The Top Fishing
Chapter 40 - 039: The Big Yellow Perch

Chapter 40: Chapter 039: The Big Yellow Perch

Lin Yang returned to his own fishing spot and continued to fish in peace, but some of the viewers in the live stream were getting impatient.

"Is the host only catching small white fish?"

"You don’t know shit, today our host just wants to catch white fish, so what?"

"Catching small miscellaneous fish all the time is indeed a bit boring."

"Host, how about we change to a bigger rod...."

Lin Yang glanced at the barrage of comments; there was nothing he could do, fishing is just like this.

Most anglers fish for half a day or even a whole day, how can they constantly catch fish non-stop?

Especially in wild fishing, getting ’skunked’ is very common. For Lin Yang to have a bite was already considered pretty good.

The noise in the live stream continued.

Soon, Lin Yang was attracted by the float movements in front of him.

The float, which was initially showing only four marks above water, began to tremble halfway before slowly sinking.

"Holy moly, this is a big fish bite."

It was not easy to catch a big fish in a spot full of small miscellaneous fish. Seeing this, Lin Yang immediately lifted the rod to set the hook.

"Whoosh, whoosh."

The line was pulled taut instantly, and the rod was bent into an arch.

Seeing this, the viewers in the live stream were immediately captivated.

"Quiet, quiet, the host has hooked a big one."

"Where are the people who were just criticizing the host for only catching small white fish?"

"Heh, just luck."

"Alright, you guys, just watch peacefully."

Lin Yang turned his head to look at the barrage and said with a smile, "Eh, it’s not big, not big."

Other than the fierce sprint of the fish underwater when it was first hooked, it did not have much strength after being secured.

Lin Yang, who frequently caught big fish during this period, knew that the catch underwater was not too big.

With this in mind, he didn’t want to fuss with it any longer. He prepared to scoop it up with a net and bring it out swiftly, confident in the strength of his line.

"Eh, Gaya?"

When the fish was lifted out of the water, Lin Yang exclaimed in surprise.

This was indeed the Gaya he had been talking about earlier, but its size was a bit too much.

A twenty-plus-centimeter long, dark yellow Gaya was scooped into the net, its length and heft truly startling Lin Yang.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the live stream heated up as this giant Yellow Catfish was lifted out of the water.

"Holy shit, this Yellow Gaya must have become a spirit or something."

"Where are the people who were just criticizing? Look at what strength is; if you fish, aim for the biggest."

"Fishing for over a decade, this is the first time I’ve seen this size; I’m on my knees."

"Epic, let’s send the host to the sky."

"Be careful, host, don’t get pricked; I was once pricked by one the size of a finger and it hurt for three days. This one, with its size, if you get pricked, won’t you directly ascend to heaven?"

Seeing such a large Gaya, Lin Yang couldn’t help but get excited; today’s session with small miscellaneous fish had not been in vain after all.

Gaya, also known as Yellow Catfish or Yellow Perch, is delicious and nutritious and great for making soup.

In their area, wild Gaya could sell for forty to fifty yuan per half kilogram, even more expensive than Crucian Carp.

Lin Yang carefully removed the fish hook and placed the nearly one-kilogram Gaya into the fish keeper.

Taking advantage of this moment, he sneaked a peek at the reward unlocked in the aquatic guidebook.

The rewards were 500 yuan, experience and points +5, and then a pair of fish hooks were also awarded.

[Enhanced Sharp Point No.4 Fish Hook]: Reduces damage to target fish by 50% when hooking, reduces chance of the fish slipping the hook by 85%, specially designed for stream fishing, letting you fish without worry about losing a hooked fish.

Seeing the attributes of these rewarded fish hooks, Lin Yang’s eyes lit up. Reducing damage to the fish and reducing the chance of losing a hooked fish, these hooks were simply divine!

However, the words ’specially designed for stream fishing’ made him quite speechless.

Nowadays, many people either play in fish ponds or fish in reservoirs; who still goes stream fishing?

Seeing Lin Yang catch a ’big fish’, the old man nearby also yelled out to him, "Young lad, got a big one there." As he spoke, another Big Plate Crucian Carp was pulled ashore.

Lin Yang: "Haha, just luck, just luck."

The old man also laughed: "It’s good to catch a big fish. I haven’t caught such a big Carp in a long time."

Lin Yang’s eyes widened: "Carp?"

Then he glanced at the old man’s glasses perched on his nose and almost couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"Ah, yes, Carp are indeed hard to catch."

Lin Yang replied earnestly and then sat back down at his fishing spot.

After catching the Gaya, he relaxed a bit, tossed aside the red worm bait he had been using, and started using Potato Grass Carp.

Since he had been pulling in small miscellaneous fish just now, the spot in front of him was already used up, so he moved his fishing location slightly to a spot that he had previously baited for Grass Carp.

He loaded up two big balls of bait and, as usual, first did about a dozen strong pulls to gather the fish.

After about a dozen casts, and not even five minutes waiting, there was a black float.

With one lift, Lin Yang caught a fish that looked armored and slickly black.

"Sc... Scavenger?"

Seeing the fish he hooked, Lin Yang almost dropped his glasses.

Meanwhile, not far off, the old man tightened the glasses on his nose and added, "Young lad, another big one, lucky you are. This Black fish looks even bigger than the Carp just now."

Lin Yang "....."

Scavenger, scientifically known as the leopard pattern fat body catfish, is also an invasive species like tilapia. It became famous at first because it likes to eat leftover bait and algae in the water.

As a result, many fish keepers like to raise them.

Lin Yang used to keep fish when he was in junior high school, but at that time, he didn’t have an aquarium and just used a big glass bottle.

