Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 669 - 386: A Rule-Breaking Man (2)

"Tell me about it! Let me see if you've improved! You can't just sit under the sun umbrella all day and only watch the fun!"

"The ones who are doing well are all using technique bait, and they are replenishing the nest as they fish! The ones who aren't doing well are using scatter baits and pull baits, the small yellowtail and silversides are going crazy!

Also, those using long rods are generally having a more stable catch, while those with short rods aren't doing as well! Except for…"

Zhang Yang was quite pleased after listening, Xiaobao wasn't slacking off, and today's competition did give him some insights.

"Except for what, go on?" Zhang Yang asked with a smile.

"Except for Brother Han! Brother Han is using a short rod to catch small yellowtails, and seems to be doing well too!" Xiaobao continued.

"What the heck? Are you talking about Han Mocheng?"

Xiaobao nodded, speaking earnestly, "Yeah! He asked Liu Zi for a box of the smallest hooks at lunchtime to catch yellowtails and silversides in the afternoon!

He kept reeling in double tails, the fish were being pulled up to the surface to hit the float!"

"Damn!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang didn't feel so great.

The miscellaneous fish like silversides and yellowtails in the reservoir weren't even in Zhang Yang's consideration as a targeted strategy.

Why? Well, the water is relatively thin, the fish are small, and with it being just after May Day, the water temperature hasn't completely risen, and the fish aren't as active as in summer.

Considering all the factors, targeting these seemed mostly unreliable to Zhang Yang.

But Han Mocheng, that guy just doesn't follow the norm. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Others might bump their heads against a wall, rub their bruises, and turn to another direction. But the overly confident Han Mocheng? His choice is to keep going until the wall collapses.

His exceptionally strong independent thinking often leads him to unconventional methods, both in reality and in fishing competitions.

At noon, he already had the smallest hooks prepared, clearly having a plan in mind. Listening to Xiaobao, it seems like it paid off this afternoon.

Zhang Yang sometimes misses things, which is rare.

Looking across the entire carnival competition site, out of eighty people, seventy-nine are targeting dense species at the bottom of the reservoir, except for Han Mocheng, who's tangling with small miscellaneous fish, causing a change in quantity to lead to a change in quality, using a short rod, fine line, and small hook, seemingly playing around to catch up in numbers.

Over on Han Mocheng's side, the competition ended. He put down his rod, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it contentedly, and took a drag.

He felt very satisfied, experiencing the success of having his judgment verified. Thinking about showing off a bit after the competition made him a bit excited.

However, he wasn't happy for long. When the staff, bringing the live streaming camera along, came to count his catch, as soon as they pulled up the fish keeper, everyone couldn't help but gasp.

In the bottom segment of the 40cm diameter competition fish keeper, countless small yellowtail and silverside heads peeked out densely.

Anyone with trypophobia would instantly get goosebumps upon seeing this scene.

"Holy crap! What's going on here?"

Even the professional judge was a bit speechless seeing this.

"Damn it! The fish keeper's mesh is too big, the fish are stuck!" Han Mocheng slapped his forehead, cursing under his breath.

This time, although Mingyang Fishing Tackle Company didn't formally sponsor the official outdoor fishing carnival, as hosts, they still provided all athletes with uniform sun protection clothing and fish keepers as participation souvenirs.

The fish keeper Han Mocheng used was this new model. Compared to previous competition fish keepers, this one, while being customized, had a slightly larger mesh size.

Normally, this microscopic difference wouldn't matter much, since even the smallest majong crucian carp is much bigger than the mesh size.

However, the problem lies here, Han Mocheng was catching small miscellaneous fish like silversides and yellowtails with a 0.1 size sleeve hook instead of crucian carp.

These small fish couldn't completely escape through but got stuck in the mesh, creating a somewhat horrifying scene when the fish keeper was pulled up.

"In your case, we don't have a corresponding penalty in our rules right now, please wait a moment, I'll go get the head judge!" The staff in charge of counting was a bit dumbfounded, made brief contact, and went to get the head judge.

After a few minutes of delay, the head judge arrived, frowned upon seeing the scene, and asked, "Did you mainly fish for yellowtails and silversides today?"

Han Mocheng nodded, "Yeah, the regulations say all fish count as valid catches, yellowtails and silversides are valid too!

I figured since we're counting the total number, I'd give it a try! Didn't expect the fish keeper's mesh holes to be a bit too big, quite a few fish heads stuck out! These should count as valid too, right?"

The referee exchanged glances with a colleague and said, pointing to the fish stuck in the holes, "According to the rules, only live fish count towards the score! If these fish stuck in the mesh are dead, they can't be counted!"

If you chose small white fish as your target, you should've anticipated the fish keeper's mesh size, and any catch lost due to this oversight can't be counted!"

Upon hearing this explanation, Han Mocheng panicked a bit, it wasn't just a couple of fish, but a dense layer stuck in the mesh, and many of the fish caught in the morning, having been there a long time, had hardened bodies.

However, he couldn't argue against it, since the fish keeper was a souvenir provided by them, and it wasn't mandatory to use during the competition. Now with this issue, it truly seemed unfortunate.

"Alright, then just count the ones still alive! Damn, had I known this would be a problem, I would've used a fine mesh fish keeper!"

A short while ago, Han Mocheng thought he had proven himself, but now his spirits were a bit dampened. Who knew how many viable catches would remain after deducting these stuck ones.

Over the next twenty minutes, several workers began the tough counting process.

Two referees supervised on-site, while two young men, one clearing the catch, the other counting, worked for a full twenty-five minutes to finalize the numbers.

Counting both big and small, the total was 969, with 257 stuck in the mesh and dead, leaving 712 valid catches.

Currently, this is still relatively high. In his group, only one other second-level Competitive Fishing Master had more than Han Mocheng, while everyone else was behind.

If the dead fish had been counted, Han Mocheng would have surely secured the top spot in his group.

"Sign your score sheet! Too bad about the dead fish! Here, this part!" The referee handed a pen to Han Mocheng, pointing to the section on the score sheet.

"Alright! It's tolerable, if just about!" Han Mocheng reluctantly shrugged, scribbling his name lively in the score column.

The score tally for group C wasted considerable time due to Han Mocheng's unconventional approach, so by the time his result was ready, Zhang Yang's tally was done long before.

Zhang Yang, during the eight-hour competition, virtually endured non-stop action for at least six and a half hours, totaling 865 catches, including about twenty carps, with the rest mainly original stock crucian carp and golden crucian carp. Wary of overcrowding at the bottom, he switched fish keepers midway. Zhang Yang took first in his group for the day.

Once Han Mocheng finished signing his score, Zhang Yang's hand met his shoulder the next second.

"Tsk tsk, Young Master Han, quite impressive today, my rule-breaking man!" Zhang Yang chuckled teasingly.

Facing Zhang Yang's jest, Han Mocheng, frustrated, rubbed his face and complained, "Damn it! Impressive my ass, that ridiculous fish keeper gave me a scare with the fish heads poking through when it came out!

If I'd known, I'd have used a 25cm small fish keeper! Wasted half my day, and didn't even get a top spot!"

"I just heard the referee mention it; luckily, quite a few fish were stuck, otherwise, with your 900 plus score, you'd be the MVP of the whole event!"

"Forget it, I don't feel like talking, blue and veg!"