The Top Fishing
Chapter 36 - 35: The Formidable Ones Arrive

Chapter 36: Chapter 35: The Formidable Ones Arrive

Lin Yang had just caught a white carp and a Hua Lian, unlocking another reward.

The reward was ¥1000, with Experience Value and points +5; he also received an enhanced fish attractant (for Carp), which was similar to his previous reward for the white carp, except the special reward differed.

This attractant was similar to the one before, with the change being from Crucian Carp to Carp.

In terms of unit price, Crucian Carp is more expensive than Carp, but Carp are bigger. One large Carp could be worth ten Crucian Carp.

Lin Yang had a great start to the day, unlocking rewards for both white carp and Hua Lian successively.

Especially after unlocking the Carp version of the fish attractant, he could now add another product to his little yellow cart in the future.

However, for today’s competition, this was just the beginning.

After adding the ten-pound Hua Lian to the keep net, Lin Yang continued fishing.

Catching two big fish in a row, especially the second Hua Lian, even with his strength and fish handling technique, it still took some time to play around the fishing spot.

Lin Yang could clearly sense that the fishing spot underwater had been stirred up, but no matter, he balled up the bait and hand-threw it into the spot to replenish it.

He effortlessly grabbed the bait ball, gently tossed it, creating a perfect parabola that landed accurately and directly into the spot, not missing by an inch.

Seeing this, the viewers in the live stream didn’t react much because many of them were amateur fishing enthusiasts who couldn’t see the finesse in it.

But the competitors around them were amazed, their eyes bulging with shock.

"Damn, Brother Yang, you toss the bait by hand so accurately!"

"Such a master. You have to remember he’s using an eight-meter rod plus the length of the line, which is more than ten meters in distance, and there’s such a strong wind today."

"Almost divine accuracy."

At first, Wang Feng who was sitting nearby thought Lin Yang’s skills were not as good as his own, considering he was a professional fisherman.

But now he realized deeply that Lin Yang was truly a master, and even superior to him in certain aspects.

After baiting the spot several times, Lin Yang switched to agitating the fishing spot to gather a school of Catfish and bighead carp.

At the same time, he also casually threw a few balls of bait into Wang Feng’s fishing spot. They had come together, and he didn’t want to be the only one enjoying himself while his companions had no action.

Though Wang Feng had used his secret bait mix, which wouldn’t have left him empty-handed, Lin Yang’s spot baiting had a +30% fish attraction effect, and with his help, Wang Feng’s spot would gather fish even faster.

Meanwhile, Lin Yang’s ability to read the fish situation allowed him to make a rough judgment about the underwater activity.

Lin Yang observed that not only his fishing spot but also Wang Feng’s already had fish in it.

They were seated quite close to each other, and it seemed that their continuous baiting had attracted a large school of fish.

"Wake up, Brother Feng, I reckon we will soon be in fish-catching mode," said Lin Yang with a smile to Wang Feng.

After what had just occurred, Wang Feng knew of Lin Yang’s strength and didn’t doubt his words, beginning to get excited and staring intently at his float.

Soon enough, there was movement; Wang Feng’s float paused and then suddenly plunged under the water.

He immediately jerked the rod, fish on!

The rod immediately bent into a deep arc, making whooshing noises.

"Holy moly! Actual bite! And it’s a big one!" Wang Feng felt the force on the rod and was thrilled.

While keeping an eye on his own float, Lin Yang gave him pointers to steady himself. He was still using a short rod with a thin line but had hooked a Catfish or bighead carp. It was easy to break the line if not careful.

Luckily, Wang Feng was already quite experienced and adeptly played the fish close to the bank.

Just as the fish neared the shore, Lin Yang already had the landing net ready, scooping the fish onto the bank.

Overcome with excitement, Wang Feng rushed over and lifted the fish out of the net; it was a Hua Lian weighing about three pounds, small for its kind.

"Hahaha, got a fish so quickly, and it’s a Catfish, awesome!" Wang Feng laughed heartily, then gave a big kiss on the fish’s forehead.

Before his fish went into the keep net, Lin Yang’s float too submerged, signaling another catch.

With a heave, he brought the fish to the surface, entering the playing phase.

In about a minute, he reeled the fish to the bank and scooped it up with his net.

However, this fish weighed only about two pounds, a white carp, which was only a fry at that weight.

Lin Yang guessed that this was likely one of the fry released in the reservoir last spring.

The reservoir had been in a free-range state, so the fish were not as big as those in fish farms, and their bodies were more slender.

The next few catches confirmed his guess, as a series of Catfish and bighead carp around two to three pounds kept breaching the surface, and the bites in the fishing spot became increasingly frequent.

Seeing this, Lin Yang knew there was a substantial school of fish in the spot and decided to speed up his fishing.

By this time, the number of viewers in the live stream had also grown as he kept catching fish, and small gifts were sent one after another.

....

Time ticked by, and now it was 1 pm, with only three hours left until the competition’s end.

In that time, Lin Yang had replenished the fishing spot twice more, so the fish continued to bite consistently, and a steady stream of Catfish and bighead carp made their way into his nets.

Even Wang Feng, watching the scene, began to switch his Crucian carp bait, coming up with a new cornmeal bait specifically for Catfish and bighead carp.

