The Top Fishing
Chapter 97 - 097: Delicious Grass Carp

Chapter 97: Chapter 097: Delicious Grass Carp

What Wu Tian didn’t know was that the area in front of his baiting spot was full of various large rocks covered in moss, which made the water’s surface look green as if it were very deep, but actually, the water was no more than two meters deep.

Such terrain not only contained an abundance of food, but also provided convenient shelter for small fish to hide from predators, making it an ideal hiding spot for them.

As soon as Wu Tian baited the spot, many small fish were attracted. Adding the fact that he had baited his spot with a large amount of shrimp powder mixed with bait, it took less than three minutes for fish to take notice.

Wu Tian baited the spot and tested the waters with a rod, the float nudged slightly at first, then gave several accelerated and promising bites. However, when he lifted the rod, he failed to hook the fish, empty!

"Hmph, trying to compete with me? I’ve got fish in my spot now; I saw the float moving just now!" Wu Tian said confidently as he baited his hook again.

Lin Yang stifled a laugh, his expression on his face quite normal as he quirked his lips, "It’s good to see some action, but it’s worthless if you can’t land the right fish!"

"Just watch, I’ll certainly catch a fish before you do!" Wu Tian’s float had just settled when it gave another rocketing bite.

Off you go.

He jerked the rod upwards to set the hook, only to miss the fish again!

"The fish are still a bit frisky; just give it some time to settle down! A good meal is worth the wait—it’s better to have bites and miss than to have no action at all!" Wu Tian stubbornly cast his line again.

Lin Yang, feeling a bit awkward, smiled and said nothing, angling his cast slightly towards the other side of the bait spot to avoid disturbing the small fry that had begun to swarm.

In just under ten minutes, Wu Tian’s bait spot was full of small nuisance fish. As the school gathered, the commotion at the bait spot intensified.

Every time he cast, his float struggled even to settle, with high bites, skewed runs, or frantic heart-attack bites that resulted in no fish when he jerked the rod.

After missing his hook twenty times in a row, Wu Tian finally began to suspect something was amiss. Could it be that the shrimp powder he’d mixed into his bait had attracted all these small fish?

Why the hell is my spot filled with nothing but small, worthless fish!

In contrast, Lin Yang’s spot was much calmer. Twenty minutes after baiting, sparse fish bubbles appeared in his three-meter-six short rod baiting area—Crucian Carp were entering the spot.

Another bait, "roujiamo," was cast into the baiting spot, and as soon as the float stabilized, there was a clear bottom bite. He waited for a two-second count, lifted the rod, and hooked a fish!

"Tsk, tsk, there’s a fish on. Just now someone was sure they’d catch one first—where’s your fish?"

Lin Yang lifted the rod with ease, showing off the Crucian Carp to the live-streaming camera before casually tossing it into the keepnet.

"Isn’t it weird, guys? Have you noticed how quiet the host’s bait spot is, while that idiot next to him has his spot boiling over, his float dancing all over the place yet catching no fish!"

"That’s what happens when someone too arrogant gets their comeuppance. Even the host, who’s usually so easygoing, has been pushed to the brink by such poor sportsmanship."

"Whether being arrogant affects the catch might be a bit metaphysical; could there be something wrong with the bait mix?"

"Host, why not tell us about it? It’ll serve as a cautionary tale," said one viewer.

Seeing this question from a viewer, Lin Yang thought for a moment and said, "I see someone has asked about the commotion at the bait spot. Let me share my thoughts. Small nuisance fish swim quickly and are more sensitive to animal proteins, so when baiting, it’s best to be a little cautious.

If I’m not mistaken, a certain fool added a good amount of foul-smelling shrimp powder to his bait, filling the spot with small fish. You definitely don’t want to make such a rookie mistake when you’re fishing.

The correct way to bait a spot, I’ve already taught you before. If there are newcomers here, you can scroll through my earlier videos to find the content."

The fishing knowledge Lin Yang shared was fundamentally correct, but when applied to the actual fishing environment, it was also somewhat one-sided.

For instance, is adding shrimp powder to the bait mix a problem in early spring?

Normally, it’s not a big issue. Small fish activity is low, so there’s no crazy feeding frenzy like in summer or autumn. The scent of shrimp powder can indeed attract larger fish, and with shrimp powder, the bait spot becomes active sooner than without it.

The reason Wu Tian’s spot was overrun by small fish had more to do with the underwater environment. The presence of the shrimp powder simply exacerbated the situation, making it worse.

Before long, Lin Yang landed another Crucian Carp. With two fish in the keepnet and a frenzy of small fish at Wu Tian’s spot.

Frustrated, Wu Tian changed his bait to wheat kernels, hoping to filter out the attacks from the smaller fish. Though the idea was good, it proved ineffective; the small fish pecked just as fiercely at the wheat kernels.

If wheat didn’t work, then perhaps corn kernels would. But after trying corn kernels and even resorting to a heavy sinker to keep his bait at the bottom, nothing changed the situation with the small fish causing trouble.

Over an hour passed, and Lin Yang had more than ten Crucian Carp in his keepnet, while Wu Tian had only managed to hook a small, two-finger-long Maisui.

