Free Web NovelChapter 887: Chapter 591: Lao Wu, That’s Not Fair!
Zhang Yang didn’t plan to spend too much time fishing at this reservoir, so he didn’t prepare to put too much bait into the water all at once. It’s not about saving bait, but rather if too much is used at once, it could kill the spot, and it might take days for the spot to become active, by which time Zhang Yang and his team would have already left, rendering it ineffective.
In contrast, Zhang Yang’s strategy was to create multiple fishing spots around the chosen location, but with less bait, replenishing often. This way, they could test fish behavior first and then make targeted adjustments.
With an eight-meter rod set for a 7.2-meter fishing spot using fermented old altar corn pellets as bait, this approach closely resembles traditional wild fishing in lakes and reservoirs. Once Zhang Yang identified the spots, he magically whipped out a baiting scoop, dropping half a basin of bait at once, and then scattered the remaining corn in small amounts periodically, leisurely and unhurried.
As Zhang Yang and his friends prepared their positions for baiting and were getting ready for the fishing battle, Old Wu wasn’t idle. He stood by Zhang Yang attentively learning, occasionally whispering questions about specific details and intentions.
Faced with such a longstanding friend asking for advice, Zhang Yang was always candid, sharing details like how to probe the bottom to assess the structure and how to choose a fishing spot with Old Wu.
Even though they started the day early, between gathering together and having breakfast on the mountain, by the time the bait was set and preparations were complete, it was already seven in the morning.
With preparations done, Zhang Yang and the others officially started fishing, each sitting on their tackle boxes, focusing mainly on their bobbers in the water, ready to notice any slight movements. freewebnøvel.com
Perhaps due to the presence of many predatory fish in this reservoir, interestingly, although they tested the fishing area for a while, small fish disturbances were rare. Xiaowei and YOYO used lighter line setups, and their hooks were baited with grains capable of catching small fish. Soon enough, the bobbers were lifted high by fish.
Upon raising the rods and hooking the fish, a wild carp weighing nearly a pound was quickly caught. Xiaowei was the first to catch a fish.
"Haha, first catch! A big fatty carp!" Xiaowei directly lifted the fish out of the water with the fishing line, skipping the net and simply taking it off the hook.
"Yo, lucky indeed! This carp is nice and big! Used grain bait?" Zhang Yang took a look at the carp’s shape and asked about the bait used.
"Yeah, like you said, I used grains on the hook! The bite was fierce, missed a small pause but the bobber just shot up!" Xiaowei animatedly explained.
"Ah, okay!" Zhang Yang nodded and continued fishing.
"Boss! Why are you asking? Planning to switch to carp fishing? The density of carp here isn’t high!" Old Wu, sitting nearby, asked again.
Zhang Yang shook his head with a laugh: "Just asking! Not switching to carp fishing, waiting a bit for the big fish first!"
"Really? Just asking randomly?" Old Wu’s eyes gleamed as if he realized something and his tone showed a hint of skepticism.
"Haha, your eyes are really sharp! I’m testing an assumption, no conclusion yet, will tell you later!" Zhang Yang didn’t hide it further and glanced at Old Wu before continuing to fish.
Soon enough, YOYO also caught a fish. YOYO used even more extreme bait, seeing Xiaowei catch a carp, he mixed a standard fragrant commercial bait, and by rubbing bait on the hook, caught another carp weighing over half a pound.
The fish density in this private reservoir was indeed high, and shortly, YOYO and Xiaowei had caught four or five big carp, all wild fish, with excellent skins.
Each time a fish was caught, Zhang Yang would steal a glance, and after several catches, he started forming a judgment.
"You mentioned earlier, throughout the year, only after the corn is harvested in autumn do you feed for a while? Do you not feed at other times?" Zhang Yang casually asked Old Wu.
"Huh? Yes, is there a problem?" Old Wu touched his nose, uncertain why Zhang Yang was bringing up something they had already discussed.
"Maybe not quite right?" Zhang Yang grinned with a hint of cleverness in his eyes, suggesting he saw through it all.
"What’s not right?" Old Wu didn’t answer directly but asked back.
"Look at the carp that Xiaowei and YOYO caught! The condition of these fish doesn’t seem like something that would grow naturally in a mountain reservoir!
Pungtze carp can indeed grow large, but the ones we caught are barely two-year-old juveniles, yet they’re very fat and round. Given how lean the mountain reservoir is, if there’s no regular feeding, this body shape wouldn’t develop!
So, after a series of observations, I concluded that the actual situation doesn’t match the information you gave; something’s amiss!"
After listening to Zhang Yang’s detailed and reasonable analysis, Old Wu laughed heartily as he touched his nose again.
"Impressive, really impressive! Oh boss, your eyes are sharp! Amazing!!!" Old Wu praised Zhang Yang’s analysis, raising his thumb.
"Damn, did you set me up?! We’ve been friends for so long, traveling all this way, and you’re playing dirty!"
Seeing Old Wu’s reaction, Zhang Yang knew his judgment was correct; this Old Wu was quite crafty!
