Chapter 029: Resorting to Underhanded Tactics

Zhang Qiang, seeing the situation, placed the fishing box on the spot next to him from the morning's session and said, "Since you're taking the old spot, I'll take the morning's spot. Let's rise up from where we fell!"

"Okay, I'm about to start the live stream," Lin Yang said, as he took out his phone holder.

Right around three in the afternoon, the live stream began.

"Oh my goodness, waited for ten minutes, and finally, the live stream started."

"The host's timing is spot on."

"Here we go...."

"Has the fishing competition between the host and Zhang Qiang started yet?"

Looking into the camera, Lin Yang said, "Hello everyone! We've just started the live stream. The fishing competition hasn't begun yet. The current situation is that Boss Zhang and I have just discussed and chosen our fishing spots. We are still preparing for the start of fishing, and the bait isn't ready yet, so everyone please be patient."

"Starting the live stream without having prepared the bait, that's perfect. The host can show everyone how to bait the spot and how to prepare the bait. Let's learn some practical skills!"

"Agreed with the previous comment, you're quite the clever one."

"I want to learn how to bait a spot and how to prepare bait since these are usually done before the live broadcast, and we never get to see them."

Lin Yang nodded, "All right, I'll show everyone how to do it, and teach you all how to bait a spot and prepare kneaded bait."

"Pay attention now, we're getting into the good stuff. We've just found our spots and next, I'm going to bait the spot first. After all, baiting is key. If the bait is too soft, we can warm it up in our pockets to solve that problem."

"The method I personally use for baiting a spot varies; sometimes I throw by hand, sometimes I use a baiting device."

"Right now, I'm using a baiting device to bait the spot, attaching it to the baiting rod, creating a precise baiting area. I put about two ounces of the prepared bait mixture into the funnel-shaped belly of the baiting device."

"After finding the correct depth for fishing, I then use the baiting rod to accurately deposit the bait mixture onto the fishing spot with a flip of the rod, and that completes the baiting process. The advantage is that the baiting area is very concentrated, which is more effective for attracting fish."

"Darn, the host kept talking about baiting the spot, and I didn't know you could do it like this. I've been fishing for many years and always used hand-throwing for baiting."

"This precise spot-baiting method is really scientific, at least much more accurate than hand-throwing."

"Having skills in hand is what counts, haha, I've learned something. I'll buy one and try it out later."

For real anglers, using a baiting device is nothing out of the ordinary.

However, in Lin Yang's live stream, there are also many fishing novices who don't know about it, which is perfectly normal since not everyone has the time to go fishing every day.

What Lin Yang was now explaining were the basics of fishing, suitable for beginners.

"Okay, the spot has been baited, and next, I'll show everyone how to prepare kneaded bait."

"Preparing kneaded bait isn't hard once you've mastered the key points, the most important of which is the water-to-bait ratio. If you don't have practical experience in preparing bait over the long term, I suggest you use a measuring cup."

"If you don't have a measuring cup, you can make one yourself. For instance, you can cut off part of a plastic water bottle, leave the bottom with enough volume, and use it as a measuring cup for preparing your bait."

"Most Crucian Carp kneaded baits available on the market have a water ratio ranging from 1:0.8 to 1:1. The more snowflake powder-like material there is, the larger the water ratio of the bait will be."

"If you're working with a new brand of Crucian Carp kneaded bait, I personally suggest starting with a temporary water ratio of 1:1."

"Starting at one to one? What if it's too watery? Won't it turn into a slushy mess? Do we add more powder?"

"Same question, +1."

Seeing the questions in the comments, Lin Yang shook his head with a smile, "Haha, it's not that exaggerated. A slight difference in the water ratio won't cause such a big change in the bait's condition. Even if it's off by 0.3 parts of water, it won't turn into a slurry. Don't believe me? I'll show you."

After saying that, Lin Yang measured out a cup of bait with a 100ml measuring cup and poured it into the mixing bowl.

He then measured out 1.2 cups of water and poured it into the mix with the bait.

"The formula bait I'm using normally has a water-to-bait ratio of 1:0.9. Now, we've added about 0.3 more water, so the ratio is around 1:1.2. After adding the water, spread your fingers wide, stir evenly in one direction, making sure all the bait is uniformly mixed with the water."

The bait, just after water was added, looked very runny, similar to the consistency of corn porridge at home.

"Uh, looks like the host made a mistake, are you sure this runny mix will work?"

"Mistake in the making, +1, there's too much water."

"Let's wait for the host to perform, come on, show us...."

Lin Yang smiled, "Don't rush, the bait needs some time to absorb water. Just wait a little, about a minute or so."

True to his word, a minute later, the bait that previously looked like a watery porridge had become sticky and thick after absorbing water.

Lin Yang tested the softness with a finger, and the hydrated bait was very soft, easily indenting at a gentle poke.

"There, now the bait has absorbed the water. As you can see, the water is gone, but the bait is too soft to use. So, what do we do at this point?"

"We add a suitable amount of dry powdered bait into the mix. I call this technique 'absorbing the water,' which is to absorb the excess ratio of water."

Lin Yang casually grabbed a handful of dry powder and sprinkled it on the surface of the bait. He continued to stir and knead, and quickly the bait started to firm up, moving closer to the correct consistency.

