A lot of anglers whose fish-playing technique isn't really up to par don't know what the smartest move is after a fish takes the bait. Some just grab the rod and brute-force it, some let the rod get pulled flat and end up with all kinds of spectacular mishaps—snapped rods, broken line, fish slipping the hook—some don't know how to control the fish and can only watch as the hard-won big one shakes off and runs… and so on and so on.

Zhang Yang is different. This guy's understanding of all the little tricks of playing a fish is absolutely top-tier, ceiling level.

Right now the fish hasn't made another power run yet. Taking advantage of this moment before it reacts, Zhang Yang arches the rod and backs up, which is basically creating a strategic buffer. When the fish charges forward and exerts force next time, he won't get pulled into a tug-of-war with the rod straightened out.

Sure enough, after he's backed up about three meters, the fish in the water seems to sense danger and suddenly surges forward again.

Seeing this, Zhang Yang angles the rod off to one side while taking a big step forward, keeping the rod at the most optimal stress angle the whole time.

What should have been a very dangerous forward charge ends up getting dissolved in Zhang Yang's hands with one light, effortless move. Guided by the direction of the rod, the fish turns once more, and Zhang Yang takes the opportunity to lift the rod back up again.

In the next few minutes, Zhang Yang encounters three more big power runs from the fish, but he defuses every one of them with ease.

This stage, Zhang Yang calls it "grinding down its edge." Once the violent charging phase is over, the odds of this fish escaping from his hands are basically zero.

For the next ten-plus minutes, Zhang Yang skillfully switches to the figure-eight fish-playing method, repeatedly guiding the big fish underwater back and forth to wear it out. Finally, around eighteen minutes after the hook-up, the big fish is exhausted and slowly floats up.

Just seeing that round, chubby body half out of the water is enough to make Zhang Yang very satisfied.

Judging by eye, the fish weighs at least 15-plus jin. The scales are fine and silvery, and the body is that slightly short-and-thick shape of a farmed big carp, plump and sturdy like a little pig.

"Damn, bro, you struck it rich! It's huge!" The chubby guy next to him sees Zhang Yang's fish break the surface and calls out excitedly.

That one shout draws the attention of all the neighboring anglers around them, who all turn to stare at Zhang Yang.

"Hehe, just lucky!" Zhang Yang answers with a grin, his hands not missing a beat.

Very soon, the belly-up big fish is dragged to the bank by Zhang Yang. He hooks the landing-net handle lying on the ground with his left ankle, right hand on the rod, left hand grabbing the landing-net handle, reaches forward, pulls—got you!

Fish in the net, job done!!

"Ref! Weigh the fish!!!" Zhang Yang sets the rod in his right hand straight onto the rod rest, grabs the net handle with both hands, and hollers for the staff at the top of his lungs.

Very quickly, the familiar referee hears him and jogs over.

"Who needs a weigh-in?"

"Over here, me!" Zhang Yang responds. Right in front of the ref, he lifts vertically with a beat's delay and hoists the big fish out of the water.

"Whoa, man! That's a solid fish! You bagged a little fat pig!!" The ref laughs as soon as he sees the size of the carp coming out of the water. It's clearly bigger than your usual ten-jin, eight-jin carp by at least one full size.

"Hehe, please weigh it for me! I haven't even taken the hook out yet, mind giving me a hand?" Zhang Yang smiles politely, and a small pair of scissors appears in his hand like a magic trick.

Once you've landed a big fish, you definitely can't keep using that hooklength. Zhang Yang moves fast. After the ref gets a good hold on the net head, Zhang Yang runs his hand down the hooklength and—snip—cuts it clean with the scissors.

Without the mainline tethering it, unhooking becomes much easier. Zhang Yang locates the hook set at twelve o'clock in the fish's mouth, presses lightly, and pops the hook right out.

"This fish is at least fifteen jin, give or take! Should be the second fish over ten jin so far! Careful now, don't let the fish in the landing net hit the ground—East Bank Garden has rules, if it hits the ground it doesn't count!" the ref specially reminds Zhang Yang.

"No worries! Here, let me help you transfer it into the weigh sling!" Zhang Yang's muscles are a bit sore, but lifting a ten-plus-jin big carp is still pretty easy for him. He quickly helps the ref pour the fish into the weighing net bag.

The bag is folded, the hook of the electronic scale is lifted, and once the numbers stabilize, the ref announces the weight.

7.89 kg!

A big carp just a hair under sixteen jin. The measured weight is about the same as his visual estimate and completely within Zhang Yang's expected range.

"Nice one, bro! 7.89 kilos! You're temporarily in first place!!" The ref checks the records on his score sheet and confirms it.

"Thanks a lot! Weighing and photos all done, right? If there's nothing else, I'll get the fish back in the water! Out of the water too long and big fish can suffocate and die!" Zhang Yang thanks him again.

"All done with the process! Go ahead, release it!" the ref replies.

Zhang Yang cradles the fat carp, which looks like a little piglet, through the net bag and very gently lowers it back into the water at his feet.

With this big fish weighed, Zhang Yang has just reset the top weight and is temporarily in first place. And over on the same East Bank, near the southeast corner peg, another loud shout rings out.

"Referee, weigh the fish!!"

"Coming!! They've hooked up over there too, I'm off, bro!" the ref calls back, waves to Zhang Yang, and jogs off.

...

Maybe it's the window period when the big fish start feeding, because over the next hour or so, more and more people are landing big fish that meet the minimum requirement and shouting for the ref to come weigh them.