At 5:30 in the morning the next day.
Lin Yang got up on ti, and only after he’d dressed did the sluggish alarm on his phone start to ring.
Recently getting up early had beco a routine, training his biological clock.
After a quick wash, Lin Yang loaded all his gear into the car and headed over to his uncle’s place with a press of the accelerator.
Ten or so minutes later, Yang Xincheng had already packed up his things and was waiting for him.
The two wasted no ti and set off right away, soon turning onto River Road. Since there were few people around at this ti, the drive was smooth sailing, hardly eting anybody on the road.
In about twenty-five minutes, the two arrived at the entrance of the Dongyang Fishing Ground.
Without even getting out of the car, Lin Yang eagerly observed the situation at the fishing ground and furrowed his brows slightly.
He had thought that there wouldn’t be many people this early, considering it was still too early for fishing to start, but upon arrival, he found that was not the case.
It was just past six o’clock, dawn was barely breaking, and there were already at least seven or eight cars parked outside the fishing ground, most of them being mid-range vehicles valued between two and three hundred thousand. His Tank 300 was inconspicuous among them.
Yang Xincheng opened the car door and got out. "Don’t just stand there. Unload the gear, or the fish delivery truck will be here soon."
"Oh, right." Lin Yang acknowledged, got out of the driver’s seat, and unloaded both of their gear from the trunk.
Just as they picked up their equipnt, a man in his forties hurried over to Lin Yang.
"You must be Xiao Yang. I’m Old Sun, Old Yang’s friend. Here, let take your equipnt inside. I’ve saved a fishing spot for you guys."
Old Sun and Yang Xincheng had beco friends through fishing. Old Sun’s family lived in Dongyang Town, not far from the fishing ground, which is why he was in charge of reserving spots.
"Hello, Mr. Sun, where is our fishing spot?" Lin Yang greeted politely while sweeping his gaze across the fishing ground.
The description that his uncle had given him the day before wasn’t very accurate, it differed a lot from what he had imagined.
The fishing ground wasn’t a regular rectangle or square shape, but rather trapezoidal. The entire pond was oriented north to south, with the longest side being on the south, cordoned off with nets, beyond which was the main river channel.
Along the remaining three sides, there was a fishing spot every two or three ters, unpaved with even a prefabricated concrete block, entirely in its natural state.
However, it’s worth ntioning that the cleanliness of the fishing ground was impeccable.
The banks were padded with pebbles of various sizes, and the weeds had been fully cleared, indicating it was well-maintained by humans.
"I got up late this morning, didn’t get to the fishing ground until five. By the ti I got here, one angler had already arrived. So, I only managed to get a spot on the southwest corner by the net, and there’s also a spot in the middle of the west bank and one at the northwest corner. I’ve put the gear down by the net. The other two spots are also usually good for catching fish, you two can figure out who sits where."
With just a few words from Old Sun, Lin Yang had made a rough judgent about the fishing positions.
It appeared to him that the best spots in this fishing ground would unquestionably be the southernmost side along the riverbank, or the longest edge of the trapezoid.
The entrance to the fishing ground was at the northeast corner, where a portable cabin was located near the entrance, probably for the pit boss to sleep in.
When the fish delivery truck cos, it would most likely unload fish on the north bank first. The fish would imdiately rush toward the net on the south side, and after being stopped by it, they would start circling towards the sides. Therefore, the large corner spots on both sides of the net were definitely pri selections.
Besides these corner spots, the middle section should be a good place too, being closer to the center of the pit.
Overall, Lin Yang’s assessnt aligned with Old Sun’s presentation.
Yang Xincheng looked around and said, "I’ll take the northwest corner spot. Xiao Yang, you go to the middle. Both spots are almost the sa in terms of fish yield, and the northwest corner is closer for moving equipnt. I don’t feel like running so far."
Lin Yang didn’t mind, "Okay, then Uncle, you take the northwest corner and I’ll go to the central position."
Soon, Lin Yang followed Old Sun to the fishing spot that had been reserved in advance.
A traditional aluminum telescopic stand rod was planted in the fishing spot. Old Sun casually pulled it out, saying, "Right here, cast in the direction of the tallest poplar on the opposite side, and you’ll be roughly in the right place."
"Oh, thank you."
Lin Yang replied and then started preparing the bait in preparation for fishing.
He mixed four kilograms of bait in a large basin for the three of them. The fish being new additions to the water and the water quality being good, Lin Yang kept the water ratio in the bait at around 1:0.4, a bit on the dry and loose side.
After preparing the dry and loose bait, he scooped out a large amount, added so light bran and water, and made it into a soft and sticky consistency.
When fishing, he would use the loose bait as a scatter gun and the soft and sticky bait for catching, keeping the flavor consistent while differentiating functions, without neglecting any detail.
With the bait prepared, Lin Yang scooped out a basin for his own use and took the remaining bulk over to Old Sun, who had helped him reserve the spot.
"Brother Sun, I’ve prepared the bait. Take so for yourself, and I’ll take the rest over to Uncle."
Old Sun was also preparing his bait, glanced at Lin Yang’s, and shook his head, "Thanks, but I won’t need it. I’ve been using Wanjiu’s bait and am used to it. I might keep a bit of the soft sticky bait to try, but I won’t use the dry stuff you made. You’ve prepared such a large basin; your water ratio is too low."
