After successfully enduring the most perilous phase of exertion following the big fish biting, Zhang Yang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Damn, that was close, so close to losing control, but it's finally stable now!

How do you determine that the big fish is under control?

It's actually quite simple; it happens when the angler can efficiently guide the fish's direction.

For instance, when Zhang Yang consciously tilts the rod to one side, the big fish underwater is quickly pulled in that direction.

In this state, as long as the angler doesn't make a mistake or act recklessly, the chances of reeling in the fish become almost one hundred percent.

Previously, Liu Wenjun deliberately stirred up trouble in Zhang Yang's spot by pulling fish there, which was due to being in this kind of control state. The smaller the fish, the easier it is to do this.

Zhang Yang once again expertly maneuvered the fish in a perfect figure-eight, confirming the situation, before scheming up a little plan.

Wasn't he causing trouble earlier? A gentleman must avenge himself; I'll let him feel this disruption too. If we're playing, let's play hard—the big fish's disruption will give him quite a headache.

Having decided on a plan of revenge, Zhang Yang quickly controlled the fish to swim towards Liu Wenjun's spot.

Under normal circumstances, when the fish swims to the lower circle of the figure-eight, Zhang Yang would preemptively guide it to turn, but this time he let it continue forward.

Well now, the big fish swam about two meters further, leaving less than a meter of direct distance from Liu Wenjun's spot.

At this point, Zhang Yang's retraction was a tad slow, bowing the rod back while starting to utter an apology.

"Oops, Teacher Liu, really sorry! The fish is too big to control, almost messed up your spot, hope you're not mad?"

Upon hearing these nearly verbatim words, Liu Wenjun felt a vein pop on his forehead, his mind echoing a litany of curses.

As the saying goes, what goes around comes around; Liu Wenjun didn't expect karma to come so swiftly.

The big fish caught by Zhang Yang swished its tail around Liu Wenjun's spot, and in the next moment, a dense flurry of bubbles surfaced.

Surprisingly, a beat later, from beneath Liu Wenjun's bobber shot a large herring of at least four or five pounds.

Yes, you saw it right, a fish leapt out of the water! It flew out mid-air, gliding almost a meter before crashing back into the water.

The fish in the spot, petrified by the monstrous fish, fled in a frenzy; as herrings are adept at leaping, this one put on quite the spectacle.

"Damn it, the spot's blown!!" Liu Wenjun couldn't hold back, blurting out expletives!

Though he had been causing trouble for Zhang Yang, he had cultivated his own spot meticulously and could have caught several more steadily.

But now it's different; the spot's blown, the fish have fled, and the big one has scared them off for good. Liu Wenjun's spot is thoroughly ruined.

"Whoa! That big herring can fly! What a rare spectacle!" Zhang Yang quipped lightly, not missing a beat in controlling the fish with his rod.

Liu Wenjun was boiling with anger inside, but he couldn't vent it toward Zhang Yang.

He had previously troubled Zhang Yang, who had swallowed it down hard. Now it's Old Liu's turn, and as a king of fishing, he needs to have this bit of 'humility.' Swallowed his pride and kept it to himself.

Having exacted his revenge, Zhang Yang instantly felt a sense of release and his mood improved greatly, making his arms handling the rod all the more steady.

This big guy took over twenty minutes to tire out before Zhang Yang could exhaust it. As the big fish finally floated belly up from the water, the spectators around all gasped in amazement.

"Wow! It's huge!"

"Holy crap! This big white herring, what a monster!"

"It must weigh at least twenty or thirty pounds, sure to top the leaderboard for single weight!"

Amid the excited chatter of the anglers and bystanders, Zhang Yang held the rod in one hand while using his left to compare with the landing net.

With a simple comparison, Zhang Yang immediately gave up the idea of using the current 40 cm diameter landing net head.

The fish is too big, and this net is too shallow. If he tried to scoop it up forcefully, more than half the body would be outside, making it impossible to net it.

This is where Zhang Yang's rich experience shone through.

An inexperienced angler might take a chance, trying and affirming several times that it won't work before thinking of another approach.

During this process, if unlucky, the hook might detach, or the fishing line might snag on the net and snap, rendering all previous efforts pointless.

So what's the best method in this situation?

Many wouldn't guess: it's to slowly bend down and lift the fishing line, using the fish retaining net mouth to scoop the fish!

With proper tiring out, the big fish had turned belly up; as long as the technique is slow, lifting the line, it would hardly struggle.

By using the fish retaining net mouth as a net, pull the fish's head into the net, which is deep enough; once the front half enters, it's a successful catch.

Watching Zhang Yang, he grabbed the rod with his right hand, slowly pulling the insertion rod out of the fishing box with his left.

Squatting down carefully, he tried to bring the fish as close as possible.

Once the fish was drawn to the water's edge, Zhang Yang released the rod and slowly held onto the fish line, with his left hand grasping the net mouth, right hand guiding the line toward the net mouth.