Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 675 389: Grass Carp on Running Sinker Rig (Part 2)

The bobber was just starting to tip, and as it slowly descended, suddenly there was a dramatic two-eye pause bite.

Whoosh!

Zhang Yang hadn't caught a fish in half an hour, so how could he pass up such an obvious strike? He immediately raised the rod to set the hook—there you go!

Swoosh!

The fishing line made a light whistling sound as it cut through the water surface, and the force from underwater was significant. At the first surge after hooking the fish, Zhang Yang almost lost control of the rod.

What the heck, what kind of fish is this? It's pretty strong!

Zhang Yang muttered to himself, habitually placing his left hand on the upper part of the rod handle to stabilize the initial impact.

Luckily, he had switched to a 1.2 line earlier, which had a much higher strength limit than the 0.8 line. After a brief standoff, the fish turned back, and Zhang Yang steadily arched the rod.

Having gotten through the most dangerous stage of setting the hook and the initial surge, the ensuing play with the fish held no challenge for Zhang Yang. After a few rounds back and forth, the fish that took the bait was exhausted and surfaced.

Seeing the fish's true form, Zhang Yang grinned.

Damn, on the second of May, this fish that took the bait was actually a grass carp released last year.

Generally speaking, grass carp prefer warmer temperatures. Although they feed around May Day, their activity level isn't as high as in summer and autumn. Catching them is considerably more challenging than catching carp or crucian carp.

But Zhang Yang was using the fly lead method with a bait ball and managed to catch a grass carp—how interesting.

Visually estimating, this fish was about four pounds. Zhang Yang casually netted the fish, tidied the line, and went back to trying again.

If carp and crucian carp are not biting consistently, catching a few grass carp can be a good strategy.

If the bites aren't coming during this midday period, the opportunity might only come after three in the afternoon until the evening. Having found the right method now to catch a few more grass carp could definitely be key to widening the catch gap.

In the next ten minutes or so, Zhang Yang tried using the double hook bait ball with the fly lead method again. Just when he thought the previous grass carp was a fluke, another fish struck the bait.

This time, the fish was even more feisty, pulling the bobber away at an angle.

Zhang Yang raised the rod to set the hook, but this time luck wasn't as good as before. The fish ate quickly and swam away just as fast, and the rod didn't bend enough before the line broke.

Damn! It's pretty aggressive!

Zhang Yang lifted the rod and took a quick look at the line—the hook had snapped right at the shank.

Zhang Yang is usually economical with his line when fishing, skillful in controlling and playing fish, rarely losing them like this.

In competition, it's even rarer for him to lose a fish this way—usually, the line gets worn from catching a number of fish, and Zhang Yang would replace it directly.

From today's fishing activity, using a larger line shouldn't affect the fish's strike actions. Seizing the opportunity of the snapped hook, Zhang Yang decisively changed his tackle setup.

He upgraded the line from 1.2 to 1.5, used Gold Ocean Nine Carp Hook, with a bobber capable of supporting about 2.4g of weight. As the line thickness increased, the main line was also upgraded to around 2.5.

With the heavier setup, Zhang Yang repeated the previous casting process. Since there had been two strikes, showing some feasibility, Zhang Yang pushed the lead seat below the float seat.

The semi-fly lead turned into a full fly lead, increasing the time the tackle stayed in the water after casting.

With extended in-water time, the chances of a mid-water strike increased as well. Sure enough, less than five minutes after switching to a thicker line, another strike came!

The 1.5 line's strength is a big jump from 1.2, allowing Zhang Yang to easily control the initial fish surges, quickly landing a third grass carp.

This grass carp was slightly larger, about four and a half pounds. It grew naturally in the reservoir, looking healthy and beautiful.

Now Zhang Yang was reassured. Since the grass carp were biting, he had a direction for fishing in the midday transition period. With a few thousand pounds of grass carp in the reservoir, he could surely catch a few while they were feeding.

Having stumbled upon a transitional fishing method, Liu Wenjun nearby couldn't sit still anymore. There were no bites at his spot, and Old Liu hadn't added to his catch for nearly an hour, making him anxious. Despite several attempts to adjust, he couldn't find the rhythm.

Seeing Zhang Yang land another fish, Old Liu's curiosity piqued.

Ignoring his own float, he stared intently at Zhang Yang.

Having been a fishing champion, he certainly knew what he needed to in terms of knowledge and fishing techniques.

Patiently watching for a while, Old Liu basically understood Zhang Yang's large fly lead bait ball method.

During regular practice, Zhang Yang often emphasized to team members the importance of being observant and attentive during competitions. In competitive fishing, Liu Wenjun undoubtedly possessed these skills.

Old Liu was skilled with the large fly lead, and experienced with the bait ball method; the only sticking point was the coating on the bait ball.

Zhang Yang knew the reservoir's fish preferred aged feed corn and mixed grains—pure grain fermentation bait. But Liu Wenjun didn't know this. In his tackle box and backpack, there was only standard bait ball coating, with no prepared fermented wheat.

In a competition, leaving the area to find bait was unrealistic. Old Liu used barley yam paste sprayed onto regular bait pellets as a substitute, then proceeded to fish with the large fly lead like Zhang Yang.

Barley yam paste, if authentic, is a concentrated extract of grain products. When added to bait pellets, the effect was passable. After adjusting his method, Old Liu also caught two grass carp in the last half hour.

Seeing Old Liu also shift his fishing method to target grass carp, Zhang Yang felt a bit frustrated. Damn, these experienced anglers really do have an eagle eye; as soon as there's a catch, you can't hide your technique from them!

With these mixed feelings, time unknowingly crept to eleven thirty. Since they started fishing early today, the lunch break came half an hour earlier.

The match controller sounded the whistle to pause the competition for lunch, and all the anglers put down their rods and stood up from their tackle boxes.

"Nice going, Zhang Yang! You must've caught quite a few this morning, lots of carp!" Just after Zhang Yang stood up, Liu Wenjun tossed him a cigarette, striking up a conversation.

Zhang Yang accepted the cigarette with a grin, lit it, and responded, "It was alright; the fish weren't as biting as they were yesterday. Silver crucians and golden crucians weren't as active today as I'd have liked! Not too many carp, but they're biting more!"

"After it went quiet around ten, I still managed to catch a few grass carp! It's just the beginning of May and the grass carp are already biting well!" Liu Wenjun continued.

"Yeah, I caught a few too!"

"I adjusted my method after seeing you catch grass carp and managed to land two! So what's that coating you're using on your bait ball? Is it commercial wheat?" Liu Wenjun cut to the chase after some small talk, having laid the groundwork for this crucial question.

There's no way for Zhang Yang to hide this; pretending not to know would seem petty.

He nodded, pulling out a package of coated seed grains from his tackle box: "Here, it's our company's own aged coated grains! Didn't have the right bait ball pellets prepared, so just made do with it, and it worked pretty well!"

"This stuff works well, got any more? Give me some, I want to try it this afternoon!"

"No problem, I'll bring you a couple of packs from the cabin later!"

"Thanks a lot!"

"No big deal!"

After chatting a bit, they finished their cigarettes, and the staff arrived at their fishing spots to tie up their fish nets with nylon cords, allowing the anglers to leave the area to eat.

Zhang Yang bid farewell, leisurely walking to the meeting point.

Things went quiet after ten, he wondered how the others in the team were doing.