The Top Fishing
Chapter 95 - 095: Giant Catfish

Chapter 95: Chapter 095: Giant Catfish

As expected.

After retracting about 10 meters of the line, the big fish started another round of exertion.

The tip of the rod protruding from the water jerked forward, as the fish madly dashed towards the deeper water.

It surged forward more than 30 meters, and not only was the rope lost during the retraction insufficient, but it had also extended by an additional 10 meters, leaving about only 30 meters of extra rope in the box.

"Uncle, do we have any more Losing Hand Ropes? If not, get another one. Given how forcefully it’s surging, I’m afraid 50 meters won’t be enough," Lin Yang said, planning ahead.

"No worries, I’ll go ask Wang Bo for more. He’s got some. Hold on tight!" Yang Xincheng tossed out a sentence and dashed towards Wang Bo.

Soon, Yang Xincheng returned with an even larger box of Losing Hand Rope, asking with concern, "How’s it going? How many times has it surged? About how much rope is left in the box now?"

Lin Yang was slowly reeling in the line, looked up, and said, "It surged twice. It has just reached the connecting part of the rope, it should be about right now. I’m reeling in the rope, and the fish has calmed down a lot."

"Alright, I’ll leave the rope here. You’ll have to connect it yourself later. I’m going back to fish," Yang Xincheng said as he placed the rope beside him.

"Okay, head back. I estimate it will take a while more to wear this fish out," Lin Yang remarked, continuing his performance of managing the Losing Hand Rope.

The next ten or more minutes turned into his showtime.

Lin Yang fully displayed the style of ’if the enemy advances, I retreat; if the enemy retreats, I advance; if the enemy tires, I harass; if the enemy is superior, I yield,’ tightly controlling the fish with a slender Losing Hand Rope.

Twenty minutes later, it was hard to count how many times the big fish had surged forward; the fish’s strength was significantly depleted, and each forward push could only get it about 10 meters before being pulled back.

Feeling a noticeable reduction in strength, Lin Yang tentatively pulled back part of the line, exceeding the buffer zone he had intentionally left for the fish.

The so-called buffer zone is essentially a depth of water where the fish remains relatively calm.

If you pull back too vigorously too early, you might provoke the fish into a frantic run. Leaving a buffer zone where the fish is more accustomed to the distance from the shore makes things much better.

Now he had exceeded the buffer zone, but the fish didn’t attempt a frantic escape and allowed the Losing Hand Rope to be reeled in.

Seeing this, Lin Yang made a decision and continued to reel in the line, gripping the rod handle for the first time.

A nine-meter fishing rod plus the length of the line meant that the fish was submerged 18 meters below the surface. Lin Yang didn’t rush to lift the rod, but instead carefully tested the conditions of the fish underwater.

He held still for about ten seconds, and since the fish still didn’t exert any strength, he felt more confident, slowly increasing the force and gently lifted the rod.

"The streamer is too steady. It has been almost half an hour. I would have lost patience by now."

"Indeed, he is too steady. Now that he has lifted the rod again, the fish has almost no energy left. This big fish should have no chance of escaping."

"Why did the streamer use the Losing Hand Rope to handle the fish this time, but last time when fishing for big carp at Heavenly Pit, he used the rod lifting method?"

While the fish was weak, Lin Yang glanced at the comments, and when he saw the question above he replied, "Whether it’s using the Losing Hand Rope or lifting the rod, the goal is the same, to exhaust the energy of the big fish in the water and pull it ashore."

"Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage of using the Losing Hand Rope is that it saves energy and uses softness to overcome hardness, even if you’re not very strong, catching a fifty-pound fish is still possible. However, the downside is that it’s prone to hook cuts and the fish escaping. "

"The advantage of lifting the rod is that once the rod is set up, if there is no problem with the rod and the line, the chances of the fish escaping are much lower. The downside, however, is very clear, it demands high quality of the fishing rod and physical strength."

"What I’m demonstrating now is using the Losing Hand Rope. You can see, after wearing out the fish for almost half an hour, I’m not very tired but rather feel quite relaxed, which shows the benefit of the Losing Hand Rope."

"But when fishing for big fish, you must never be careless, as there are still risks, especially since the strength of the line is limited and can’t take a hard hit from a big fish."

"If the big fish doesn’t exert force, you should keep it from surfacing as much as possible. Using the figure-eight method to wear out its strength, the fish isn’t very strong now, we can take a few steps back..."

While explaining, Lin Yang hugged the rod and stepped back about six or seven steps; the big fish was still well-behaved, slowly following him.

Several more minutes of wearing out the fish followed.

Lin Yang could feel that the strength of the underwater big fish was now less than half of what it had been, and he sensed that the fish was about to surface.

He then added towards the camera, "Coming up is the first time this big fish will surface. You must stay alert. When the fish sees the light, it will definitely exert force once more. Don’t relax during this critical moment; many anglers have managed the difficult parts only to fail here."

