The Top Fishing
Chapter 53 - 52: A Fishing Trip to the Black Pond

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: A Fishing Trip to the Black Pond

About half an hour later, Lin Yang arrived home first.

As the car pulled up to the front of the house, he saw his parents sitting in the yard chatting with a neighborly auntie, several bamboo chairs around them.

Seeing a brand new, large car parked at their doorstep, both elderly parents wore puzzled expressions, wondering why this car stopped in front of their house.

It wasn’t until they saw Lin Yang get out of the driver’s seat that his parents came to realize.

Then, they both widened their eyes and approached to look at the car, saying, "Son, is this your new car? It looks very domineering. Isn’t this an off-road vehicle rather than an SUV?"

Lin Yang said with a smile, "It’s an off-road vehicle. I bought it because I liked how it looks."

As for the difference between an SUV and an off-road vehicle, Lin Yang didn’t care to explain further.

The plump neighbor auntie also stood up, looking at Lin Yang in surprise, "I seem to remember this car is called a ’tank’ or something. I heard my son talking about it. He said it seems quite expensive, at least over 200,000, right, Xiao Yang?"

"Around that, I guess."

Lin Yang, of course, didn’t reveal the true price and answered nonchalantly.

"Thought so."

Curious, the neighbor auntie asked, "Did you pay in full, or did you finance this car?"

"Paid half as a down payment."

"Even half isn’t cheap. Xiao Yang, you must have been earning quite a bit these past two years," the neighbor auntie said with more surprise, knowing that Lin Yang was quite honest and unlikely to lie.

She then began to sigh, complaining to Lin Yang’s parents, "If I’d known Xiao Yang was so capable, I would have introduced my daughter to your son back then. Now she wouldn’t have to work while being pregnant..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyuan and Yang Xiuying didn’t feel pity for the other’s daughter; instead, they wore slightly proud smiles.

Because during last year’s Spring Festival, they had wanted to arrange a blind date for Lin Yang.

They’d mentioned it to the neighbor auntie, asking if she could introduce her daughter to their son.

However, the neighbor auntie had disapproved of Lin Yang for not having a house or a car and had refused, quickly marrying her daughter off to someone who had bought a house in the city.

Though they now had a house and weren’t lacking a car,

the house was mortgaged, and even though the car wasn’t expensive, just a little over 100,000, it was also on finance.

Both being financed, the neighbor auntie’s daughter got married and barely enjoyed a few good days of life.

Especially this year, with the daughter being pregnant yet still having to work, it caused the neighbor auntie to complain daily.

Nevertheless, the neighbor auntie hadn’t felt regret before, since after all, her daughter had a house and a car in the city, which was better than Lin Yang’s decade-old rural home.

But now, seeing Lin Yang able to afford a car worth over 200,000, she must have finally felt some regret, right?

Haha...

Thus, although old Lin Yang’s parents didn’t want to mock the neighbor auntie, they couldn’t help feeling a bit of smugness inside.

Lin Yang didn’t feel much about it. In fact, he even wanted to thank the neighbor auntie for not introducing her daughter to him, because although the neighbor auntie’s daughter wasn’t as burly as her mother, she was still quite heavyweight.

Plus, with a fierce personality, he couldn’t handle that.

However, according to his parents, it seemed the neighbor lady’s daughter had become more subdued after getting married, which was quite novel. The reason remained unknown.

Seeing Lin Yang’s parents showing a somewhat proud expression, the neighbor auntie felt stifled and soon made the excuse of not disturbing their meal to go home.

As she left, she was thinking, although her daughter’s life was a bit tight now, they at least had a house in the city.

Your son just bought a car, right? And he even took out a loan to buy it; is there any need to be so proud?

Humph, if you have to take out a loan for a car, you’ll never be able to afford a house later on.

After the neighbor auntie left, his mother’s proud expression turned to a frown as she asked, "Son, is this car really over 200,000?"