Since his fishing spot wasn’t far from Lin Yang’s, he too started to regularly catch fish once he began fishing, but compared to the frequency of Lin Yang’s catches, he was much slower.

By now, Lin Yang’s keep net was filled with more than twenty Catfish and bighead carp. Although that was already many, he was not satisfied.

Since others around him were laughing and chatting, suggesting their fishing was going well, it was clear that they too were getting good bites.

Moreover, most people were fishing for catfish, which started at around four to five jin each, and some of the big ones could weigh up to ten jin. One big fish could equal four or five smaller ones. With these twenty or so fish in his keepnet, Lin Yang didn’t dare to guarantee that he would win the championship this time.

The prize money for the first place in this competition was ten thousand yuan, and he naturally wanted it.

Thinking this, Lin Yang glanced at the time again and a crazy idea popped into his head.

He stood up and poured the remaining two bottles of bait mix into the mixing bowl, then took out a new two-jin bag of fermented corn kernels from Wang Feng, added a bottle cap of the carp-flavored fish attractant, and began stirring it up.

This carp-flavored fish attractant was something he had sneakily exchanged while no one was paying attention.

After everything was mixed well, he dumped it all into his fishing spot in one go.

Wang Feng, seeing this, was a bit puzzled and said, "With so little time left, why are you still baiting so heavily?"

Lin Yang chuckled, playing coy, "You’ll know soon enough."

Time slowly passed, and there were less than two hours left in the competition.

By now, Lin Yang’s fishing spot was bubbling with dense fish bubbles, and occasionally one could see the bodies of big fish flipping under the water surface.

As he had anticipated, the spot was now bustling under the allure of the copious bait, like a pot boiling over.

Seeing this, Lin Yang took out a small medical kit from the backpack behind his fishing chair and used two band-aids to wrap around his pinkie finger.

Such medical packs are often provided by larger fishing gear brands to prevent anglers from cutting their fingers on the fishing line—an attentive little accessory.

Then, he picked up the fishing hook that was inserted into the keepnet in front of him and, having done all this, Lin Yang continued to fish.

Baiting the hook, casting the line—as the bait just sank, before the float could stabilize, there was a bite.

With a flick of the rod to set the hook, a carp weighing over two jin was flung out of the water and without any delay, dragged above the keepnet.

Then, using his pinkie to lift the leader line, he easily guided the carp into the keepnet.

This entire sequence of motion took less than thirty seconds.

He repeated the process, with multiple casts into the water in quick succession, and in just five minutes, five to six fish had been flown into the keepnet.

The viewers in the live broadcast were amazed at Lin Yang’s deft technique, triggering a flood of comments.

"Holy shit, this is possible? Kneeling for the streamer big time."

"Fly fishing like this? Someone who didn’t know better would think the streamer is catching crucian carp."

"Guys, hold your horses, basic skills, basic skills."

Lin Yang’s continuous streak of flying fish into the keepnet pushed the atmosphere in the live broadcast room to a frenzy, and the viewership kept growing as various virtual gifts and comments flew across the screen.

At this point, even Wang Feng, fishing beside him, was dumbfounded by Lin Yang’s bites, temporarily forgetting to watch for the fish bites on his own float.

"Brother Yang, now I finally understand why you’re so confident. Turns out you had it all planned out," Wang Feng said.

"Haha, just blind luck, like a blind cat running into a dead mouse," Lin Yang laughed.

.....

As time ticked away, the competition came to an end with the sound of the final whistle, marking the official end of the seven-hour Binjiang Reservoir fishing contest.

Lin Yang stood and stretched himself. Although he had physical endurance beyond most ordinary people, sitting on the fishing chair for seven hours without moving, except for a mid-way bathroom break, was still a challenge.

Even Wang Feng, who would stand up to stretch his legs periodically because he couldn’t stand sitting for so long, gave Lin Yang a thumbs-up for his endurance.

"Haha, Xiao Yang, seeing you continuously catching fish, you’ve got to be the champion of this competition," Wang Feng laughed.

Just then, the hearty voice of Brother Aquatic came closer from a distance. He approached Lin Yang and took a glance at the keepnet in front of him, which was half submerged and didn’t reveal much.

"Not too bad, barely acceptable," Lin Yang replied casually.

Wang Feng, standing beside him, couldn’t help but laugh at Lin Yang’s modesty. His partner was really something, able to keep his composure until now.

He knew that Lin Yang’s keepnet had at least forty to fifty fish in it.

Plus, with his own good form that day, Wang Feng was very confident about their combined catch winning the championship of this competition.

"Let’s go, the officials are coming over. Let’s get the fish weighed and see the results."

Since their assigned spot was number 99, which was in zone two, the officials arrived quickly.

Si Ge: "Let’s go together and see today’s catch."

Lin Yang: "Haha, sure."

Three staff members arrived, two men and one woman. The men carried a hanging scale for weighing, and the woman held a clipboard for recording.

"Angler number 98, Sun Changjiang, Liu Sihai?"

Si Ge and his companion nodded, showing their wristbands as identification.

"Okay, let’s start the weighing."

Si Ge went to the shore and lifted the keepnet: "Heave—"

Given the strenuous look as he heaved, it was clear his catch was substantial. The staff took the keepnet and placed it on the scale.

"112 jin."

"91 jin."

"Alright, zone two, spot number 98, Team Liu Sihai totals 203 jin, and the result is valid."

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