The Top Fishing
Chapter 75 - 075: Maggot Fishing

Chapter 75: Chapter 075: Maggot Fishing

Then Lin Yang changed his fishing method, from bottom fishing to float fishing, but the result was the same.

He then tried casting with a flying lead to attract fish and even changed the fishing spot, casting a few rods in a nearby area, to no avail.

Not a single bite!

There wasn’t even a trace of the "small white fish," one of the four great beasts of the fishing world!

This situation left Lin Yang somewhat baffled.

Was he really going to come up empty today? Not even a tiny mixed-breed fish...

Lin Yang, somewhat defiant, added more fortified rice wine into the bait mix and tested it again.

Still no change.

No bites meant no bites!

And his neighbors, Li Xiaopeng, Wang Bo, and Tai, faced exactly the same issue—no sign of any fish biting.

Initially, they thought it was their lack of skill, but after they saw that even Lin Yang hadn’t caught a single fish despite trying a number of methods, they felt a bit better...

So even someone as skilled as Lin Yang couldn’t catch any fish in this place?

Then it was quite normal for them not to catch anything!

More time passed.

After half an hour of casting, Lin Yang still hadn’t gotten a single bite.

The viewers in the live stream, not seeing Lin Yang catch any fish, were very confused. Some impatient fans had already left.

"Why has the host not caught a single fish today?"

"Yeah, it’s been half an hour, and we haven’t seen Master Lin catch a fish, it’s really abnormal...."

"If it were before, the host would have caught at least ten pounds of fish by now."

"Could it be that the host is waiting for a big fish today?"

"He is indeed waiting for a big fish, but I see that the host also used a small fish rod. How come not even a small fish has been caught?"

"Something’s off, very off...."

Even though the surrounding scenery was nice, the viewers still felt dissatisfied not seeing Lin Yang catch any fish.

After all, they were mainly there to watch Lin Yang fish and to learn techniques, not just to enjoy the scenery.

Seeing that Lin Yang kept failing to catch fish, they started to get bored.

Even though Lin Yang chatted with them from time to time, the number of viewers in the live stream began to drop, from nearly 1000 to just over 300....

That’s live streaming for you—when content is scarce, it’s normal for viewers to leave.

At this point, Wang Bo also felt a bit embarrassed; if it wasn’t for him bringing Lin Yang to this godforsaken place, Lin Yang wouldn’t have been questioned by the viewers.

However, he genuinely hadn’t anticipated that Lin Yang wouldn’t catch any fish in this place.

He had always been lured by the rumors that there were carps weighing thirty to forty pounds here, and he had been keen on persevering at this spot.

It seemed that there really weren’t any big fish here, or else they wouldn’t have come up with nothing in previous attempts.

Wang Bo decided that if Lin Yang still hadn’t caught any fish after a little while longer, he would persuade Lin Yang to leave this fishless place and try their luck elsewhere.

Although he hadn’t caught a fish yet, Lin Yang did not remain silent; he turned to the camera and began to explain to his viewers why he hadn’t caught a single fish:

"Because the place we came to today is quite remote, surrounded by mountains, and the spring water and rainwater from the mountains converge to form the Heavenly Pit...."

"This place has no flowing water; it completely depends on the weather, so there truly aren’t many fish here—it’s a real wild fishing environment."

Having said this, he turned the camera around to show everyone the surrounding area, capturing the environment of the Heavenly Pit surrounded by mountains and forests.

Seeing that there wasn’t even a path nearby, and that they were surrounded by mountains, the viewers started to understand a bit more.

"To think he is actually fishing in such a wild environment, I thought the host had been bluffing us before."

"In such a remote place, no wonder he can’t catch fish."

"A place like this without flowing water, completely reliant on spring water—the water probably dries up during droughts, doesn’t it?"

"I advise the host to stop fishing. In a place prone to drought, there probably aren’t any fish...."

"Indeed, the host would be better off quickly finding a ’black pit’ or a reservoir to show us some fierce action!"

....

"Let’s fish a little bit longer. I have a feeling there might be a surprise in this place, you never know—maybe we’ll actually catch the wild giant carp weighing thirty to forty pounds we’re looking for."

Seeing the viewers suggesting that he change spots, Lin Yang shook his head seriously, still deciding to fish a little longer.

After all, it would be a blow to his pride to switch spots so quickly, and he was not convinced that he couldn’t catch a single fish. So for today, he was determined to stick with this spot.

Even if it meant ending up with nothing, he had to be sure there were really no fish in this place before he would leave.

And after hearing what Lin Yang had just said, the viewers also became interested.

"What did the host just say? A wild carp weighing thirty to forty pounds?"

"Fake, right? Carp that weighs thirty or forty pounds? And wild ones?"

"There really are. I’ve seen a foreign fishing documentary where someone caught a 97-pound wild carp!"

"That’s right, that’s right. In the show ’River Monsters,’ Jeremy has caught lots of big wild fish. Although there are no big carp, there are many wild catfish weighing sixty or seventy pounds, even over a hundred pounds!"

