The Top Fishing
Chapter 108: The Ultimate Big Load

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: The Ultimate Big Load

"Yeah, right here is where the pharmaceutical plant’s drainage ditch used to be. The deepest part is nearly 15 meters. When the plant was digging this ditch, they accidentally hit an underground river, which is why the water is not only deep but also has two currents. One is from the underground river flowing towards the direction of the river, and the other is the river water pouring into this ditch, causing very serious undercurrents here."

Plus, since this place had been discharging pharmaceutical wastewater for decades, there were originally no fish here, but the grass inside the ditch grew exceptionally well. With water, sufficient depth, and grass, that means there will be large fish."

"Although I don’t know who told you to come here to fish, it’s not an easy task to fish in this place!"

The elder brother spoke at length, providing a very detailed introduction to the situation here.

After hearing his words, Lin Yang had already begun to sketch a rough picture of this small river ditch in his mind.

This ditch was originally dug by the pharmaceutical factory in the ’70s to dispose of drug residue. They planned to discharge directly into the river. At that time, nobody had thought about environmental protection. But, they dug too deep and inadvertently created an underground river.

Then, when the factory leaders saw this, they were like, well, let’s not block it up, and directly widened the opening, thus forming this ditch.

At first, the ditch was probably not so deep; it is the result of decades of erosion from the two-directional water flow.

In the beginning, the pharmaceutical factory was still discharging drug residue as well as domestic wastewater, which is why there were no fish but the water plants grew particularly well.

Later, due to environmental issues, the factory relocated. After more than a decade without pharmaceutical discharges, the water quality in this small river ditch improved rapidly, and naturally, it became home to many fish.

Now, the people here are actually waiting for a big haul: large grass, Catfish, even Bream and big Carp are all present here in considerable numbers. But the fish here are especially slippery, so catching these big guys is no easy feat.

Of course, for Lin Yang, fishing here and getting fish on the line was not particularly challenging, but his target today was not these fish.

Playing with the lure rod wasn’t convenient today, so he didn’t plan to live stream either.

After setting up the lure rod, he threw the fake bait into an open space among the water plants and then began continuously moving the lure.

The elder brother next to him, not having persuaded Lin Yang to leave, stopped trying and instead chatted with Lin Yang sporadically.

Waiting for fish here might not even yield five bites in a day, and for amateur anglers like them, the odds of missing every bite out of those five were over 70%, so they were already accustomed to an empty catch.

Getting one fish a month to take home was considered good, so they felt no pressure. However, Lin Yang soon had some activity on his line.

"Hmm? There’s movement!"

Lin Yang had been pulling by the shore for less than five minutes when suddenly he felt a very heavy force on his hand, which made him grip the fishing rod tightly.

Seeing Lin Yang’s actions, the elder brother looked over to him, "What’s up? Any movement?"

"Yeah, a bit, but I’m not sure if it’s the target." Lin Yang nodded, not daring to reel in the line too forcefully.

With the complex underwater terrain and abundant water plants, he couldn’t be 100% sure whether he’d hooked a fish or snagged the bottom.

But the next second, he eliminated the possibility of a snag!

His reel was spinning rapidly, a sign that a hooked fish was attempting to escape.

Lin Yang was both letting out and reeling in the line, seriously wrestling with the fish underwater. Considering the complexity of the underwater terrain, if he let out the line too long, he might not be able to reel it back in.

His lure rod, with a MH hardness and M action, was just right for most sizes of fish, able to withstand the thrashing of fish underwater with sufficient strength and rebound. Plus, with Lin Yang’s own line-protecting buff, as long as nothing else entangled the line, it was almost impossible for the fish to escape!

After struggling with the fish for about a minute, the fish in the water ran out of energy and was then easily pulled up to the surface by Lin Yang.

When Lin Yang and the elder brother next door saw the fish, Lin Yang immediately grinned because it was indeed one of his target fish, the Osmanthus Fish (Gu fish), and the elder brother next to him was dumbfounded.

He knew there were Osmanthus Fish in the river, having fished here for several years and seen others catch them, but this was the first time he had seen someone hook one so quickly like Lin Yang did.

"Damn, it really is an Osmanthus Fish. Nice job, young fella, badass!" The elder brother exclaimed while pulling out his smartphone to start recording.

"Not bad, huh."

Lin Yang replied with a smile and then dragged the Osmanthus Fish to shore.

Although the Osmanthus Fish is a predatory species, unlike Black fish, Pikeheaded fish, Pike, or Catfish, it doesn’t live very long.

The Osmanthus Fish has a lifespan limit of only 10 years in the absence of illness or calamity, unlike Black fish and Catfish which can live over twenty to thirty years. Therefore, compared to others, the Osmanthus Fish seems smaller with a maximum weight of just over a dozen pounds.

