Chapter 7 Little Fish Stirring Trouble (Please Bookmark, Please Invest)

Ordinary aluminum alloy fishing platforms generally weigh around 13 to 15 kilograms because they require a certain sturdiness; the aluminum alloy material is made thicker, and this type of equipment has always given fishermen the impression of being cumbersome.

In the past two years, new companies targeted carbon fiber as the material for making fishing platforms. This new material can significantly reduce the weight while maintaining the same strength. The carbon fishing platforms currently on the market weigh around 8 kilograms and have been hyped up to a high price of three to four thousand yuan.

Now, the fishing platform Yue Feng was holding weighed 40% less than the ordinary carbon fishing platforms, weighing only a mere 4.8 kilograms. Yue Feng didn't know what kind of price this fishing platform could fetch if it were to hit the market.

Upon carefully observing the details of the fishing platform, the craftsmanship was very solid. There were no burrs or defects on the edges and corners, and the outermost layer of material was coated with a layer of silver-gray paint. At first glance, it didn't seem conspicuous, but upon closer examination, he discovered an indefinable sense of quality that was both high-end and elegant.

This fishing platform could be said to combine ultra-high performance with a low-profile appearance to the utmost, and it was definitely a high-end product made with care.

After being excited for a while, Yue Feng gradually calmed down, treasuring the fishing platform as he put it along with the float back into the storage room behind the shop. Then, he checked the doors and windows before going upstairs to rest.

The second floor was just a simple loft, not very comfortable for resting.

The loft had a single bed and basic bedding. It was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and barely tolerable in the spring.

After washing up, Yue Feng lay on the small bed. The tiredness from a whole day's hustle quickly overwhelmed him, and he soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, early in the morning when it was barely light, someone was banging on the roll-up door downstairs,

Yue Feng thought it was a dream and ignored it, turning over to continue sleeping. It wasn't long before his phone rang, finally waking him up.

"Is this Yue Feng? What time do you think it is, still not opening the shop! Are you staying there or at home? Hurry up and open the door, I need to get fish food!" came the voice of the fishermen urging him to open up.

After hanging up, Yue Feng rolled out of bed, clumsily dressed, washed his face in the washroom, and then hurriedly opened the shop door.

Good grief, outside the door waited six or seven fully equipped fishermen, eagerly anticipating the opening.

"Sorry about that, guys. I was busy late last night and overslept!" Yue Feng sincerely apologized, inviting everyone into the shop.

"You, it's almost six o'clock and still not open! Where's the bait Wine Rice we ordered? Get me two bags!"

"Exactly, the shop of Old Liu two streets over was open promptly at half-past five in the morning! I'll also take two bags of Wine Rice!"

Yue Feng placed the zip-locked bait onto the counter and said, "Here it is, the same formula as what you used yesterday, special tasting price, 20 yuan for a big bag! Guaranteed results!"

These guys didn't seem like novices either, they opened the Wine Rice to look and smell, ensuring it was exactly the same as the bait they received from Yue Feng the day before, then happily paid up.

Since they were already in the shop, naturally they were not only there for Wine Rice. Regular fishing lines, leader lines, Lead Skin, and various other consumables were also sold. Just during the two waves of morning traffic, they contributed over four hundred yuan in sales to Yue Feng.

These visiting fishermen were part of the first wave of customers trying out the new products. If the bait worked well, the after-effects of word-of-mouth advertising would continue to ferment!

After the customers had left, Yue Feng conscientiously cleaned the shop inside and out. Though there were no Points for rewards, since he had opened the shop, basic cleanliness was mandatory.

However, what made Yue Feng frustrated was that apart from the customer flow brought in yesterday by expanding his clientele, he had stayed in the shop until nine-thirty, but not a single fisherman had entered the door.

"This can't go on. I don't know what I was thinking at the beginning. I had a good shop, so many locations along the street to choose from, yet I picked a spot in a small alley across from a crossroad, hardly seeing any passersby at all!" Yue Feng scratched his head, feeling somewhat dejected.

Stuck in the store and truly fed up, Yue Feng gritted his teeth and decided to take his gear down to the downstream area of Qinglong Lake to fish. After all, he had made over two hundred bucks selling his catch at the night market yesterday, pure profit.

Sitting in this nook of a shop all day, he figured hardly anyone would come in!

With the special bait in hand, going out to fish could not only expand his customer base and earn points but also make money off the fish, which was much better than stubbornly sticking around in the shop.

Once he made up his mind, Yue Feng packed up his things and headed out, straight for the spot downstream of Qinglong Lake where he had fished the day before.

The weather was still good today, and when Yue Feng arrived at the spot he had fished yesterday, he found it had already been taken by an angler who had come earlier.

Yue Feng wasn't too picky about the fishing spot, so he carried his stool and found a spot that was fairly roomy to set down his fish bucket.

"Hey, young man, the spot you picked has a fish cage in front, which makes it easy to snag the bottom when casting. You might want to change spots," a fellow fisherman glanced at Yue Feng and kindly suggested.

"Fish cage? How long of a rod is hitting the bottom? About how deep is the water here?"

"The water is about two meters deep. Taiwan fishing rods around four and a half to four point eight meters long will hit the bottom! Seems like there's a fish cage buried under the silt!"

Yue Feng quickly calculated in his head, based on what the fellow fisherman said, four and a half meter rods plus the line would total approximately nine meters. Subtracting the water depth of two meters, that left about seven meters or so.

With his own six-meter-three rod, long rod and short line, there should be at least a meter's distance from the snagging spot in front, and as he was using a singular Sky Hook, it shouldn't be a problem!

"I should be fine with traditional fishing. I'll give it a try, and if it doesn't work, I'll switch. Thanks for the heads up!" Yue Feng thanked him politely.

Hearing Yue Feng was going for traditional fishing, the other didn't say much more. After all, a Sky Hook with a weight on the shank would face upwards after it enters the water, which lessens the chance of getting snagged.

Yue Feng casually took out the Bait Wine Rice he hadn't finished using yesterday, added a bit of Wild Fishing Companion and with a bait launcher, he formed a baited area and began to wait patiently.

The ordinary Bait Wine Rice, enhanced with Wild Fishing Companion, proved effective. Within about ten minutes, there were already signs of fish. Yue Feng tried casting a few times and it was fine, without any snagging.

Though he didn't encounter the snagging issue, Yue Feng ran into a new problem!

Maybe due to some underwater obstacles, the baited spot Yue Feng chose today was teeming with small miscellaneous fish. Once they started biting, it was almost continuous.

By a little after nine in the morning, most areas along the river saw intermittent catches, but the others' catches were generally larger. One could occasionally see good-sized crucian carp weighing from two to three liang to over half a catty being caught, which elicited murmurs of admiration whenever a big one was landed.

Yue Feng's primary aim in fishing was to advertise for his shop and bait, and now, although he was getting many bites, the fish he caught were small and didn't really draw much attention, so naturally, he wasn't achieving his advertising goal.

After fishing for a while, Yue Feng started to feel rather frustrated.

In his fishing bucket were only four or five decent-sized crucian carp, with most being small-sized individuals; the bucket was mainly filled with small mahjong crucians. There were also a good number of other small fish like wheat ear fish and Blue Knife Fish.

Damn it, this Bait Wine Rice was attracting fish alright, but it didn't discriminate by size.

What to do now?