At this point, the outcome of the contest was clear, but it seemed Wu Tian hadn’t given up just yet.

Just then.

At Lin Yang’s nine-meter long rod, the float suddenly dipped strongly, then shot out at an angle into a full blackout!

Seeing this, Lin Yang pulled hard on the rod to set the hook.

Whoosh, a direct hit once again!

This fish didn’t seem particularly powerful but was incredibly fast, darting in one direction with great force after the rod hit it.

As the rod buzzed from being pulled, it shot forward diagonally, and Lin Yang reflexively turned the rod around to thrust the tip into the water.

With this inverted rod technique, the fish underwater felt resistance from one side and finally turned around, neutralizing the first wave of its escape.

"???"

"Holy moly, what kind of move was that? Why didn’t he just let go of the rod?"

"It looks kind of cool, what’s the principle behind this?"

Lin Yang, maintaining firm control of the fish, said slowly, "When I first hit the fish with the rod, I felt the fish’s strength wasn’t too great, and it should be within the limit of my line’s strength; therefore, it wasn’t necessary to drop the rod.

The inverted rod technique I used is actually something many experienced anglers do, and it involves flipping the rod 90 degrees in the direction the fish is fleeing, plunging the fishing rod into the water.

Everyone knows that a fishing rod in water creates resistance, so, with this resistance and the rod bending to one side, we can lead the fish to turn back. Once it turns, the force of its rush becomes controllable."

With his left hand on the upper end of the rod handle, Lin Yang continued, "This skill in playing the fish only requires one to immediately discern from the fish’s force and speed whether the line strength is sufficient underwater. If it exceeds the limit, it’s safer to use the Losing Hand Rope."

As he spoke, the fish made another dash underwater; Lin Yang repeated the move, expertly directing the rod right and plunging it into the water again, leading the fish’s head back.

After successfully dealing with two outward rushes, there was no suspense left. In less than five minutes, the fish was tiring out and was scooped into the net.

"Lucky catch, it’s a grass carp, no wonder the rushes felt so strong. However, it’s not very big; I’ll show it to everyone."

Lin Yang held the fish in his hands, displaying it before the phone camera.

By estimation, this grass carp weighed around five or six pounds, with a sleek and well-proportioned body, each scale glistening with a dark green sheen.

"Looks like I’m in for a treat tonight." Lin Yang said, tossing the grass carp into the keepnet.

In the eyes of foodies, among the four major types of fish, grass carp is considered the most delicious and is the most expensive; bighead carp makes for a tasty diced chili fish dish; bream turned into cured fish or dried fish also has its own charm; white carp, on the other hand, is the least eye-catching and the cheapest.

Hearing Lin Yang’s words, Wu Tian, who was utterly frustrated by the small mixed fish, was at a loss for words.

It was supposed to be a serious fishing competition, yet here was Lin Yang, not only flaunting his fish-playing technique but also commenting on the taste of the fish, completely disregarding him.

But as much as he felt aggrieved, he couldn’t do anything about it. The spot was full of endless small mixed fish, and regardless of using a long or short rod, the bobber would dance as soon as it was cast, with not a single big fish to be seen.

Seeing the array of emotions on Wu Tian’s face, Lin Yang had an idea and intentionally said, "How’s it going over there? Has the angler next door caught anything yet?"

The question, "Started catching yet?" completely shattered Wu Tian’s composure; it was an insult to him.

With the current situation, if there were even a single fish in his keepnet, he would not hesitate to pull it out and throw it in Lin Yang’s face, but alas, he only hooked a few meaningless wriggles like silverstripe round herring and not a single decent fish.

"Dammit! You’re just lucky today, Qiangzi, pack it up, we’re leaving!" Wu Tian’s face turned beet red from irritation as he suddenly stood up from his fishing spot.

Lin Yang, with a smile, "Tsk tsk, not playing anymore? There’s still an hour until six."

"Hmph." Wu Tian snorted discontentedly and began sullenly packing his belongings.

Still fuming inside, he packed up his gear emotionally; he had only used the new fishing line on the long rod once. After removing the bobber, he simply crumpled the line into a ball and discarded it on the ground.

But while he threw away the line, he forgot about the two size 8 Ishiyaki hooks for catching big fish on the bottom of it.

He haphazardly stuffed his gear into his backpack and grabbed his tackle box to leave.

The next moment, Wu Tian’s day went from bad to worse; he stepped on the large line he had just tossed away, and his right shoe, perfectly, got snagged by the fish hook. Even through the angled fabric, the sharp point of the hook managed to catch on top of his foot.

"Ouch!" Wu Tian cried out in pain, nearly losing his balance and falling on his rear.

A warm sensation began to spread from the wounded area; needless to say, he was bleeding.

"When going out fishing, everyone should develop an appreciation for the environment. Bring your trash back home, especially sharp objects like fish hooks and lines, or else you’re just harming yourself..."

Lin Yang appeared to be speaking to the viewers in the live stream, but Wu Tian heard it as if it were directed at him.

However, by now, he dared not say anything more.

In the span of about ten minutes, Zhang Qiang and Wu Tian left, making the campsite considerably more peaceful.