However, such a weight for Osmanthus Fish can only be found in major water systems like Long River or Huangjiang; you won’t find them in a small river ditch like this.

The Osmanthus Fish that Lin Yang had just caught weighed about three pounds, which is not very large, but by no means small.

After throwing the Osmanthus Fish into the keepnet, he surreptitiously checked the rewards unlocked by catching it.

The rewards displayed were 500 yuan, experience and points +5, plus a reward of a new carbon fiber, dual-use, shore and boat compatible, rod that would handle anything up to 800 pounds.

"Wow..."

After glancing at the properties of the unlocked rock fishing rod, Lin Yang couldn’t help but widen his eyes slightly.

Initially, he had considered whether to prepare a complete set of fishing gear just like Wang Bo, but now it seems unnecessary because the equipment he bought couldn’t compare to the rewarded gear at all.

Although the properties of the rock fishing rod weren’t completely outrageous, it was still the best of its kind available in the market.

Before casting, Lin Yang checked the bait on the hook to ensure it wouldn’t come off, then he recast the hook into the water.

Gu fish, also known as Osmanthus Fish, is one of the four major freshwater fishes in our country, with tender flesh and high nutritional value.

In the south, Gu fish and black fish are almost the same and do not count as too valuable, with widespread distribution.

However, due to aquaculture techniques and environmental reasons, the price of Gu fish varies greatly between the north and south; it might be only forty or fifty per pound in the south but can cost eighty to a hundred in the north.

"When I return home at noon today, I can make a ’squirrel salmon’ just for fun. If I catch more, I can also make braised, steamed, sauce-braised, and even soup..."

While Lin Yang was considering how to prepare the Gu fish for lunch, his lure rod transmitted another movement.

Feeling the strength of the fish underwater, he repeatedly pulled and released the line, creating a smooth rhythm. The lure rod was now bent into a small bow.

At this point, Lin Yang smiled, knowing it was another Gu fish even before it surfaced because the feel was the same.

After another two minutes of tugging, he pulled another similarly sized Gu fish onto the shore.

Placing the fish into a fish keeper, Lin Yang checked the time. Although it was just past ten, the weather didn’t look too good.

Ever since the last visit to Qinglong Lake Reservoir when the north wind brought in a temperature drop, the local weather has been unpredictable, with fluctuating temperatures.

Lin Yang surmised that it looked like rain was coming and decided against fishing any longer. Catching too much would be wasteful since they couldn’t be finished, and refrigerated fish wouldn’t taste as fresh.

Plus, now that he knew of this excellent fishing spot, he could simply come back whenever he wanted to eat fresh fish, as it wasn’t far away.

After making up his mind, Lin Yang picked up the fish keeper containing two Gu fish, packed up his stuff, waved goodbye to the guy next to him, and drove home.

Back at home, Lin Yang cooked a dish with the Gu fish for lunch. It must be said, Gu fish was indeed delicious, especially these wild, large ones.

Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to buy such fish; the ones in supermarkets are usually farmed.

In the afternoon, Lin Yang stayed at home.

When he got bored, he would read novels or browse through Douyin.

As he lay on a chair, scrolling through Douyin, he viewed videos recommended by the system, mostly related to his past viewing interests.

The next moment, a local Douyin video caught his attention.

On the screen, a man at the water’s edge was catching a huge fish that weighed at least twenty or thirty pounds. He shouted excitedly, the big fish was flopping, and someone was ready with a net to catch it. Just as he thought he had finally caught the big one...

The next second.

There was a splash on the water’s surface!

A huge wave erupted, and the big fish that had just been flipped was gone.

From the video, Lin Yang could vaguely make out that the fleeting glimpse of the big fish was not due to it slipping away but rather being eaten by another big fish!

Of course, this ’eat’ didn’t mean it was swallowed whole but dragged under the water. Even so, this behemoth was terrifyingly large.

The video continued, leaving only the man on the shore with an empty fishing rod, a large area of churning water in front of him, interspersed with onlookers’ shocked voices.

This 15-second Douyin video had already gone viral locally in Jiangdong City, and its popularity was still rising.

Lin Yang opened WeChat to see that both of his chat groups were discussing the Douyin video. Some people claimed it was fake, aimed at generating buzz, while others believed it was real but weren’t sure about the type of fish, prompting much speculation.

However, Lin Yang thought the video didn’t look fake, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the location shot was Qinglong Lake Reservoir.

The Qinglong Lake Reservoir had opened its gates to release water for three to four days, and it had just stopped yesterday. The video was marked as having been shot this morning.

In that case, if the video was real, then the giant fish might still be in Qinglong Lake Reservoir, possibly near the sluice area.

At this thought, Lin Yang suddenly became interested.

The ultimate big catch is something that every fisher hopes for but seldom encounters, and he naturally didn’t want to miss it.

Plus, a twenty or thirty-pound big fish being used as bait? Goodness, how huge must that beast be?

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