Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 633 - 368: Three Stages_2

In the surrounding area where Zhang Yang's team was fishing, there were quite a few fish, but they were all very small, and the density was high. Using bait with a strong fishy smell, if you randomly fish for a while, the bobber would start to dance.

The final challenge wasn't about a single aspect, but rather the angler's understanding of different fish species' habits, and the advance consideration and overall tactical arrangement of fishing strategies.

How to understand this sentence?

It's very simple. Carp fish at the bottom, Crucian fish either at the bottom or in suspending layers, Blueknife fish at the surface. Different fish inhabit different layers.

Because of this, you need to consider the bait. If it's too fishy, the bait will attract Whitetails too early, making it difficult for the bait to reach the bottom and hence hard to catch the target fish.

To achieve the competition goals with the highest efficiency and in the shortest time, there needs to be some strategic arrangements concerning bait usage and fishing methods. What is being assessed is an angler's overall understanding of fishing.

After listening to Zhang Yang's competition arrangements, the four quickly got busy, with the first task of re-preparing their bait.

All four of them used commercial bait, but everyone had different bait proportions, and the states varied. Zhang Yang quietly observed them, said nothing, and casually recorded a simple note in his phone to prevent any mix-up.

Once the four had finished preparing the bait and almost completed the preparation work, the ten-minute preparation time was about up. Zhang Yang randomly plucked some wild grass, cutting four pieces of different lengths and held them in his hand.

"One person takes one piece each, the longest is number one, the shortest is number four! Draw lots!!"

After explaining the drawing rules, the four quickly each grabbed a grass tip.

Soon the order of positions was decided, arranged from south to north, with Meng Fan at number one, Han Mocheng at number two, Xiaobao at number three, and Liu Zi at number four.

These four positions were actually not much different, but if forced to distinguish them by quality, number one and four were slightly better, while number two and three had slightly inferior positions as they were close to others.

According to Zhang Yang's competition arrangement, the position's influence was minimal.

"Alright, last minute check for preparation, start now! Whoever gets it is decided by this round!"

The group moved into position with their fishing boxes, simply finding the bottom and getting into a ready stance.

"Start!"

At the command, all four rods were simultaneously cast into the water.

Zhang Yang smiled as he watched the group, and upon noting the lengths of the fishing rods they used, he had a preliminary judgment on who might win the first round.

Among them, Han Mocheng used a five-point-four-meter rod, while others started with three-point-six meters, and this alone placed Han in an unbeatable position.

Han Mocheng's bait box contained two egg-sized bait balls, one was gray-yellow, the other red.

When he started fishing, Han used a dual hook baiting with the gray-yellow grain-scented bait for the bottom without using the usual soft bait.

With the longer rod, the aroma-leaning bait, and the grained baiting, these three choices perfectly matched the current fish condition for catching carp in the first round.

During autumn, wild carp feed well on scented bait. The longer rod, depth about two-point-seven-eight meters, greatly surpassed the less than two meters depth using a three-point-six rod.

Looking at Meng Fan, Liu Zi, and Xiaobao, their baits were all based on a fishy-scented base prepared as soft bait, and they all chose to fish at the bottom.

If discussing the speed of attracting fish, the fishy scent is definitely quicker than the fragrant one, but due to the requirements of fish species, faster attraction may not be good.

After no more than ten casts, their bobbers began to react, but mostly it was Crucian carp and Blueknife fish in the middle and lower layers giving responses, making it hard for the target carp to beat the smaller fish in upper layers.

Han Mocheng, after the seventh cast, adjusted his dual baits from peanut-sized to only soybean-sized granular baiting, using number three golden sleeve hook, 0.4 leader, with very delicate fishing.

When the bobber was nearly reaching the bottom, it slightly trembled, and after swaying twice, paused for about half a second.

Zhang Yang saw this scene and slightly curled his lips.

The bait had attracted the fish, and soon Han Mocheng was about to strike.

