After a brief chat, Gong Wenyuan waved goodbye and left. They had come with quite a few friends, and the breakfast Zhang Yang and his group didn't eat was seen being handed out by Gong Wenyuan to acquaintances from a distance.

"Hey, Old Gong's got quite the connections! If I hadn't had such a full breakfast, I'd really want to try those buns he bought!" Wang Yan said, feeling a bit wistful.

Zhang Yang didn't say anything, while YOYO, standing next to him, glanced at her man with a look of disdain. "Tsk, look at you, only thinking about food!"

"Hehe, just trying to lighten the mood! You all better give it your best today, honey! I remember the last time we came to Jinghai Garden, your husband here scored a pickup truck. Let's aim for a top spot today!" Wang Yan said, patting his chest.

"Didn't the boss lay down a strict rule yesterday? Fifteen pounds of bait per person, and you can't reel in until it's used up! I've already talked it over with Xiao Wei, we're going all out! Isn't that right, Xiao Wei!"

Xiao Wei smiled shyly, clenched her small fist, and said to everyone, "Go, go, go!!"

A little while later, a loudspeaker called everyone to gather for the opening ceremony, where the organizers gave a brief speech.

At the opening ceremony, Zhang Yang finally saw this commercial competition's sponsor, a middle-aged man who looked about forty-seven or forty-eight years old.

Zhang Yang frowned slightly, trying to recall who this person was, but couldn't place him and didn't plan on having any interaction, so he decided to let it go.

With the simple opening ceremony over, it was soon time for the drawing of lots.

The competition had switched to an electronic draw, handled directly via a WeChat mini program, greatly improving the efficiency of the lottery.

Following the staff's instructions, Zhang Yang logged into the mini program, promptly entered his information, and clicked the draw button.

Zone B, number 047.

Zone B is on the north bank, number 47, located about ten fishing spots away from the northeast corner of the big edge. It's not the best fishing spot, but based on the terrain they checked yesterday, it's one of the better quick fish areas.

Wang Yan: "I'm N Zone, 11! What numbers have you all got?"

Han Qiang: "I'm N Zone, 44!"

Zhou Chu: "I'm D Zone, 36!"

...

Each in the group reported their draw number. To be honest, when it came to luck, the six of them had pretty average luck. None of them drew the northwest corner fishing spot that Big Beautiful predicted as the best one. Among this group, Zhang Yang, who got a spot on the north bank, was relatively luckier.

"Boss, our luck is pretty average!" Han Qiang scratched his head and mumbled.

Wang Yan glanced at his buddy, "Why are you saying such a negative thing? Just because we didn't draw the northwest corner doesn't mean we can't fish! Everyone just do your best and let's make a big splash again!"

YOYO also chimed in, "Go, go, go!!"

After the draw was over, they quickly started entering. Everyone carried their fishing rod bags and pulled their rod boxes, heading mightily toward their designated fishing spots.

Zhang Yang's spot on the north bank was close to the northern entrance, about thirty to forty meters away. Upon arriving at his spot, Zhang Yang placed his fishing box down and quickly got started on preparations for the competition.

He placed the bait tray at his side near his feet, filled the washbasin with water, set the sub-line box by his side, and put various equipment like the landing net and fish protection in the most suitable positions. At this point, fishing gear was not yet allowed in the water. After completing these preparations, Zhang Yang let out a breath and discreetly observed the anglers around him.

It wasn't until he looked around that he noticed something quite startling.

Goodness, the north bank was crowded with quite a few people doing livestreaming.

Counting Zhang Yang's assistant who was behind him for livestreaming, at least a dozen livestream tripods were already in place. Unbeknownst to him, Jinghai Garden Fishing Ground had become a hotspot where angling influencers congregated.

Today's fishing is going to be interesting! Zhang Yang thought to himself.

The anglers on his left and right were at least three or four meters away, and all were unfamiliar faces. Dressed in sun protection clothing and wearing a face towel, Zhang Yang was thoroughly covered, and no one recognized him.

