"Most of the time, dry crumb bait is mainly used as groundbait to draw fish in, but wet crumb is different. It can take over part of that drawing-fish role from dry crumb, and it can also be used directly as hook bait to get bites!"

"Looks like this little crumb bomb doesn't seem special, right? Watch it in the water."

The little wet crumb ball was thrown into the water; very quickly all the sharp edges melted off, leaving only a nearly round bait core around the shank of the hook.

Just from the size, that bait core wrapped the hook exactly, and compared to an ordinary small pinch-bait ball, it didn't look much different.

"All the edges and corners have melted off, and the remaining bait core is just right for fishing. When you're facing fish that are timid and scared of heavy clouding, this kind of small wet crumb, paired with the right rhythm, works really well!"

As he spoke, without waiting for the bait core to melt off completely, Zhang Yang suddenly lifted the hooklength, leaving the bait core in the water.

"I've seen lots of good anglers using Triangle Cannon, but this little wet crumb thing, I don't really notice many people using it. Most of the time they're still using pinch bait. Why do so few people use it?"

After watching Zhang Yang's demonstration, Old Xu once again voiced his doubt.

Among this circle of fishing buddies, Old Xu had already become the leader; almost all the main questions were being asked by him.

Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Not many people use it because the entry barrier is high. You can just casually pinch some bait on the hook and, no matter what the fish condition is, you're not making any serious mistake or taking much risk. But as for wet crumb, most ordinary anglers can't control the bait state precisely, so naturally fewer people use it!

But this wet crumb is definitely going to be the mainstream trend later on. When you're dealing with fish that are not in great condition, or with a not-so-fast bite rate, wet crumb is pretty much the best option!

Plain pinch bait doesn't have much offensive power. Most anglers use pinch bait plus crumb bombs to make up for the lack of aggression, but that second baiting step is complicated and inefficient. At that point, if your technique is up to scratch, one little wet crumb ball with the right state can perfectly meet all your needs!

Besides, wet crumb bait has a huge adjustment range. Once the fish condition changes, you can adjust very quickly!

For example, right now we've mixed a wetter crumb for higher water volume, right? After fishing for a while, you find the fish get more active and start competing for food aggressively. At that point you grab a handful of light bran, toss it into the wet crumb and stir for a few seconds, and the offensive power is instantly maxed out!

Let me put it this way: I have a hunch that in the next two years, in ordinary low-to-medium density commercial ponds, the fish condition will definitely be the world of wet crumb bait!

Of course, wet crumb, after all, does scatter off the hook; it's not universal. Under some specific fish conditions, pinch bait works better than wet crumb.

Now that we've finished with wet crumb, I'll give you a bonus section on pinch bait! First, how to prepare pinch bait, and what a perfect state looks like!"

"In most commercial pond situations, we emphasize 'strong scent for attraction, light scent for hook bait'. That is, the smell of the crumb groundbait should be stronger than the smell of the hook bait. That way the fish are less wary when they eat the hook bait!"

"So how do you prepare this kind of pinch bait? Very simple: grab a handful of crumb, mix in a bit of the same base bait in its natural flavour, then add a suitable amount of water and light bran to soften it up. Just like this!"

As he talked, Zhang Yang's hands started moving again. He casually scooped up a big handful of crumb into another bowl, added roughly one-third of the same base dry bait in original flavour, flicked in a bit of water with his hand, and kneaded in one direction for a few rounds. A ball of pinch bait was ready.

"When you're fishing commercial ponds, you generally don't worry about avoiding small nuisance fish, so your pinch bait shouldn't be mixed too hard. What's the standard? Personally, I think the softness should be similar to your earlobe—that's about right!"

Using thumb, index, and middle finger of his left hand, Zhang Yang casually pinched off a bit of bait. He rolled it with his thumb into a little cylinder, then pinched it in the middle with his thumb tip, splitting it in two with ease, and skillfully mounted the two pieces on the two hooks of the hooklength.

