The Top Fishing
Chapter 112: The Giant Pike

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: The Giant Pike

This scene, if it hadn’t been broad daylight and he could see the outline of the giant creature underwater, with so many people watching, he might have doubted whether he was experiencing the same misfortune as that gentleman.

After taking a few sips of water, Lin Yang didn’t dare to rest for too long. If he allowed the giant beast to recover its strength, all his previous efforts would have been in vain.

What was now being tested was their stamina and endurance, and no mistakes could be afforded; it was all about waiting for the opponent to run out of energy for a killing blow.

Time ticked away second by second, and the two sides continued their intense tug-of-war.

It was now two in the afternoon, and Lin Yang had been struggling with the creature under water for nearly an hour and a half.

Even Lin Yang, who possessed more stamina and endurance than the average person, couldn’t withstand such an intense back and forth battle; his arms had begun to tremble slightly.

But, there was good news, too.

The giant beast underwater seemed to have reached the end of its tether, completely lacking the recklessness it showed at first, and was now merely holding its ground against Lin Yang due to its size advantage.

He tested the line, and the beast underwater didn’t respond.

He then jerked the rod, and there was still no movement.

Seeing this, Lin Yang immediately started reeling in the line, retrieving more than ten meters all at once. The big fish in the water finally reacted, swimming forward a little.

With the big fish’s struggle, he couldn’t hold on and had to feed it another four or five meters of line.

But that was it. After letting out four or five meters of line, the big fish couldn’t drag it any further and stopped.

Seeing this, Lin Yang immediately felt that there was a chance.

And so, in a give and take battle, he slowly gained the upper hand.

Many in the crowd who had found the watch rather boring or pointless swiftly tensed up again, their eyes glued to the unfolding spectacle.

From the initial curiosity sparked by the dark shadow on the water to the shock of the giant creature revealing its true form, to the back and forth tug-of-war over stamina, their emotions had been on a roller coaster.

At this moment, seeing Lin Yang finally gain the upper hand in the tug-of-war, many relieved the tension they’d been holding, thinking to themselves that this was more thrilling than watching a blockbuster movie.

Next time someone says fishing is boring, many here would surely give them a piece of their mind.

Strike while the enemy is sick, that was Lin Yang’s thought right now, with clenched teeth he lifted his casting rod and began to reel in the line cup fiercely.

meters, 30 meters, 10 meters...

Gradually, the enormous creature in the water was finally pulled to the shore, revealing its true form in its entirety.

The fish measured roughly between one and a half and one point eight meters in length, with a grey-black back and a silver-white belly, deeply forked tail fin, a long and pointed head, and when its mouth was open, it was very large. The end of the mouth slit could reach below the front edge of the eye, and it was filled with sharp teeth, looking very ferocious.

The crowd on the shore caught sight of the big fish close to land, and quickly someone recognized the identity of the giant creature.

"I’ve seen this fish before, it’s a pike!"

"Tsk tsk, it’s so big, I’ve never seen such a large freshwater fish with my own eyes."

"Looking at its mouth and teeth, no wonder it’s so fierce."

"The giant creature that appeared here yesterday morning, it must be this one...."

As the crowd came closer to take photos, Lin Yang bent over and with one move grabbed the gills and dragged it onto shore.

The moment he touched it, he felt the fish must weigh at least one hundred pounds.

Having moved the fish a bit farther up the shore, Lin Yang finally couldn’t support himself anymore and sat down on the ground, exhausted. With the big fish on land, he could fully rest at last.

"Cousin, how are you doing? Are you okay?" Li Xiaopeng, holding the smartphone that was live streaming, came over and asked.

There were too many people watching, so he had already put away the drone in advance.

"Whew—okay," Lin Yang let out a heavy breath and replied.

An hour of nonstop, high-intensity combat left him feeling like his entire energy had been drained, a level of physical exhaustion he had never encountered before.

But looking at the huge creature before him, he felt that it was all worth it.

With a gaping maw that could easily fit a child’s head, and weighing over a hundred pounds with a length of over one and a half meters, claiming it was a big catch from the reservoir was certainly no exaggeration.

Before last night, he had just wanted to try his luck; he didn’t expect to actually encounter one, but as the old saying goes, success depends on the convergence of timing, location, and harmony.

After resting for a few minutes and regaining some strength, Lin Yang finally got up and glanced at the phone Li Xiaopeng was using for the live broadcast.

During the earlier tug-of-war battle, Lin Yang had barely interacted with his viewers; now, it was well past two in the morning, and he was unsure how many people were still in the live broadcast room.

However, as he stood up, he was taken aback because the screen was flooded with rapidly scrolling comments, and every now and then a gift or two floated by. He then saw the number of online viewers in the top right corner: over 30,000.

"Wow, that many people?"

Lin Yang was indeed shocked. It was the first time so many people had watched his live stream. It seemed that people really do like the sensational.

