The Top Fishing
Chapter 98 - 098: Explosive Hook Group

Chapter 98: Chapter 098: Explosive Hook Group

The group had been fishing for over half an hour, and it was approaching 6 p.m. The sky was also gradually becoming darker.

Just as Wang Bo was preparing to make dinner for everyone, Yang Xincheng stood up and said, "Brother Wang, no need to prepare dinner. I just ordered a barbecue buffet. The prepared ingredients and equipment will be delivered shortly, and we’ll have grilled meat tonight!"

Wang Bo: "Okay!"

Upon hearing about the barbecue in the evening, Lin Yang had an idea and asked, "Uncle, do you have a fish grill? I just caught a grass carp, and we can grill it directly tonight."

Truly wild grass carp is really good when grilled.

After hearing Lin Yang’s words, Wang Bo continued, "Brother Yang, why don’t you call the barbecue restaurant again and ask them to bring some seasoning for grilling fish? I have a grill in my car we can use tonight."

Yang Xincheng: "Sure!"

The viewers in the live stream, upon hearing that Lin Yang and the others would be having both grilled fish and meat tonight, were utterly envious.

"Damn, just fishing, and they live so well."

"Makes me want to join the streamer, it’s literally an immortal life."

"Others go fishing in the wild to survive, but the streamer is on a vacation...."

Seeing the envious comments from the viewers, Lin Yang couldn’t help it — he wanted to keep a low profile, but his ability didn’t allow it.

Lin Yang: "It’s getting darker; let’s fish a few more times. If there are no bites, I’m going to wrap up the stream."

Having fished continuously for four to five hours that afternoon, Lin Yang tried a few more times, but as expected, there were no bites, possibly because they had made too much noise during the afternoon.

"Alright, that’s it for today’s stream. I’ll continue tomorrow. I’m going to kill the fish now." Saying this, he immediately closed the live stream.

After fishing for such a long time, Lin Yang’s legs were somewhat numb. He stood up to stretch a bit.

Then, he took out the baiting tool and bait. It was uncertain how the fish would behave at night, and bites were generally not good at this time, so he decided to replenish the bait.

Just as he finished replenishing the bait, the sound of an engine approached from the intersection, and a Buick GL8 turned in.

A young man around his late twenties got out of the car. He checked the location on his phone, looked around briefly, and quickly spotted Lin Yang, walking over briskly.

"Brother Yang, I’m the Air Force Commander!" he called out to Lin Yang from afar.

Lin Yang had promised to give him the Big Flower Head carp that afternoon, and he had just driven over to pick it up.

"Hello, buddy."

Upon hearing someone call him, Lin Yang hurried over and shook hands with the man, smiling.

"Sorry, there was some traffic on the way, got a bit delayed," said the Air Force Commander politely.

"No worries. Did you bring something to transport the fish? I’ll pull it up for you."

"I have it, a solid-bottomed large plastic crate." The Air Force Commander turned and went back to his car, brought down a large plastic crate that could hold water, and it even had a lid.

Lin Yang went back to the fishing spot, swiftly pulled the Big Flower Head carp out of the water, scooped it up with a net, and placed it into his large plastic crate filled with water.

"It didn’t look big on the phone; I didn’t expect it to be this big, so beautiful!" exclaimed the Air Force Commander.

"It’s a long drive, and the fish can easily suffocate with so little water. Come back to play sometime. You should hurry back now," Lin Yang told him.

"Will do, I’ll make it up to you later. I have to go now!"

"Drive safely."

Lin Yang watched him drive away, soon disappearing on the coastal road.

"Did you sell the fish?" Yang Xincheng asked, looking up.

Lin Yang shook his head: "I gave it to a viewer in the live stream, planning to gift it to my father-in-law."

"You don’t seem to mind parting with it, that big wild fish is worth quite a bit of money."

Lin Yang smiled: "No worries, we’ll just catch more. There are plenty in the reservoir."

Although Yang Xincheng mentioned money, he respected him more upon knowing he had given the fish away to his viewers.

It’s rare to see someone so generous at his age. Lin Yang was someone who could achieve great things; it was understandable why his live streaming was so successful.

According to regular experience, the period just before darkness in the evening should also be a prime time for fishing, but it was different at the reservoir. As the sky darkened, the fish in the baited spot gradually stopped biting.

A little while later, the barbecue Yang Xincheng had ordered arrived: two large insulated plastic boxes brimming with raw meat skewers and fresh vegetables. It was more than enough for five grown men to feast on. As the fish stopped biting, they moved on from discussing fishing, took the opportunity to replenish the bait and started preparing the evening meal.

At home, these men might not even touch the stove, but outdoors, they were much more active.

One tended the charcoal, another handled the barbecue grill, and others fetched water and prepared the fish, all bustling with activity.

Lin Yang’s task was simple: he killed the afternoon-caught grass carp, removed the scales and innards, split the large grass carp from the spine into two halves, clamped it on the grill, and left the basting to others.

As the evening darkness set in, the scent of grilled meat wafted through the campsite.

A group sat around the fishing platform turned table, starting another round of feasting.

Beer, barbecue skewers, grilled fish, plus vacuump-packed chicken feet and peanuts—dinner was nothing short of luxurious.