Knowing she was worried about him spending money recklessly, Lin Yang reassured, "Don’t worry, Mom. I used up my savings, but the ongoing income from selling bait and my prospects in live streaming are good. It won’t take long to earn this money back."

Seeing her son say so, his mother just nodded and didn’t say much else. After all, the son was grown and it was normal not to listen to them. She decided to let him be.

Besides, even though the car was a bit expensive, it wasn’t like the money was wasted.

Examining the Tank 300 with a content touch here and there, his father also felt the car was expensive, but was quite satisfied with it.

After all, such a domineering vehicle is something most men like, and he also believed in his son’s capabilities, thinking there was no issue with the car purchase.

It wasn’t long before Uncle Yang Xincheng drove over as well.

A few minutes later, his mother called the three to come in for lunch.

Although today’s lunch couldn’t compare to a New Year’s Eve feast, it was still very lavish because of their tradition of warming up the car.

So the meal included stewed chicken, stewed duck, a big pig’s trotter, and some yellow perch Lin Yang had caught a few nights ago.

Almost every dish on the table was lavish, making Lin Yang involuntarily swallow his saliva.

....

After a full meal and drink, it was around three in the afternoon.

In their happiness, both Old Lin and Uncle were flushed red from drinking.

Last of all, Uncle suggested going fishing together the next day, as he had time.

Moreover, he was absolutely obsessed with fishing, and he would go fishing whenever he had free time. Now that he knew Lin Yang was so skilled at fishing and also had a car, it was even more convenient for them to go fishing together.

"Uncle, do you know of any new good fishing spots?" Lin Yang asked.

The Qingshui River, after he had fished there the previous two times, now not only had fewer resources but also had several times more anglers competing for good fishing spots—it had become hard to find a decent spot.

"Hmm... Xiao Yang, seeing how good you are at fishing, how about we try out a commercial pond? I mean Black Pond Fishing, the kind that charges a fee!" Yang Xincheng pondered for a moment before suggesting.

At the mention of Black Pond Fishing, Lin Yang was enlightened: "I know a bit about Black Pond Fishing. What’s up? Is there a suitable Black Pond nearby that started to operate?"

"Yep, up the stream of Chishui River in Dongyang Town, there’s a pond that has begun to operate. I heard from a friend that it opened at the beginning of the month, and it seems the fish are biting well—they have stocked fish seven or eight times now."

Based on Yang Xincheng’s description, Lin Yang roughly considered the location in his mind.

He was familiar with Dongyang Town and knew about Chishui River, which was downstream from Qingshui River.

It was about 30 kilometers away from their home, but the journey was made easier by the newly built River Road along the river, with good road conditions.

Driving there would take about twenty-plus minutes to half an hour, not too far away.

"Is there a fish stocking announcement? How many fish are they putting in exactly, and what’s the charge? What’s the fishing spot like?" Lin Yang continued to inquire.

Hearing him ask such professional questions, Yang Xincheng knew that Lin Yang’s claim of knowing just a bit was an understatement. Only someone from the angling community would zero in on these core questions so precisely.

"Regular fishing costs one hundred yuan, they stock 600 jin of fish—300 jin of Carp and 300 jin of mules, with individuals ranging around two to three jin. They charge three yuan per jin for the fish you want to take home."

"The fishing spot is a section of the river branched off and enclosed with nets, connected to the Chishui River, with good water quality and sufficient oxygen. The catch rate has always been above seventy to eighty percent. Boss Tang, the owner of the pond, is quite a decent fellow, and the fishing spot has a good reputation."

Lin Yang did some quick mental math.

The temperature of the water is still a bit low in March, but if it’s moving water from a river, the requirements can be slightly relaxed.

Six hundred jin of fish for one hundred tickets meant that he could expect to land a bit over thirty jin of fish. The spot seemed playable if it wasn’t too large.

Moreover, the pond owner clearly understood the habits of the fish well, stocking 300 jin of mules in the colder spring water was especially suitable.

Some might not know what mules are. These are not the mules used for pulling carts, but a colloquial local term; their proper name should be Golden Crucian Carp also called Carp crucian carp.