After another two minutes, the big fish gradually surfaced, saw the light, twisted its head, and dived back down.

"Oh my, I saw it, that’s a huge fish head!"

"A dark, big fish head with bluish-black spots on it. It must be a Fat Head."

Lin Yang saw the fish exerting force and quickly walked forward a few steps to offset the forward thrust, slightly tipping the rod to one side to lead the fish’s head back.

After this burst of effort, the fish was exhausted and soon surfaced again.

Lin Yang, quick-eyed and deft-handed, slightly lifted the rod after the fish broke the surface, using the rod’s flex to keep the fish at the surface of the water, preventing it from diving back down.

"Now you see, as the fish has run out of strength, we thrust the rod forward to control it on the surface, and next, everyone can learn how to make it gulp water.

Once the fish is at the surface, making it gulp a few mouthfuls of water will usually turn it belly up, and then it’s pretty much game over."

While explaining, Lin Yang adjusted the height of the rod to make the fish gulp water a few times.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the big fish completely lost its strength and was unable to maintain its swimming posture, flipping belly up.

"When catching big fish, one must not rush to scoop them up. Wait until the fish is completely drained of energy and turns belly up before using a landing net. Now, as you see, I’ve managed to get this fish up, Uncle lends a hand and let’s scoop it up!"

"Scooping fish also requires technique. Don’t just chase the fish desperately with the net. The correct approach is to submerge the net in the water in advance, the angler slowly leads the fish to the net, and once the fish’s head and 2/3 of its body are inside the net, you can reach forward, pull back, and scoop up the fish."

Yang Xincheng was quite professional in scooping fish, perfectly sliding it in like opening a drawer, holding the landing net handle with both hands and slowly lifting the fish out.

The bighead carp, which did not seem overly large in the water, appeared visually more impressive once Yang Xincheng scooped it out, increasing in size visually by a whole size.

The 55 caliber net, specially used for big fish, barely contained the fish, with much of its tail curved inside.

Wang Bo and Li Xiaopeng, who had been occasionally watching, also came over, and upon seeing the big Catfish, they couldn’t stop marveling at it.

However, because they had previously seen even bigger Carp at Heavenly Pit, they were somewhat less impressed.

Afterward, they returned more confidently to fish for big fish.

The viewers in the live streaming room were also shocked by this huge bighead carp, as many had probably never seen such a large one before.

"Man, this fish looks much bigger out of the water than it did inside."

"Real big Fat Head carp, should be around twenty to thirty pounds."

"The host is awesome, totally impressed. Others just bluff, but the host is all about real action, a perfect demonstration."

Air Force Commander: "Host, are you selling this Hua Lian? I’m also from Jiangdong City, I just started dating someone, and my future father-in-law loves fish. Can you sell this one to me? If I get on well with my father-in-law, things with my fiancee will probably work out."

Lin Yang glanced over the live stream messages and was somewhat surprised when he saw the one above.

Air Force Commander was a viewer he remembered well, one of the very first fans of his live stream and also a frequent viewer who had often sent gifts.

So, seeing his message, Lin Yang said, "Air Force Commander, if you’re serious, you can drive over to pick it up. I’ll send you the address by private message. Don’t worry about the money; it involves marrying your wife, which is a big deal for our live stream community. Consider the fish a part of my contribution. Just invite me for a toast at your wedding."

"God, getting shares in marrying a wife, can you really do that?"

"Host, my wife also wants to eat fish, what should I do? Why not catch another one for me, I’ll come and get it too, and when I have a kid, you can count yourself in too."

Seeing the viewers’ teasing, Lin Yang smiled and explained, "Air Force Commander has been watching since I first started streaming, and I remember him well. It’s just a fish, not a big deal. Brother, I’ve already sent you the location privately, just come and get it."

Air Force Commander sent a sports car

Air Force Commander sent an airplane

Air Force Commander sent a rocket

He sent several big gifts in a row, directly giving Lin Yang a thousand or so RMB; even buying a fish would be covered with that amount of money.

Lin Yang said thanks, then took hold of the landing net stick, and with his right hand holding the frame of the net head, walked it over to the side, bringing the big fish to a spot on the bank.

"The fish is ashore! Today let’s have another round of prize guessing for all, look at this fish’s size and guess its actual weight. We’ll announce the winner in three minutes, and the prizes are two portions of bighead carp rice wine!"

After setting the guessing rules, Lin Yang took a towel from the fishing box, immediately wrapped it diagonally behind the fish’s gills, holding the ends of the towel with his right hand while lifting the fish’s tail with his left arm, struggling slightly to lift the fish up.

The big fish, after being played for over half an hour, was completely drained of energy and barely struggled in his arms.

The big Hua Lian in the camera appeared to be seventy to eighty centimeters in length; its head accounted for a third of its body, making it look disproportionately large, with a very thick back and beautiful greenish-black patterns covering its body.