Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 861 - 576: Deep Water Fishing (Part 2)

The bobber quickly flipped over, smoothly descending, and during its downward journey, there were a few minor line rubbing actions, but the bobber tilted to one side and soon returned to its normal position, slowly balancing at the preset fishing spot.

The water depth increased by 0.8 meters, and the actions on the bobber significantly decreased. After the bait ball steadied at the fishing depth, it strangely exhibited no movement at all.

Logically, a heavy lure was used last night, and the surrounding should not lack fish, regardless of size. Since there are big fish in the reservoir, there should be activity around the lure. According to this inference, there should not be no activity.

Is it possible that the 2.8-meter water level is too deep?

Zhang Yang pondered over this in his mind, his eyes fixed on the details of the bobber’s actions. Until the bait ball dissolved and the bobber rose to the adjustable position, he didn’t witness any bites.

One or two attempts without bites is acceptable, Zhang Yang didn’t rush to make adjustments immediately, but instead repeated his previous actions to keep trying.

For the next seven or eight attempts, Zhang Yang restrained his urge to adjust the water depth, firmly continuing to fish at the three-meter depth.

He firmly believed that the big fish must be down below, although bites were rare, as long as he perfected the details and guarded the lure, he would observe it sooner or later.

After Zhang Yang caught an opening fish and then experienced no bites, things were different for Little Wei and YOYO next door.

The little girl didn’t care about water depth or the size of the fish, she just kept fishing eagerly.

The power of the two large pans of overnight bait was still substantial. If the size of the fish wasn’t a concern, then there were plenty of bites.

Watching Little Wei and YOYO, one fish, then another, they quickly entered a state of consecutive catches without haste.

These two girls had a lower level of fish control compared to Zhang Yang, but they still possessed basic skills, hurrying and bustling to scoop the fish, then weighing them individually under the camera’s record, eventually having to release the small fish not meeting the weight requirements back into the water with regret.

After weighing the seventh or eighth fish, YOYO stopped disputing, with Zhang Yang’s claim that his eyes were scales proving to be true—if the weight wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough. Catching more merely satisfied their enjoyment, but made no substantial fish gains.

Another fish was weighed, and seeing its weight of 2337 grams, YOYO frowned fiercely, a bit overwhelmed.

"Little Wei, did you catch any fish meeting the composite weight over there? Oh, it’s so frustrating, I’ve caught seven or eight, none of them weighed enough! The one just now visibly looked bigger, I thought it could make it into the keeper, but it was just over four pounds and six ounces, lacking four ounces to be enough!"

Little Wei nodded in agreement, "The ones I weighed here weren’t heavy enough either! The reservoir owner set these rules well. How does he know the fish in the water don’t weigh five pounds or more?"

YOYO glances back at Zhang Yang, "Captain, the fish up top aren’t heavy enough. What to do? We’ve caught quite a few, but it’s meaningless, got any advice?"

Zhang Yang looked at YOYO and Little Wei and said, "Try pushing up the bobber holder by thirty centimeters! Fish a few rods, then push it up a bit; generally, bigger fish are lower, search for them around!

I’m fishing at a position roughly 2.8 meters deep right now, haven’t seen bites yet! Try between the range of two to three meters!"

"Alright, follow your advice, let’s give it a try! I feel like we’re being fooled by this reservoir owner!" YOYO remarked candidly.

"Haha, catching big fish isn’t that easy! If it were, the reservoir would have been packed with people already!"

After venting a few grievances, YOYO and Little Wei adjusted their bobbers to fish deeper.

Zhang Yang suggested they search deeper at thirty-centimeter intervals, and the two girls executed it well, starting their trials.

As the water depth explored deeper, the bites were noticeably fewer compared to upper-layer fishing, the first two fish still didn’t meet weight, but when Little Wei caught the third one, it displayed significantly higher strength than the previous ones.

"Hey, Zhang Yang, I hooked a big fish! This one’s strong!" Little Wei said emphatically.

Upon hearing the shout, Zhang Yang put down his rod and turned his head for a glance.

