Watching the heap of bait and a large lump of mixture enough for a fishing session, Wang Yan and his team looked a bit bewildered.

If they went fishing without Zhang Yang, and Zhang Yang wasn't there to prepare the bait, Wang Yan and the others would each have their own methods, and they would have confidence knowing how to prepare and use the bait.

But when they went to a competition with Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang, the team captain, was always in charge of preparing the bait and making strategies. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Yang's judgment rarely falters, and following his lead almost always guarantees success.

This made the originally confident participants feel a bit uncertain after receiving the bait.

"Boss, how are we catching the fish today?" Wang Yan asked with a bit of bravado.

Zhang Yang grinned: "Just fish as usual! Anyway, today the regular fish catch doesn't count towards the score, so there's no need to rush and snatch fish. The bait I prepared is moist and heavily flavored, mainly targeting the older fish in the original pond.

When baiting and setting up the area, be slightly cautious, don't do it too quickly. Once there's movement in the area, keep a good rhythm, and after hooking mid-sized to large fish, be steady with the rod, and you should be fine!"

"Ah? That's it? Anything more specific?" YOYO asked, pursing her lips in slight dissatisfaction with Zhang Yang's strategy.

If it were Wang Yan asking, Zhang Yang might have teased him a bit, but since it was YOYO, Zhang Yang was noticeably more patient.

He smiled and explained, "Treat today's fish like you're doing casual fishing at a black pond, use slightly larger hooks, add some bait to the bottom, and maintain a steady casting frequency!"

Oh, and be careful adjusting the bobber. I've prepared the bait lightly with bran. Don't set too high a number; for a 2.8g lead bobber, adjust it to about eight marks, and fish at three marks should work! My setup is 4+2.5, with number four New Kanto hooks!"

With that explanation, it seemed like the fishing strategy had reached the practical stage. YOYO and Xiaowei nodded, and the other guys also understood Zhang Yang's competition strategy.

Once the bait was allocated, after a while, they started drawing lots to prepare for the event. The loudspeaker announced the participants to use their phones for the draw, and upon hearing the call, everyone pulled out their phones and got busy.

Today was a sunny day with a light south wind, considered a rare, calm day at Jinghai Garden. Zhang Yang also took out his phone and logged into the app to draw lots.

You have drawn spot number 17 on the East Bank! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Whoa, not bad!" Zhang Yang mumbled to himself when he saw the number.

There's a certain difference in technique between fishing big fish and catching fast-moving new fish, which also affects strategy and location evaluation.

In Zhang Yang's view, when fishing fast-moving fish, a shallow area downwind is definitely a prime spot.

But in a single big fish competition, such a spot isn't necessarily good.

While casting there might get many bites, they're often from groups of young carp, and no big fish may be found.

In areas with typically fewer fish groups, though, less new fish might mean more old fish, and a bit of luck catching a few could win you the championship.

Some might argue that new fish and old fish are still fish, and their distribution should be similar in the water. Where there are new fish, there should be old fish too!

That view is incorrect and quite off base.

In a large black pond, the distinction between new and old fish isn't necessarily based on how they bite the bait.

Many old fish, if they like the bait, will bite decisively.

So, what distinguishes them? Zhang Yang believes it's territory!

Yes, you read it right—territory, like in those mobster films where they fight over territory.

Of course, this is metaphorical. In any water body, large fish have their foraging areas and territories. The bigger the fish, the more pronounced this is.

Fish recently introduced into the pond will swim counterclockwise, called patrolling the edge. Upon familiarizing with the environment, they form groups of various sizes and start claiming territory.

In black ponds, observing the drained pond bottom makes it easy to see which areas fish have occupied.

In long-term feeding areas, the ground forms shallow dips, and fishing in these spots often results in good catches.

Dragging back to Zhang Yang's perspective, spot number 17 on the East Bank, which Zhang Yang took a glance at yesterday, didn't have great catches, and the water was quite deep.

In deeper water, new fish prefer not to linger too long, but older fish might.

The smarter, larger old fish find safety in less obvious areas.

From the lot draw perspective, Zhang Yang's spot 17 on the East Bank is quite nice.

"I'm at South Bank 33!"

"I'm at North Bank 2!"

"I'm…"

The teammates each read out their draw numbers, which were all fairly ordinary, standard spots.

Getting ready to enter, Zhang Yang gave a final reminder: "Aim for the big fish, don't use rods that are too stiff. If the fish snaps the hook, consider using a thicker leader!"