"Because of the nature of pinch bait, using the same recipe, pinch bait will always be denser than pull bait or crumb bombs. So when you put it on the hook, you need to pay attention to controlling the size of the bait ball!

If your tactic includes topping up the feed on the bottom, you can pinch it a bit bigger. If you're just simply catching fish, the pinch bait shouldn't be too big—just enough to cover the hook! It looks simple, but there are still some small details in how you put the bait on the hook!

I'll just talk about two common details. First one: the hooking method for pinch bait!

Cutting the bait, dividing the bait, hooking it on, sealing the top but not the bottom! A properly mounted bait ball should look like this!"

Zhang Yang demonstrated again from the beginning, and once both bait balls were mounted, he showed everyone the details on the underside.

A lot of ordinary anglers, after putting on pinch bait, end up with the hook completely sealed inside a perfectly round ball, smooth and flawless. But the way Zhang Yang showed it was clearly different.

"What's the reasoning behind this? Looks like you deliberately left the bottom of the hook exposed. The hook gap is almost showing!" Old Xu asked again.

Zhang Yang smiled and nodded. "That's deliberate: top sealed, bottom not sealed. Sealing the top helps lock the bait firmly onto the shank so it doesn't fall off easily, while leaving the bottom unsealed provides space for the bait to swell and fall off after it's in the water.

After soaking for a bit, the lower part will absorb water, fluff up, and even fall off. The benefit is that when you strike and set the hook, the bait comes off instantly and won't block the hook point at all!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yang mimed a strike again. The pinch bait on the hook indeed slipped off easily, staying in the water and slowly drifting down to the very bottom of the float-tuning bucket.

"Damn, even putting on pinch bait has so much to it? I usually just roll a piece, wrap the hook and be done with it!" The young guy next to Old Xu scratched his head and couldn't help sighing.

"Don't laugh, I'm pretty much the same!"

"Me too!"

…

A bunch of people chimed in, everyone except Old Xu. Such a tiny detail in hooking, something Wang Yan and the others already saw as basic fishing knowledge, was still unknown to most ordinary anglers.

Zhang Yang continued, "Let's liven things up with a question. Tell me, if you have two bait balls the same size, but you shape them differently when you pinch them, does that affect the fishing?"

The moment this interactive question came out, even pond bandits like Wang Yan, Han Qiang, and Zhou Chu glanced at each other, thoughtful but not confident in their judgement.

"Same-sized bait balls shouldn't make much difference, right? Unless you pinch it too long and the hook doesn't go in deep when the fish bites—that might have some effect."

"I also think it doesn't matter. Whether it's round or a long strip, it's the same bait ball! Not much difference!"

"Although I personally feel the difference shouldn't be big, thinking the other way around—since Teacher Zhang Yang specifically brought it up, I'd say there must be some effect!"

"I also think it makes a difference!"

After everyone had voiced their opinions, Zhang Yang grinned and paused.

"Don't rush me for the answer yet, let me have a sip of water."

Seeing Zhang Yang reach for water, everyone hurried to pass him unopened bottles of Evian from under their feet.

Zhang Yang took the closest bottle, twisted it open, and took a big gulp to wet his throat before continuing, "If I just talk, you might not feel the difference. Let's demo it on the spot."

They saw Zhang Yang once again skillfully pinch off a ball of bait, then quickly and precisely split it in two.

He rolled the two fingertip-sized bait balls: one into a long strip, the other into a plumb-bob-shaped teardrop. He opened his hand and dropped them into the float-tuning bucket at the same time.

They could see that once in the water, the two bait balls of the same size showed a very obvious difference.

The long strip bait ball sank noticeably slower in the water than the plumb-bob-shaped one.

The bucket was 1.2 meters tall, with an actual water depth of about 1.1 meters. The plumb-bob-shaped pinch bait had already reached the bottom, while the long strip bait ball that went in at the same time was still about ten-plus centimeters off the bottom.

Seeing this, even Wang Yan was dumbfounded.