novelraw Chapter 810 - 551: Tactical Divergence
Chapter 810 - 551: Tactical Divergence
Yu Wensheng has truly mastered the rules of competitive platform fishing. In just a few casual words with Sun Yi, he summed up all the core points. However, seeing Sun Yi’s confused expression, it was clear that the little girl’s comprehension was limited and she didn’t fully understand.
The halftime break was over quickly. Zhang Yang and Huang Zheng switched fishing spots and re-entered combat mode. With the referee’s command, the second half of the competition began!
In the first half, both sides encountered a school of small bream entering the nest, and the efficiency of catching fish was astonishing. To deal with the potential small fish in the second half, both Zhang Yang and Huang Zheng strategically switched to strongly scented bait.
On the first cast, the two hooks were baited, and without any adjustments, they cast the line directly into the water, eager to catch fish as quickly as possible as long as the school remained.
The idea was good, but the objective changes in fish conditions do not shift based on personal will.
The two cast their lines into the water, eyes intensely fixed on the movements of the bobber, fearing they’d miss the chance if a fish took the bait without notice.
But what was the actual condition? The bobber flipped as expected, followed its usual course, yet when it reached the fishing point, there was still no bite. When the line went a little further down, pulling the bait under the water, forcing them to reel in, there still was no fish taking the bait.
The first cast was a complete miss, making Zhang Yang’s heart skip a beat.
It shouldn’t be like this, the school of small bream was so dense, why were there no bites? Could it be that the bait was too substantial and the fish couldn’t catch up?
With skepticism, Zhang Yang, during the next baiting, consciously controlled the angle and force of his operation, making the bait on the double hooks noticeably smaller.
Casting the line again into the water, Zhang Yang held his breath, focusing all his attention on the bobber.
Because the bait on the hooks was significantly smaller, this time the bobber’s flip and trajectory were notably slower; however, the result was exactly the same as before.
Still no bite!
This time, Zhang Yang reached a conclusion, fearing what would happen, happened; the aerator during the halftime break disturbed the school of small bream and scattered them.
Realizing this, Zhang Yang decisively stood up from the fishing spot, placing the set of fast-bobbing fishing gear behind him on the rod bag, while grabbing another spare rod. Quickly, he adjusted his competition tactics and fishing strategy.
If there were small bream around in the first half, bobbing for fast fish was the most efficient. If the school wasn’t nearby, attempting to bob in the mere fifteen minutes remaining was almost wishful thinking. Honestly fishing at the bottom or near-bottom to attract a few mid-sized, cautious fish into the net was the wise choice.
Zhang Yang swiftly replaced the rod, placing the highly scented bait to one side, took the bait used in the first half from the bait box, slightly twitched the line apart with his fingers, and pulled the double hooks upward. The hooks were now baited with two clods of bait the size of half a pinky fingertip, and with a flick of the wrist, the gear elegantly entered the water.
This fishing gear was the one that Zhang Yang specifically adjusted and tested in an outside wild river after yesterday’s competition; the bobber’s lead weight was significantly larger than usual, reducing the time it took from entering the water to flipping straight and pulling the main line.
Only after the bobber flipped and the secondary line swung down again did it become apparent that the descent speed slowed due to water resistance.
For Zhang Yang, this time lag was very noticeable, but to outsiders, it wasn’t as perceptible.
After all, everyone’s bobbers have different performance, and adjustments vary. Unless observed simultaneously in a lateral comparison with conscious effort, the differences aren’t easily spotted.
When the bobber reached approximately seven to eight centimeters from the bottom, Zhang Yang employed his old trick again, twitching the rod tip to let the bait scatter underwater, after a short pause, he lifted the rod, shook off the bait, and proceeded to the next cast.
With the school of small bream gone, a minimal setup targeting mid and bottom-layer cautious fish was essential. Zhang Yang had already mastered this rhythm in the previous rounds and executed it decisively and neatly.
Contrastingly, Huang Zheng next door, after a few casts without any bites, started to appear hesitant.
In the first half, trailing behind Zhang Yang by four fish, in the second half, with the school of small bream disturbed by the aerator and offering no bites, what should he do?
Should he gamble, casting a few more times to see if the fish returned?
Or would it be more pragmatic to revert to bottom or near-bottom fishing connections?
Huang Zheng was somewhat torn.
It wasn’t really a matter of Huang Zheng’s personality being conflicted, it was more that being four fish behind disrupted his decision-making significantly.
Zhang Yang had the advantage of four fish, meaning strategically, he held the absolute initiative. Frankly, even if he made a wrong decision, he still had a buffer margin of four fish.
As for Huang Zheng, he couldn’t catch up with Zhang Yang’s four fish without taking some risks; he had to opt for a higher-return tactical decision.
An old saying goes, "The higher the return, the more significant the risk," which is unavoidable.
Huang Zheng’s hesitation was due to an understanding of this risk-benefit relationship, hence the indecision.
Noticing with the corner of his eye that Zhang Yang had stood up and switched to his backup rod, knowing Zhang Yang adjusted his tactics to fish at the bottom, after a brief hesitation, Huang Zheng gritted his teeth and chose to continue bobbing for bream.