This is a hybrid fish resulting from breeding between Crucian Carp and Carp—fast-growing, resilient to coarse feed, tolerant to cold and low oxygen, perfectly inheriting the genetic advantages of both species of fish.

As the water temperature in spring is somewhat low, Carp activity might be somewhat impacted, and the price of purebred commercial Crucian Carp in spring is too high, making the hybrid Golden Crucian Carp a good choice for stocking.

"Alright, let’s go there tomorrow and have some fun. I’ve never tried Black Pond Fishing before," Lin Yang readily agreed, as he was currently worried about having no place to fish and accumulate points.

Seeing Lin Yang agree, Yang Xincheng promptly said, "Then it’s settled. These past few days, I have a friend who has been fishing there constantly. I’ll send him a message tonight to have him save us a spot early tomorrow morning."

"We need to save our own spots?" Lin Yang was a bit bewildered upon hearing about reserving fishing spots.

In his memory, reserving spots at Black Pond Fishing was a practice from a very long time ago.

Yang Xincheng matter-of-factly replied, "Or else what? Definitely need to reserve your own spot. The overall bite rate at that fishing spot is quite high, but the fish don’t bite evenly. If you want to catch big ones, you have to go early to secure the spots where they bite the most. If you just sit in a random spot, well, that’s hit or miss."

"Got it. Oh, and are we allowed to chum there?"

Yang Xincheng responded, "Everyone chums together at the start of fishing. After that collective chumming, they don’t allow any more hand-throwing of bait. The rod limit is 5.4 meters and the area of the pond isn’t too large. You’ll get the picture when you see it tomorrow."

"Good!"

Having settled on the Black Pond Fishing trip for the following day, Lin Yang continued chatting with Yang Xincheng for a while, getting a preliminary understanding of the Pond.

Half an hour later.

Since his uncle had been drinking, Lin Yang drove Yang Xincheng home, planning to pick him up on the way to fishing in the morning.

.....

After dinner, Lin Yang felt an indescribable excitement. After all, it was his first time trying Black Pond Fishing, so he needed to prepare in advance.

First were the line and hook setups: 1.0 leader line, 1.5 main line, size eight hook.

Plus an additional setup with a 1.2 leader line, a 2.0 main line, and a size seven Golden Sea Sunset Carp Hook.

In this season, using such a thick leader line was already conservative, but Lin Yang wasn’t sure about the strength of the fish in flowing water, so he opted for one size thicker just in case.

Next, he prepared a large plastic basin, ready to mix the Carp bait.

For the Carp bait, he could use his own homemade Carp-special rice wine mixture added to pellet powder.

Opening a bottle of Carp-special rice wine, inside was a mix of enhanced fish-attracting "medicine" for Carps, which Lin Yang had exchanged from a fish encyclopedia, combined with millet.

Upon opening the red cap of the rice wine bottle, he could smell a very rich aroma of grains. Upon closer inspection, there was also a subtle scent of fruit, giving an overall impression of a complex fragrance resulting from the combination of different base notes.

Red rice wine and pellet powder, proportionately mixed and stirred well, the Carp bait formula was ready.

This thing looked quite promising, with a good mixture of particle sizes, and after the flavor was mixed, the smell of the medicine blended with Marukyu Bait’s fermented algae aroma, along with an additional super attractant grain scent, resulted in a very smooth blend.

Lin Yang took a Ziploc bag and packed the prepared Carp bait, ready to use it the next day.

With the bait prepared, it was time for the chum.

Bait for chumming Carps could vary, and after checking in his storage room, he found just a bag of Tongwei Adult Fish Pellets.

He used pure grains at home with a bag of Tongwei Adult Fish Pellets to mix about three jin of chum, adding a bit of red rice wine. That would definitely be enough for chumming.

After that, rods, fish keepnets, and various other equipment—Lin Yang took his time to organize everything thoroughly. Once he had made sure everything was in order, he set his alarm clock before reluctantly going to sleep.

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