The fish he kept was Mapfish, also known as "map," which is easy for beginners to raise, and the patterns on the body of the Mapfish can form letters.

Initially, Lin Yang had a black-and-red Mapfish that developed the character for "hanging" on its body. When he posted it on Penguin Space, someone even offered to buy it for two hundred yuan, but he was too attached to sell it.

Later, because he forgot to change the water, all the fish died overnight.

Well, the topic has digressed a bit, but Lin Yang is indeed very familiar with Scavenger.

There are mainly two reasons why Scavengers have entered our native river basins. The first reason is due to fish keepers. When some people move or stop keeping fish for various reasons, they release the fish from their aquariums into the wild, and this is how Scavengers enter our native waters.

Additionally, there are those who released fish into the wild. They have truly caused substantial damage to the environment, not just with Scavengers but tilapia as well.

Although a portion of the tilapia escaped due to aquaculture farmers, the amount is probably less than what was released...

Regardless, these creatures have now become a pest.

Scavengers have no natural predators, their shells are very hard, no fish can eat them, and they like to suck up fish eggs, which is very troublesome.

After catching the Scavenger, Lin Yang glanced at the reward on the fish guide. The money and experience points were the same as for Gaya.

However, unlocking the Scavenger came with a special reward, a huge rod.

[Enhanced Feitou Dragon Pattern Carp Rod]

Length: 7.2 meters

Total weight: 160g

Action ratio 1:9, top fishing weight: 15kg

Strength, toughness +15%

Seeing the introduction of this huge rod, Lin Yang was very satisfied; it was a real big fish tackle for reservoir fishing.

Moreover, his level also increased after catching this Scavenger.

He was now a Lv5 angler and could be considered a skilled fisherman in the fishing community.

After he leveled up, lots of fishing knowledge flooded his mind instantly.

Knowledge about different fishing techniques, traditional single-hook direct lines, what kind of bait to use for various fish, how to choose the right fishing spot like Hua Jian and backwater bays, how to spot underwater currents, how to tell where the fish are, and so on.

If before this, without relying on special bait recipes and various buffs, he could only be considered an amateur beginner.

But now, he had the skills to compete in tournaments and make a living from fishing!

Of course, there was still some gap between him and the world’s top Master anglers.

In the past, Lin Yang thought that knowing how to adjust the float was all it took to be good at fishing.

Now it seems, he was truly a beginner among beginners back then.

Checking the time, Lin Yang decided to head back because his mother had specifically mentioned there was something important happening today.

After saying goodbye to his streaming audience, he ended the livestream.

Then, he stepped on the freshly caught Scavenger to kill it, and the small fish he caught before, he gave to the old man nearby.

As for himself, he took home the Gaya, which weighed almost one pound.

However, while riding his little electric scooter, it took some effort to properly arrange his full fishing gear, making him wonder whether it was time to consider getting a different vehicle, something his mother had also been toying with for a while.

When he got home, it was just around twelve o’clock.

In recent times, his father, Old Lin, had shifted his work focus to home since his delivery business wasn’t doing so well.

Right when Lin Yang got home, he saw his father Old Lin rolling up his sleeves and preparing the bait mix.

"I’m back, Dad," Lin Yang said as he parked his electric scooter and started unloading his gear.

"Dad, look what I caught!" he exclaimed, showing off the one-pound Gaya.

"What is this thing? Such a big Gaya, did you catch it?" Old Lin said, surprised, his eyes widening.

"Of course," Lin Yang said proudly.

"That’s perfect, later we can take this fish to your uncle’s house; it’ll make a fine dish," said Old Lin.

"Why are we taking it to Uncle’s house?" Lin Yang asked curiously as he put the fish into the pool beside the well.

"Didn’t your mom tell you? Tonight is your grandfather’s seventieth birthday, and we’re all going to your uncle’s place for dinner," replied Old Lin.

"Oh, oh, oh, I see now," said Lin Yang, realizing that what his mother had referred to as important was his grandfather’s seventieth birthday celebration.

Old Lin pointed to a pile of gifts in front of the main house door and said, "Today our family is going to celebrate your grandfather’s birthday at your uncle’s house. We need to go over there early, so get washed up and ready. There’s going to be a table full of relatives; don’t show up smelling like fish."

"Alright, I got it, Dad. Has my cousin Xiao Peng from my aunt’s family come yet?" Lin Yang asked.

"He has, both your big aunt and little aunt’s families have come," replied Old Lin.

"Dad, you don’t need to worry about the bait mix right now; we have enough for two days. If it’s not enough in a few days, I’ll get some workers to handle it," Lin Yang said, turning on the faucet.

Old Lin looked up and gave his son a stern look: "Hey, you spendthrift, have you started to show off after earning money for two days? Getting workers costs money, you know. Besides, I can still handle work like this, so don’t dawdle. Go change your clothes already. After I finish up this pot, I also need to take a bath and then go over there with your mother."

"Yeah, I know. I’m going to change now," Lin Yang replied.

His grandfather had four children, three daughters and one son, with his mother being the second eldest and his uncle the third.

The closest to home was Lin Yang’s mother, who had married into the neighboring village. The other two sisters, one lived in the local city, and the big aunt was in a different city.

When it came to the kids in the extended family, the one he got along with best was his cousin Xiao Peng. Although there was a four-to-five-year age gap and Lin Yang hadn’t been home much during college, he had always kept in touch with his cousin online.

Remembering the boy who had followed him around every summer and winter vacation with a runny nose, Lin Yang was filled with memories.

"I wonder if the little guy has changed," he mused.

After freshening up and putting on a clean set of clothes, he greeted his father and took off on his electric scooter, heading to his grandfather’s house ahead of the rest.