The fish exerted power in the direction of struggle and escape, not circling struggles. Apparently, it wasn’t hooked on its belly, chin, or fin armpit situations.

"Squat down, lower your center of gravity, first lead the fish out from the lure!" Zhang Yang suggested from the side, guiding Little Wei’s fish control operation.

Despite not being outstanding in fishing skills, Little Wei’s fundamentals and mental calibration were quite decent.

Upon Zhang Yang’s request to lower her center of gravity, she immediately squatted down, directly pushing the rod to the ground, holding the rod with both hands, feet supporting the spot where the rod handle contacted the ground, coordinated limbs, and bending the rod.

Quickly, the fish was lured out from the lure’s vicinity, and Little Wei visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can you handle it? Should I come over and help with the fish control?" Zhang Yang further inquired.

"I can manage, I resisted the first two surges!" Little Wei said while wiping sweat with her sleeve.

"Fishing big fish, don’t rush to pull the fish out of the water, maintain the bend in the rod. Pay attention to the fish’s swimming direction, and adjust early when the direction seems off, guiding the fish to turn!"

Still apprehensive, Zhang Yang laid down his rod and stepped off from the fishing platform, positioning himself behind Little Wei.

When concern arose, Zhang Yang indeed gave the reminder, but Little Wei’s reaction was half a beat slow. The fish swam towards the deep-water area, and Little Wei didn’t timely alter the force direction. Consequently, the rod was gradually being pulled toward the water, almost leveling the rod.

"Let it go! Release the rod, use the slip leash to control the fish!" Zhang Yang reminded again.

Fortunately, the rod had a slip leash attached, and upon hearing the instruction, Little Wei reflexively released the rod, witnessing the fish dragging it toward the deep-water area, with the slip leash extending over at least ten meters.

At that point, the advantage of thicker lines came into play—the lines naturally held higher strength, thereby exhibiting higher error tolerance during big fish impacts.

Such as earlier when Little Wei almost initiated a tug of war, if the lines were thinner, the hook might have snapped, yet the pair of six-main lines plus five-leader lines were comfortably assured against a ten to twenty pound fish.

As Zhang Yang gave instructions and positioned himself behind Little Wei’s fishing platform, seeing her somewhat bewildered by the slip leash, Zhang Yang advised, "No rush, grip the leash, try to retrieve it back a bit!"

As Little Wei executed the move, she sensed the force on the slip leash was sizable, fearing the pull might break the leash, she was reluctant to exert much force.

Witnessing his spouse being a bit overly cautious about the leash, Zhang Yang promptly took over.

Give me the leash, you observe beside me, let me handle it!

A boyfriend at that moment offered Little Wei’s greatest reassurance; upon Zhang Yang taking the leash, Little Wei then realized her forehead was drenched with sweat amid the short fish handling process.

Holding the leash, Zhang Yang swiftly assessed the force, considering it manageable, not overly challenging, so hurriedly reinforced, bit by bit retrieving the leash.

The fish exerting ample vitality in the water displayed noticeable intervals of exertion exhaustion—after bursting over ten meters, it tires. At this moment, if the angler misses the retrieval opportunity upon fish pausing for seconds, a subsequent burst might resume.

Persistently gripping the slip leash, Zhang Yang steadily reeled the rod back.

Once the rod was near, Zhang Yang deftly clutched the rod base, slightly applying force, forming a subtle arc with the rod in the water.

Again, the fish in the water exerted strength, prompting Zhang Yang to unhesitatingly release his grip and be rid of the rod.

Confronting near tug-of-war conditions and vying against the fish firmly assures imprudence; with a slip leash attached, Zhang Yang needn’t risk it.

Another round of pull and stalemate ensued, and after several seconds, Zhang Yang reeled in the rod once more, repeating the bending motion.

This time, the fish’s force diminished heaps, making it easier to elevate the rod, successfully curving it up.

When the curved rod angle exceeded sixty degrees, Zhang Yang internally relaxed, confident this fish was manageable.

Yet before he fully exhaled his relief, Zhang Yang noticed the fish exerting force anew.

"This isn’t working out, what’s up with this damn situation? Such immense strength!!"