"Look, the giant creature has finally been brought ashore," he said, taking the phone and preparing to interact with his viewers for a while.

Next, he gave the giant creature lying on the ground a full-body close-up with his phone. During the underwater struggle, only some fishing enthusiasts could guess the size of the fish; most of the new viewers were attracted by the ferocious appearance of the great fish.

Now that the fish was ashore, Lin Yang, standing beside it for scale, made the size of the fish even more impressive. Even with his nearly 1.8-meter height, he didn’t appear much taller than the fish.

"This fish is huge, can the host tell us what kind of fish this is?"

"I just caught a thirty-pound big carp yesterday, thought I could brag about it for a lifetime, until I entered this live broadcast room..."

Seeing someone in the comments asking what kind of fish it was, Lin Yang smiled and said, "This is a pike, also known as a water tiger, a ferocious fish that mainly feeds on other fish. It can be found in many water systems in our country, but it’s very rare for one to grow this large..."

Pike live in the upper and middle layers of rivers and lakes, swim quickly, and are agile. They are large predatory fish and also large freshwater economic fish.

They grow fast, reach a considerable size, and taste delicious, thus have always been considered as premium freshwater fish. However, in recent years, due to the construction of water conservancy projects in the mountainous areas, the deterioration of water environments, and other reasons, the natural resources of pike have declined sharply. Nowadays, apart from the Yangtze River and lakes directly connected to it, it is difficult to find pike in most rivers and lakes.

Qinglong Lake Reservoir belongs to the Ganjiang River system, and Ganjiang River is part of the Yangtze River system, so encountering pike here is not an entirely inconceivable affair.

Pike grow quickly and can mature sexually in three to four years. After maturity, their body length continues to increase, with the largest individuals reaching two meters and weighing up to 60 kilograms.

Qinglong Lake Reservoir hasn’t opened its sluice gates for over a decade. Plus, with almost no natural predators in freshwater, it was entirely possible for it to grow into the giant creature it is now.

In past news reports, there have also been occasional stories from various parts of the country about the capture of giant pike, many of which weighed over a hundred pounds.

Taking the opportunity to rest, Lin Yang also sneakily checked the rewards for unlocking the encyclopedia entry for the pike.

The display showed a reward of 1000 yuan, points and experience +10, followed by a "Carbon Fishing Platform" equipment.

"Carbon Fishing Platform": Made of high-tech composite carbon fiber material, it significantly reduces the platform’s own weight while ensuring sufficient load-bearing strength. This makes it extremely convenient for fishing in wild lakes, reservoirs, and rivers.

A fishing platform is a common piece of fishing equipment, frequently used for stationary fishing in rivers and reservoirs.

To put it simply, it’s a folding, square table with four telescopic and detachable legs. Once set up, it provides a flat, stable surface for anglers to fish from.

The typical price for a fishing platform on the market ranges from four hundred to over a thousand yuan, making it a practical yet non-essential large item among fishing equipments.

Besides providing a more even footing, the adjustable legs allow the platform to be set up in relatively shallow water so that anglers can fish deeper areas with a shorter rod, which has significant practical benefits.

Most fishing platforms are made of aluminum alloy, which has to be thick to ensure necessary sturdiness. An aluminum alloy fishing platform of the most commonly used size of 80cm×120cm, including all accessories, weighs about 15 kilograms.

In contrast, the carbon fishing platform he was rewarded with would be much lighter, weighing only about 2.5 to 3 kg.

"Hmm, pretty nice," Lin Yang muttered to himself, content with the reward. Although he might not need it sometimes, as a professional fisherman, a fishing platform was definitely a must-have.

After checking the rewards, Lin Yang looked around and saw that the area was already packed with people who had gathered to see what was happening.

"Make way, make way..."

Just then, a somewhat chubby middle-aged man squeezed through the crowd and made his way to Lin Yang, then said, "Lin Yang, my boy, you’re amazing, landing such a big fish!"

Upon hearing the man, Lin Yang looked up and recognized Brother Aquatic, whom he had just met a few days ago: "Haha, it was just good luck. Are you here to try your luck as well, Si Ge?"

"No, I came here specifically to buy aquatics," Si Ge stated his purpose straightforwardly.

Turns out, when Lin Yang had landed the giant fish, Si Ge, who was watching the live broadcast, became restless. As a fisherman and also as the owner of an aquatic product shop, he had always wanted a king-sized fish to show off in his shop.

This time, the pike Lin Yang had caught exceeded his expectations, which is why he had driven all the way here.

After learning of Si Ge’s intentions, Lin Yang also nodded in understanding. He had some knowledge of the price of pike. Normally, the market price for farmed ones was about 30-40 yuan per pound, and for pure wild ones about 70-80 yuan per pound.

But that was the price for the average-sized pike. This super-sized catch weighing over a hundred pounds couldn’t be priced according to the standard rates.