Over a little more than ten minutes later, the preparation time ended, and the loudspeaker announced the official start of the competition!

The moment the competition began, on the enormous black pit fishing ground, hundreds of rods like a gun formation simultaneously raised and cast into the water, marking the start of the contest.

With a splash, splash, splash! The competition allowed for creating bait spots, so after casting their fishing setups, it was time for the hand-casting of bait spots, a part eagerly anticipated by participants.

From the outset, Zhang Yang's strategy completely differed from these guys hand-casting bait.

He required his teammates to use Triangle Cannon to carry the bait down, and he held himself to the same standard. He casually grabbed a large ball of fluffy bait, buried the sub-line hooks into it, clenched his fingers, and a large Triangle Cannon was ready.

Next was the other hook, double hooks with Triangle Cannon baiting, taking no more than ten seconds to bait, then using his right hand, he lightly flicked his wrist, casting the setup into the bait spot.

At the beginning, Zhang Yang didn't intend to let the bait hit the bottom. The double hooks were in the water for only about three seconds, and before the bobber even turned, he gently lifted the rod tip, instantly bringing the setup up.

This was followed by nearly mechanical repetitions, quickly baiting with Triangle Cannon again and again, then casting the bait into the bait spot.

The neighboring anglers had started catching fish already, but Zhang Yang wasn't concerned. For the first twenty minutes, lost in his focus, it was as if all the surrounding happenings had no connection to him, leaving only the relentless casting.

In truth, this high-frequency quick baiting style wasn't particularly visually pleasing, so even after his assistant started the livestream, the atmosphere in the broadcast room wasn't quite lively.

The assistant, lacking experience in controlling the livestream's rhythm, could only repeat the same things — Zhang Yang is working on the frequency for bait setup, the fishes will start biting soon, everyone just watch fishing patiently, and so on.

At this stage, Zhang Yang's understanding of fishing livestreams was already at a higher level. He was past the stage of eye-catching quick fan accumulation; now it was sufficient for him to appear regularly and maintain relatively stable exposure.

The lack of appeal early on didn't matter; once the fish started biting one after another, it would naturally attract viewers in droves.

In his pre-race prediction, Zhang Yang felt it would take about half an hour of frantic casting to attract fish to feed at the desired fifty centimeters from the bottom.

However, in practice, he found that the fish density at Jinghai Garden Fishing Ground was much higher than he expected.

After only 17 minutes, fish were already darting back and forth in his bait spot, even surfacing.

The bobber entered the water, showing various exaggerated line-smashing movements, and there were occasional quick grabs, but because Zhang Yang's bait wasn't reaching their mouths, the fish weren't biting.

Until the fish density in his bait spot reached a staggering level, so much that fish were rapidly grabbing even his double-hooked large baitballs, even tilting the bobber, Zhang Yang knew waiting any longer would be futile.

The next second, Zhang Yang lifted his fishing rod again, rebaited the upper hook with a baitball, and fashioned a thumb-sized bait for the lower hook.

He cast it into the water, let it normally settle, and then the bobber stopped sinking further.

The fish on the higher layer seized it, biting on firmly.

Zhang Yang hesitated for a second, and then saw the bobber start to lift its belly.

This guy lifted the rod to strike, and an approximately three-pound large carp was directly yanked out of the water, thanks to Zhang Yang's rod's powerful backbone.

The carp, upon leaving the water, drew an arc in mid-air, with Zhang Yang deftly catching it with the landing net in his left hand, smoothly aligning it over the fish holder, while his right hand kept the rod flexed to taut the line and prevent the fish from flopping. With a swift press and twist of the hook-hand, the hook was off.

Throughout the process, Zhang Yang didn't even touch the fish with his left hand. If there were competitions for hook removal speed, Zhang Yang's would certainly be top-tier.

Rebaiting and casting, Zhang Yang coolly flipped the landing net, and the first catch of the day was effortlessly in the net.

It was with this first fish that the prologue of a vigorous fishing day was truly launched!