He pinched a small clump and felt its state in his hand, saying, "Hmm, this state is about right. Through the camera, you can only see, you can't feel, but now, listen to me, everyone close your eyes. Pinch your earlobe, remember this feel. Normally, when preparing bait, if the bait's softness is about the same as your earlobe after it has absorbed water, then it's good to use."

In front of their phones, quite a few viewers actually followed Lin Yang's instructions and pinched their earlobes.

"Up to this step, the bait is still not ready. The next step is crucial: kneading!"

"What does kneading mean? It's different from mixing, but it has certain similarities..."

"Kneading is the process of physically mixing the different components of the bait, crushing them to a certain extent, breaking up the flaky substances, and making the bait a bit more compact in consistency."

"The principle of kneading is simple: the more you want the bait balls to be smaller, more compact, and stickier, the more you knead. If you want them to be larger and disperse better, you knead less. The exact state is controlled by the manipulation of your hands, which is something everyone can only learn through hands-on experience when preparing bait—I can't just give you a quantified lesson on that."

Lin Yang held the basin with his left hand and kneaded the bait a few times in one direction with his right hand, then he stopped, piled the bait on one side, and set it aside for use.

"With just a bit of kneading, the bait is essentially ready. Once the pulling powder becomes threads, it can be formed into balls for use. For the sake of catching fish today, we're going to stick to yesterday's routine and pack it in a Ziplock bag to let it ferment in the pocket."

As he spoke, Lin Yang magically took out a Ziplock bag from his pocket, packed the bait into it, and tucked it back in.

"Learned something from the host."

"I've been learning fishing for several years, and I've always prepared bait that's quite hard. I never knew you could prepare pulling bait like this. I'm enlightened."

"I've never seen any host mention this technique before, such a conscientious host. I declare, starting today, I'm the host's loyal fan."

After chatting with the viewers in the live stream for another fifteen minutes, by then the bait mixture was almost ready.

Seeing that Zhang Qiang was also prepared, Lin Yang said, "Boss Zhang, it's almost three-thirty, should we officially start fishing?"

"The time has come, indeed, but we haven't discussed the penalty for losing!"

"How about the usual rule, the loser sends one Rocket?"

"Isn't that a bit too light? I already lost once this morning, and I want to turn the tables today. Even if I win with one Rocket, I'd just break even. How about we up the stakes, the loser sends two Rockets, how about that?" Zhang Qiang was full of confidence because he had baited his spot in advance.

Lin Yang chuckled softly, "Okay, it's settled then."

"Shall we start?"

"Let's begin."

Having agreed on the details, the two men entered their competitive states.

In the afternoon, both Zhang Qiang and Lin Yang were using 3.6-meter fishing rods. As soon as the fishing started, Zhang Qiang's casting frequency was quite high; it was evident that he had probably summed up Lin Yang's fishing methods from the morning session.

But Lin Yang wasn't immediately casting frequently.

He had baited the spot more than ten minutes before starting to fish, and the fish situation wasn't clear yet. Blindly increasing the casting frequency might not be a good thing; better to feel out the fish first!

So, the next performances of the two men were a bit strange.

After Zhang Qiang started fishing, he continuously cast and lifted his rod, whereas Lin Yang, after making two balls of bait, cast them into the fishing spot and did not rush to pull the rod to remove the bait. Instead, he methodically let the float flip and the bait settle, beginning to wait for bites.

On the first cast, the dual hooks hit the water, the float slowly flipped and sank steadily. As it approached the targeted depth, the float gently nudged upward, a line surfaced with a 'plop', and two consecutive nibbles followed—straight to a sunken float!

The first cast was met with such aggressive action, and Lin Yang, feeling a hunch, struck to hook the fish.

The bites were too fierce, and judging by that float action, the fishing spot must have been full of fish, Lin Yang speculated inwardly.

He pulled the fish to shore and removed the hook.

After recasting, it turned out to be much like he had guessed, the float at the bottom showed the same biting action as before.

From preparation to baiting the spot, to officially starting to fish, it was no more than twenty minutes in total. In such a short time, the spot was already full of fish, which came as a surprise to Lin Yang.

To start fishing at such a peak—who could handle that?

Seeing this, Lin Yang threw the prepared bait into the basin beside him, then he took out a small handful of the red fermented rice he had used for baiting the spot from his tackle box, and mixed it into the flattened pulling bait.

To keep the fish in the spot, it was necessary to maintain as much consistency as possible between the bait mixture and the hand food's flavor. Adding a bit of secret fermented rice to the hand food was the simplest way to do this.

After the adjustment, Lin Yang resumed a normal fishing speed. Casually, he started to catch one fish after another.

While he continued to catch fish with each cast, Zhang Qiang, on the other hand, was feeling increasingly disheartened.

After persistently pulling the rod over ten times without catching anything, seeing Lin Yang continuously landing fish, Zhang Qiang couldn't keep his composure. He decided to let the bait settle for a whole cast but, after thirty seconds at the bottom, not even a nibble occurred.

Could it be that he mixed up the points while baiting in advance? It shouldn't be so. These were all familiar fishing spots, and the positions were definite, so there couldn't be a mistake.

But where had the fish gone?

After both pulling the rod frequently and baiting in advance, why were there no fish at all?

By now, Zhang Qiang was almost sweating with anxiety.