier, and he’d been using kneaded bait for a while.
"Alright, let’s pack up! Catching one or half a fish isn’t fun anymore! After selling the fish, we can head back for some skewers!"
"Let’s go!"
"Boss, selling fish at the north bank! Wang Jun, how’s it going over there? Packing up?!" Zhao Bingguang shouted loudly and then lifted his fishing rod to start packing up, ending the battle.
"Packing up, let’s go together!" Wang Jun responded and started getting busy, too.
As per usual habit, the first wave of anglers to leave would leave around midnight. Today, it was over half an hour earlier. After hearing the call, Diao Changhe carried a plastic crate and headed towards the north bank.
"Who just shouted about selling fish?"
"Over here, me and Zhang Yang!" Zhao Bingguang called out, waving his headlamp in greeting.
"Oh, it’s Old Zhao. How did you and Xiao Zhang do today? Before it got dark, I saw you caught quite a few fish; couldn’t see after dark!" Diao Changhe asked kindly.
"Not bad. More fish released makes for more fun, had a great time here today!"
"How many fish did you catch?"
"Couldn’t say exactly. Let’s lift them up and see. Five to sixty pounds is a safe bet! Come, lend a hand and lift the fish net!"
Diao Changhe thought Old Zhao was joking when he said that. But when they lifted the first fish net out of the water, and seeing the catch, Diao’s face turned sullen.
"Oh wow, so many fish!"
"Hmm, quite satisfying!" Old Zhao noticed the subtle change in his tone but didn’t take it to heart.
"Zhang Yang, how many fish did you catch? Let’s lift them together?" Diao toughened up and asked again.
Zhang Yang smiled, "Can’t fit in one trip; let’s sell Brother Zhao’s first, then come back for mine!"
Hearing this, Diao Changhe felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
A full crate of fish can hold up to a hundred and fifty pounds; from what was said, the combined catch from the two couldn’t fit in one crate, meaning today’s deal was a big loss, a huge loss!
Old Zhao: "Let’s weigh mine first! I’ll give you a hand, come on!"
Old Zhao and Diao took one side each and carried the catch to the shed, quickly getting the results.
"74.6 pounds!" Old Zhao said excitedly after returning.
"Great, well done. Weigh mine too!" Zhang Yang, holding his fish net, assisted in lifting his catch onto the shore along with Old Zhao.
Diao shone his flashlight on it and saw that Zhang Yang’s catch was even more significant, feeling even more frustrated.
"That many! That’s almost a hundred pounds!"
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Explanation ① Da Fei Lead: In standard Taiwanese fishing line setups, the bobber’s weighted lead is typically at the lowest end of the fishing line adjacent to the swivel and the sub-line below, making the line assembly’s center of gravity lower, facilitating easier casting.
The so-called Da Fei Lead involves pushing the lead seat position upward below the bobber, a special fishing method. After adjustment, the bobber flips faster, and the double-hooked bait pulls the fishing line into a tilted state when entering the water. The bait’s drop point on the waterbed will be further forward than usual, often used in long-range or trajectory searching for fish layers!