Sure enough, after the dual hooks reached the bottom, Han Mocheng paused for about fifteen seconds without a bite, and then subtly lifted the rod tip.

Poof!

A forceful half-point dunk, lift the rod and hook the fish!

"Haha, first strike!!" Han Mocheng chuckled and soon lifted the rod, catching a carp weighing over an ounce.

"Darn, Han, your long rod is quite fierce, huh?"

Meng Fan frowned slightly, feeling a bit uncertain.

The short rod makes for easy casting, with a higher frequency, but shallow water doesn't give much advantage for carp fishing.

Shortly after starting, Han Mocheng caught the first target fish, which already speaks volumes.

Han Mocheng laughed heartily, "Haha, lucky to nail one! Guys, you better hurry up!"

Liu Zi didn't speak, glanced at Han Mocheng's five-point-four-rod, then got up to check Han Mocheng's bait box and immediately made adjustments.

He took out the five-point-four rod from behind, immediately removed the bobber and lead skin, and swapped in new rigging.

After switching to the long rod, Liu Zi changed the previous soft baiting method to granular bait, continuing the fishing.

Facts proved, in autumn here, the carp's location is relatively deep. After changing rods, Liu Zi had activity by the third cast, patiently made a few more casts, and also landed a carp.

Seeing Liu Zi also caught the target fish, Meng Fan couldn't hold back and switched to the long rod as the third one.

Now, only Xiaobao was left without adjustments, concentrating on fishing.

With the three-point-six rod, casting was very quick, with one after another, nonstop, hoping to rely on frequency for surprising results.

"All switching rods, huh? Quick response!" Han Mocheng glanced at the adjacent group and chatted while casting with a smile.

"Can't not switch, the water's too shallow, all small fish, carp aren't biting! Han, are you using basic fragrant bait?" Meng Fan chatted quietly while casting, aiming to probe for information.

"Haha, what I'm using is a secret!" Han Mocheng laughed, shook the gray-yellow bait ball in his hand, and didn't give a definitive answer.

While speaking, Han Mocheng's bobber showed another slight upward movement followed by a forceful dunk, a standard carp taking the bait motion, lifting the rod and hooking the fish again!

"Hey, another one, just one fish short of the three needed for the first round!" Han Mocheng carefully brought the fish to the surface, unhooked it, and put it in the side net, delightfully announcing.

"I also scored!" Liu Zi quickly followed, soon catching his second carp.

Now Xiaobao was awkward, in their Scramble-of-Fish competition, three had caught the target fish species, while Xiaobao stubbornly used the short rod, frantically casting, but hadn't seen any carp.

"Dang it, at one-point-eight meters water depth, there should be carp, right? Why aren't they biting?" Xiaobao's bobber started dancing in the water, with various small fish disturbing the bait, making the fishing area very lively.

Lift the rod and hook a Whitetail.

Change bait and cast, then hook a Crucian fish with its stomach skewered.

Change bait and cast again, and catch a Whiting!

Plenty of fish were biting, but not a single target fish caught.

Zhang Yang was a bit unable to stand watching behind him.

Xiaobao followed the master from a pit-fishing background, his understanding of fishing was too superficial, completely unaware of small fish like Whitetails being fiercely competitive in wild fishing.

"Soft bait arrives too late, the fishing area is full of Whitetails! Change to granular bait, add heavier lead, and try penetrating layers!" Zhang Yang couldn't help but offer some advice.

"Hey, boss, you're not allowed to give technical advice, huh?" Meng Fan jokingly replied with a smile.

"Brother Fan, listen to what you're saying! Who dares to dislike my poor skills! Listening to advice fills your belly, try the boss's suggestion!" Xiaobao wasn't stubborn; he promptly made adjustments following the captain's advice, quickly getting busy.

Wrapped the lead skin on top, changed soft bait to granular bait, rapidly making adjustments.

And at that moment, next to them, Han Mocheng hauled up his third carp, scoring successfully in the first round!