Drinking in the evening came with fewer inhibitions than at noon; Wang Bo and Yang Xincheng were all in. Lin Yang, somewhat more sensible, also downed half a box of canned beers. They chatted while drinking until after nine o’clock, finally feeling satisfied with food and drink.

From dusk to after dinner, everyone’s fishing rods were quiet due to the cold water temperature. The fish were inactive at night, showing very little interest.

Feeling slightly tipsy, Lin Yang walked to the water’s edge to splash cold water on his face, which sobered him up quite a bit.

Of the five, three were drunk and had mostly retreated to their tents to rest. By the time Lin Yang had washed his face and returned, Wang Bo was clearing up the site with clear eyes.

"Brother Bo, you’ve had quite a bit too, let me do it."

Wang Bo chuckled and shook his head, "No worries, this is nothing. Back when we used to drink with clients from out of town, I could go through more than a kilo of spirits during a meal and still manage to cab home alone, and even have a few more beers once there!"

"Springtime at the reservoir isn’t great for fishing. We’ve been casting all night and there’s been no action at all."

"True! The water is quite cold. Have you noticed that the best time to catch fish is actually from sunrise until about four or five in the afternoon? Let’s clean up the table and head to bed early. I’ll put all the fishing gear in the car, and I’ll set up the electronic fence. Just relax, it will alert us if there’s any intrusion."

"Electronic fence? What’s that?" Lin Yang perked up upon hearing this term.

"Hang on, I’ll show you. It’s really handy."

After cleaning up the dinner waste, Wang Bo turned around and took out six small box-like devices from the far end of the van.

They had screw holes for mounting on poles, and once he set up two poles and turned on the device, a beam of infrared light connected one device to another.

If someone touched the beam, it would trigger an alarm, making it a great anti-theft device.

While explaining to Lin Yang, Wang Bo positioned the equipment around the campsite. After making sure everything was set up properly and storing the fishing rods, both men retired to their tent to rest.

Having drunk in the evening and worked hard all day, Lin Yang slept much better than he had the night before.

.....

Early the next morning, Lin Yang was woken by an alarm he’d set. He poked his head out of the tent to see that dawn was just breaking.

By then Wang Bo was already up, collecting the electronic fences while the others were still in their tents.

"Morning, Brother Wang."

"Just got up. Let’s replenish the baiting spots before breakfast, and it’ll be perfect for casting after we eat."

"Okay." Lin Yang agreed, grabbed his towel and toothbrush to wash up by the water, then started preparing the bait from the car with a few shout-outs.

After breakfast, the five burly men returned to their respective fishing spots, ready for action.

It’s worth mentioning that Li Xiaopeng was live-streaming both yesterday and today. Though not many were watching, he diligently chatted on his phone during downtime.

Lin Yang didn’t rush to fish; he planned to go after big fish today and started by applying a buff for catching big fish.

He then approached Wang Bo’s fishing spot and asked, "Brother Wang, did you bring the gear for catching big fish?"

"Big fish? How big?"

Lin Yang scratched his head, "I’m not sure how big, but of course, the bigger the better."

"I have a 5.4-meter rod suitable for sea and hand fishing in the car. With a big spinning wheel and number eight line, catching a hundred or more pounds of Big carp should be no problem!"

"Sounds good, I’ll take the setup you mentioned. Let’s see if I can be luckier today."

Five minutes later, Lin Yang got the heavy-duty fishing gear Wang Bo had set up for him.

The equipment was impressive—a size 8000 large spinning reel with 200 meters of number eight line, and at the end was rigged with an explosive hook setup; the hooks looked to be at least size 15. This gear was definitely meant for big fish.

Lin Yang wasn’t fond of the explosive hooks, which could hang on the fish’s mouth, face, and head, embedding deeply but causing significant injury. If luck ran low, even if the hooks were removed, the fish might not survive.

Lin Yang opened his tackle box, found a number 15 big fish hook, and didn’t hesitate to cut off the explosive hook setup.

Wang Bo was puzzled by his actions: he set up a Big Object Bean, didn’t attach a float, and tied a single hook at the bottom.

Using a single-hook through-line fishing rod, which Lin Yang considered much more reliable than explosive hooks, he pinched off a small strip of lead putty on the lead holder as a counterweight. With a space bean opened above it, the lead holder could slide on the line. Lin Yang tested the casting feel, easily throwing it dozens of meters.

Fishing is about length; the further one can cast from the shore, the higher the chances of catching big fish, especially without a fishing boat.

"Can you cast with this setup?" Wang Bo skeptically watched as Lin Yang fiddled with a fishing method he had never seen before.

Lin Yang didn’t reply, but instead went to an open area to test it, casually casting about twenty to thirty meters.

"This distance is enough, anything further and I can’t even get my bait that far," Lin Yang responded with a smile.

Then he reconfirmed his target point, baited the hook with corn beans, and swiftly cast the rod back into the water.

This cast was nearly identical to the previous one. After pinpointing where it landed, Lin Yang mixed corn with soil and bashed half a basin’s worth of bait into the water.

Done!

Seeing that Lin Yang seemed to know what he was doing, Wang Bo didn’t ask further. After all, it was just a rod—with fishing, catching something depended on luck, and not catching was the norm. Keeping a normal mindset was key.