Glancing at the bait Old Sun was preparing, he too was making bait balls after mixing and sticking so raw feed, a dark green in color, giving off a distinct seaweed-like fishy aroma.
But it seed he wasn’t accustod to using scatter bait.
Seeing the other party uncomfortable using it, Lin Yang did not insist on them using the bait he prepared.
With such a low water ratio and without having learned the baiting technique, giving them this bait wouldn’t be useful anyway; he would wait for a chance to fish together next ti to discuss it then.
"Alright, you go ahead and use your own, I’ll be heading back first," he said.
Coming to Uncle’s side, the result was the sa.
Yang Xincheng’s bait was almost identical to Old Sun’s, but he was sowhat more intimidating, having prepared a small bucket behind him with about four to five pounds of nest bait.
Faced with this situation, Lin Yang helplessly shook his head, realizing it was impossible to change their fishing habits on the spot; he could only hope to instill new fishing concepts in them later on.
It was about six-thirty.
A fisheries transport truck arrived on ti at the entrance to the fishing ground, the driver honked the horn and then drove expertly to the Northern shore.
Hearing the commotion outside, a man around thirty-five or thirty-six years old ca out of the portable building.
The man had a square face, a buzz cut, was dressed in camo, wore yellow rubber boots, stood about 175 cm tall, and exuded the air of a retired soldier with his upright posture.
The boss, nad Wang Jian Country, was a forr soldier who had been operating the fishing ground for two years. He had always stocked plenty of fish, had a high catch rate, and slowly gathered a group of loyal anglers who enjoyed fishing in comrcial ponds. As a person, he was righteous and good-natured, with an excellent reputation.
The fish delivery driver, familiar with Wang Jian Country, lit a cigarette and had a quick chat. Once the cigarette was finished, Wang Jian Country agilely climbed the water tank on the truck and started scooping fish out with a specially made fishing net.
This was a genuine asurent by fra, with each scoop weighing in at a base of seventy to eighty pounds. He recorded each weight in the ledger before quickly shifting the fish basket to the edge of the bank and releasing them into the water.
Lin Yang estimated that there were four baskets of Carp and four of Golden Crucian Carp. Calculating at an average of sixty to seventy pounds per basket, there were basically no discrepancies in the six hundred pound total.
With eight baskets of fish released, the pond beca lively.
The fish had excellent color and went to work gilling soon after entering the water, especially near the center of the net on the Southern shore, where their activity was particularly vigorous.
Fishing officially began at seven in the morning, and steadily more anglers arrived.
The pond owner stood in front of the portable building and put up a notice with today’s fish stocking weight near the door and loudly called out to everyone.
"Today we’ve stocked a real 618 pounds of fish, with a fee of 100 yuan. All anglers ready to fish, please prepare the fee; we’ll start on ti at seven!"
True to his military roots, his call was resounding with full breath support, carrying an air of crisp efficiency.
Lin Yang took out a hundred-yuan note from his pocket, placed it in the food container’s compartnt, and began to patiently adjust his float.
At this ti, the fishing spot beside him, which had also been claid by soone, was taken by an angler appearing to be in his fifties.
The old angler had a round face with small eyes, slightly gray temples, a hat bought from a market bunched tightly under his chin, and a rosy hue on his dark, plump face.
He might have looked unremarkable, but his fishing gear was quite fancy, with a Dawa 30-liter fishing box, a leather fishing rod case, and he wore a light gray Shimano sun protection suit that barely contained his beer belly underneath.
This angler’s surna was Yu, known by the nickna Yu Yitong, and he was a regular at Dongyang Fishing Ground, having not missed a single event since its opening this year.
"Young man, you seem new here, is it your first ti?" Yu Yitong had just set down his equipnt when he shot Lin Yang a glance and asked.
Making eye contact, Lin Yang instantly felt uneasy.
How to describe it? The old man’s gaze was not as gentle as one would expect from soone his age; there was an aggressiveness in his eyes.
"Yes, hello sir, it is my first ti," Lin Yang responded, continuing to ticulously trim the lead skin.
"Oh, that’s a good spot you’ve got there, I often have my friends reserve it for . Looks like I’m next to you today."
"Really? A friend reserved this spot for too, and once we start fishing, I’m planning to livestream. Please pardon if it’s an inconvenience for you."
"No problem, no problem at all. I’m aware of livestreaming; it’s quite the trend now. Even the old ladies selling at at the market are doing it, and they have quite the audience too."
....
After small talk, Lin Yang finished adjusting his float.
He then took out his phone and recorded a quick pre-streaming announcent, highlighting that he’d be live streaming Carp and Golden Crucian Carp fishing starting at seven, inviting everyone to watch.
Such a promotional video was just a simple preview before the livestream, and would be deleted after the broadcast ended.
After uploading the video, Yu Yitong next to him had also nearly finished preparing his gear. Lin Yang glanced over and almost dropped his jaw in surprise.
The old gentleman had filled a black trash bag with at least seven or eight pounds of dry nesting material and, as if it cost him nothing, poured it all into the black rubber bucket behind him. After that, with a gurgle, he added water and spent a long ti mixing it until the nest material was evenly moistened.
In just a few minutes, the nesting material in the rubber bucket swelled with water, bulging at the top.
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