"Please, that’s overseas. Do we have thirty or forty-pound wild carps here in our country?"

"I’ve heard of ones over twenty pounds, but that’s pretty much the limit. As for carps weighing thirty or forty pounds, frankly, I’ve never even heard of them around here!"

"I have heard of wild carps that weigh thirty or forty pounds, but that’s from news reports. I’ve never actually seen one that big in real life...."

"A fish that big, if caught, would make the news."

"So the target fish for today’s live stream is this kind of fish, no wonder there hasn’t been a bite for so long."

"I see, in that case, I’ll keep watching a bit longer. What if the fish actually bites soon? I can’t miss this opportunity...."

With the idea of thirty or forty-pound carps in mind, the viewers in the live stream started to feel expectant.

After all, even if they couldn’t catch such a big fish themselves, it was good to see someone else do it.

While the viewers weren’t rushing him, Lin Yang was feeling quite anxious inside.

After such a long time, he hadn’t even caught any small miscellaneous fish, let alone carps weighing thirty or forty pounds.

So the most pressing task at the moment was to first confirm there were fish in the water, then consider other matters.

Just then, Lin Yang suddenly spotted a small black insect crawling out of the mud under his feet that he didn’t recognize. Although he didn’t know what kind of insect it was, this little creature gave him some inspiration.

If bait isn’t attracting fish, why not try insects?

Thinking this, Lin Yang immediately got up, went over to Tai, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Tai, lend me your shovel. I’m going to dig up some insects for fishing."

"Oh... okay."

Tai quickly handed over the shovel that was by his feet, then said, "Master Lin, are you thinking of digging up earthworms for fishing? I tried that before, went down the mountain to dig for a long while, dug up a few earthworms and waited a whole day, without a single bite...."

"I even bought some earthworms later for fishing, but it was the same, the fish just weren’t interested."

"If you ask me, there aren’t any fish in this place at all, otherwise it’s impossible that we haven’t seen a single fish in three or four days."

Upon hearing Tai’s words, Lin Yang just waved his hand and laughed, "I saw you digging for a long time when you were preparing the fishing spot and you didn’t find any earthworms. That means there aren’t earthworms here, and the fish haven’t seen them, so using earthworms isn’t very effective...."

"But the insects you can use for fishing aren’t just earthworms. There are many other small insects you can use for fishing too."

Having said this, Lin Yang, shovel in hand, found a spot behind with rotting leaves and berries on the ground and began to dig.

This action immediately drew the attention of Tai, Wang Bo, and Li Xiaopeng, who were all curious about what Lin Yang was digging for.

Lin Yang had only swung the shovel a few times when he noticed something white moving in the soil. His face lit up instantly, and he reached down and grabbed it.

"Yuck... what is this?"

"This insect looks kind of gross...."

Seeing Lin Yang grasping the soft, white insect in his hand, Li Xiaopeng and Wang Bo started to express their disgust.

Even when fishing with insects, they used earthworms or red worms, but they’d never used other types of insects before.

Tai, on the other hand, recognized what it was and said, "That’s fly larvae, also known as fly maggots, or simply maggots...."

Maggots....

Once Tai said this, Li Xiaopeng and Wang Bo immediately backed away even further.

They had heard that maggots could be used for fishing, but had never tried it themselves. Plus, the word ’maggot’ alone sounded repulsive, which is why they distanced themselves.

However, having grown up in rural areas, both Lin Yang and Tai had seen these things a lot when they were children, so they weren’t particularly repulsed.

Lin Yang felt that fly maggots were not really different from earthworms or red worms, they were just insects after all.

"Tai, get me something to put these in. There are quite a few maggots around here...."

While one hand captured insects, the other hand wielded the shovel, Lin Yang scraped the ground a few more times, quickly finding several more maggots, so he immediately asked someone to bring something to put them in.

Tai quickly brought over his bait mixing bowl and started helping Lin Yang catch the maggots, and they soon had over a dozen.

As Lin Yang kept digging, he discovered a plant rootstock, and next to it, he found an even larger and thicker white insect, about the size of a child’s finger.

Seeing this insect, Lin Yang’s eyes brightened again, and he promptly tossed the insect into Tai’s bait mixing bowl.

After Lin Yang uncovered so many fly maggots, Li Xiaopeng and Wang Bo finally began to accept them a bit and dared to move a little closer.

But seeing the worm that was ten times larger than a fly maggot, they got scared and backed off again.

Seeing the two men’s reaction, Tai explained, "This is an earthworm. They generally live near plant roots, feeding on the roots, and can be used for fishing, especially for big fish."

After digging up a few earthworms, Lin Yang stopped digging in the ground and began to clear away some of the grass and leaves on the surface. He quickly found some green insects.

Tai introduced them again, "These are green worms; they feed on the leaves of plants."

Having found about a dozen green worms, Lin Yang then ran to the water’s edge and started to clear the mud in the water, where he found some long, slender red insects.

Seeing these insects, Tai’s eyes lit up, and he stepped forward, pointing at the insects and said, "I know these; they’re red worms. I’ve used them before... but these red worms seem to be a lot longer?"