Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 674 389: Grass Carp on the Flying Lead

Liu Wenjun, who changed the flavor of the bait, made a series of subsequent adjustments and adaptations, but since the foundation of the fishing spot was already set, there wasn't much substantial change in the fish situation over a short period.

In contrast, Zhang Yang maintained complete consistency between the flavor of the fishing spot and the bait, as if he had written a script before fishing. The overall development of the fish situation was almost entirely in line with his predictions.

As he continued fishing, more and more fish were caught, and the situation at the fishing spot became increasingly stable, as if it were a seamless progression towards an ideal state.

Zhang Yang was performing steadily, and Han Mocheng, positioned on the north bank, was also performing well today.

On the first day of the competition, Han Mocheng received quite a bit of teasing from Zhang Yang due to his free handling. Today, he learned from it.

Since the start, he had been using the bait prepared by Zhang Yang before the competition. After more than two hours of fishing, his fish basket already contained dozens of pounds of catch.

To be fair, when Han Mocheng gets serious, his practical skills are impressive. He easily outperformed the anglers on both sides, with a stable fish situation at his spot, able to catch a fish every few casts.

...

From just after seven in the morning until ten, the overall fish situation in the pond was relatively fast. However, as the temperature rose around half-past ten, the bite started to slow down, and after a while, even the well-established spot stopped yielding bites.

"Damn! No bites!" Zhang Yang slightly furrowed his brows, his mind racing.

There's still an hour until the first half of the competition on the second day ends. The water temperature is rising; are the fish fluctuating?

Zhang Yang quickly reached a preliminary judgment and pondered swiftly.

In general terms, when the temperature rises in the fishing process, and the fish fluctuate, there's really no good method to handle it. The aphorism in fishing that even an immortal finds it hard to fish at noon reflects this principle.

Fish are low-level aquatic vertebrates with a natural tendency to seek warmth and oxygen. The larger the fish, the more they are affected by these external conditions.

Zhang Yang had considered this possibility in his pre-competition predictions, but at that time, he thought it would be more evident in the afternoon, during the second half.

Unexpectedly, the timing was ahead of Zhang Yang's expectations, showing evidently before the first half ended.

What's next? With the fish fluctuating and the spot yielding no bites, we can't just wait idly, can we? That's not his fishing style!

As Zhang Yang continued casting his rod, he thought for a few seconds and quickly formulated his response plan.

He took out a bag of opened, aged mixed grain fermented wheat from his fishing box and poured the wheat directly into the smallest bait tray without doing anything further.

He then used another bait tray to slightly add a bit of water to the previously adjusted soft sticky bait, quickly kneading it.

In no time, the sticky bait had become adhesive. Zhang Yang dampened his left thumb and forefinger on a wet towel and effortlessly pinched off a small clump of soft sticky bait.

The adhesive properties of the soft sticky bait had significantly increased compared to the initial sticky bait after deliberate kneading. Zhang Yang casually applied bait to double hooks, dipping the bait cores in fermented wheat.

It's the wild fishing variant of the ball bait method in lake and reservoir fishing!

The ball bait method has been mentioned multiple times before, typically used in commercial fishing ponds to leverage the pellet-eating behavior of fish for lure-fishing integration.

However, in wild fishing and lake reservoir, fewer people employ this method, preferring to throw bait by hand to solidify the spot and then patiently fish.

The fact that ordinary anglers don't habitually use it doesn't mean it's ineffective; it's just slightly more challenging in terms of fishing techniques and not often applied.

But today is different. Zhang Yang knew the fish well in the reservoir, and since fluctuating bottom fishing doesn't yield bites, he had to try something.

Using fermented wheat as the dipping material for the ball bait method, after casting the rod into the water, these small pellets would consistently fall, possibly enticing the nearby roaming fish and prompting them to chase after the falling particles, leading to more bites.

Objectively speaking, this wheat ball bait fishing method is slightly more effective under current fish conditions than simple sticky bait or moist scatter bait for fish attraction.

But Zhang Yang wouldn't know the exact practical difference until he tested it himself.

After adjusting the fishing method, he kept a steady pace of casting at a rate of approximately one cast every forty seconds, eyes fixed on the bobber in the water, afraid to miss any wind or grass movements.

Unfortunately, during the next twenty or so minutes after adjusting the fishing method, there was hardly any effective fish feedback.

Zhang Yang shook his head slightly, feeling a bit frustrated. On the next cast, he pushed the lead seat up around half a meter, changing from pure bottom fishing to small flying lead.

By pushing the lead seat upward, the length of the fish line and leader line below the lead increased in a disguised manner, meaning that the droop of the rig's second time increases, extending the time the bobber stands in place, making it more conducive to fishing for fish chasing bait and establishing contact at mid-water.

This adjustment is tentative, with fishing requiring on-the-spot adaptation. With unclear fish feedback, practical experiments gather more intelligence.

However, luck favored Zhang Yang this time; after flying the lead, he finally saw results.