The Top Fishing
Chapter 455 - 214: Temporarily Ranked First_3

Chapter 455: Chapter 214: Temporarily Ranked First_3

So, in the eyes of many, even though Lin Yang’s team had gained a significant advantage in the first round of the competition, they would definitely be outperformed in the subsequent matches.

The rules of the second round of the sea fishing competition were almost the same as the first round, in which only fish that met a certain size standard counted, except that the Giant Grouper was a protected species. Catching it without bringing it on board, merely pulling it out of the water, was considered a success.

On paper, the rules seemed simple—catch the fish and then pull it out of the water to succeed. But only those who were truly knowledgeable about this type of fish understood how difficult it was.

The name Giant Grouper was very telling, with individuals often weighing hundreds of pounds, possessing great strength, and living in shallow coastal waters less than forty meters deep that were filled with rocky reefs, bridge piers, and other underwater structures. Once the fish was hooked, there wasn’t much room to let it run; it had to be pulled out quickly, or it would retreat into the rocks, potentially severing the steel cables.

Normally, the standard fishing group consisted of two to three anglers, one main angler and two assistants working together.

This time, with only two in a group, it meant one angler fishing and one assisting, which greatly increased the difficulty for the main angler and demanded exceptional core strength.

Among the many well-known sea anglers participating in this competition, very few had the physical quality to meet these requirements.

After dinner, Zhang Lin came over with a laptop and said, "Brother Yang, there’s new news about this international fishing competition; the prize money has been increased by an additional two hundred thousand US dollars."

"An extra two hundred thousand US dollars?" Lin Yang abruptly sat upright upon hearing this figure.

"Yes, exactly. A famous fishing boat brand has announced its sponsorship of the competition. Besides adding two hundred thousand US dollars in prize money, they are also providing the competition judges and contestants with the necessary fishing boats unconditionally. So far, the total prize pool for this international fishing competition has reached approximately two million US dollars..."

Although the top three teams in the competition received rewards, the champion team could definitely secure more than half of these, equating to over a million US dollars—a substantial sum indeed.

Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat excited.

Over a million US dollars, when converted to RMB, amounted to eight or nine million, even close to ten million; they had never seen so much money up to this point.

"But don’t get too excited too soon. With such a high prize, almost double that of previous years, this competition includes several participants who have competed in past years and even achieved excellent results. Among the other contestants are those who have independently taken on challenges like the Golden Spearfish and even large sharks, many of whom have experience and history with fishing for Giant Groupers..." Zhang Lin continued to explain.

"Who are the well-known anglers? Help us gather all the information you can," Lin Yang asked him.

"Okay, I’m on it," Zhang Lin quickly agreed.

Xiao Zhang was so dedicated not only because he admired Lin Yang and his team but also because if they won this competition, or placed very high, he stood to gain a significant benefit as well.

For the next few hours, Zhang Lin collected and organized information about the competition’s anglers.

Unfamiliar, one would not know, but lo and behold, out of eighty contestants, almost everyone was formidable.

This was also easy to understand, as the international fishing competition inherently had high entry requirements, and average anglers simply didn’t qualify to compete.

The reason many renowned anglers didn’t stand out in the first round was that they were focusing their efforts on the second round of sea fishing, which, after all, had the most impact on the competition; fishing for Big Mouth Bass was merely the appetizer.

It was foreseeable that the competition for Giant Grouper in the sea fishing match three days later would be extremely fierce.