Zhang Yang had just gotten a basic understanding of the fish situation at Pond Number One, when Xiao Meng drove over.
Along with Meng Fan's car, two other cars entered the courtyard. The three cars parked in succession, and the anglers got out one by one, carrying their fishing gear toward the practice rod area.
"Xiao Meng, over here!" called Old Zhao, who was testing the waters. He waved to Meng Fan from a distance.
Meng Fan, carrying his fishing box, walked over to Old Zhao and Zhang Yang.
"Sorry, Brother Yang, Brother Zhao, I got held up by something last minute!" Meng Fan apologized right away with a cheerful smile.
"The bait for Pond Number One is ready, just take it yourself!"
Old Zhao pointed to the bait left in the mixing bowl behind him, enough for the three of them to test fish.
"Oh, great! I've been here a few times, the fish are hard to catch! Just the right time to test how effective Brother Yang's bait is!" Meng Fan said casually.
"Try fishing first, then we'll summarize later! The fish are slippery, so use more refined gear!" Zhang Yang reminded him.
After a brief conversation, Xiao Meng also got his gear ready and started testing the waters.
About half an hour later, Zhang Yang's pocket timer buzzed, and he put down his fishing rod.
The duration of the competition is also something anglers need to pay attention to. Zhang Yang had set up a half-hour alarm to get an understanding of the current fish situation. After all, a normal match lasts a maximum of sixty minutes per round.
There was no need to count the small crucian carp in the fish keeper; Zhang Yang had already noted a clear number in his mind, 22 fish.
Based on this number, the catch rate for fishing at the bottom for one hour would be around 50 fish, which was pretty much in line with the initial expectations.
After grasping the fish situation at Pond Number One, Zhang Yang took out a packet of small yellow flour from his fishing box and began preparing bait for Pond Number Two, which had mixed species.
Compared to targeting crucian carp, the requirements for the mixed species pond were less stringent. While preparing the bait, Zhang Yang only added a tiny bit of brown sugar syrup. The overall bait flavor was primarily sweet and mildly fishy, and it was very versatile.
Unlike Pond Number One, there were currently very few people at Pond Number Two. In the large pond, only one person was fishing on the diagonal side, with almost no one else fishing.
Zhang Yang quickly prepared the bait and then patiently began trying the test fishing.
Still sticking to the half-hour timer, but when fishing mixed ponds, Zhang Yang used an aggressive fishing method from the start, with pinch bait and dispersing powder, somewhat akin to a wild pond fishing method for grabbing new fish.
After continuously casting over ten times, soon there was action in Zhang Yang's fishing spot.
Compared to the crucian carp's moderate slipperiness, the fish situation in the mixed pond was more stable. Most were carp fry weighing about half to one pound each, very small and thin, with a huge head and a thin body that seemed slightly deformed.
Even though it was termed a mixed fish situation, during the trial fishing, the fish species in Pond Number Two were basically these carp fry.
In half an hour of fishing, Zhang Yang only caught one two-pound grass carp during a trip and also snagged one two to three-ounce crucian carp.
Unconsciously, another half-hour timer ended, and Zhang Yang had a preliminary understanding of the fish situation at Pond Number Two.
Overall, the fish species in Pond Number Two were mainly small-sized carp fry, with very raw bites, and they weren't very cautious about dispersing powder bait.
Due to infrequent feeding over the years, the fish were very weak. Once caught, they almost didn't struggle, and even that two-pound grass carp only took two bouts to bring into the net.
After an hour of trial fishing ended, Zhang Yang had roughly grasped the general situation of Ponds One and Two. He put down his rod and leisurely walked towards Old Zhao and Meng Fan.
"How's the fishing going? Did you find the rhythm?" Zhang Yang asked with a cheerful smile.
"The bites are slippery, a lot of clear bites but can't hook them! Ugh, another miss!" Meng Fan said as he lifted his rod, missing another shot.
Zhang Yang glanced at the line setup his counterpart was using, "Didn't I remind you to use thinner lines? The leader line is 0.8?"
"Ah! The thinnest leader line I have here is 0.8! Is it too thick?"
Meng Fan responded quickly, realizing immediately that his leader line was too thick upon Zhang Yang's remark.
"It's too thick! Go fish mixed species, and a 0.8 leader line is hardly necessary! Take a few 0.4 from my box, and I'll tie some for you later at the shop! Using such thick lines for the crucian carp in Pond Number One, no wonder you're missing!"
"Oh, okay, I'll switch. And the main line? Do I switch to a thinner one too? Right now, I'm using a 1.5!"
"Switch, switch to a 1.0! The float you're using is also too big, find a float that carries less than 1.5 grams, in an olive shape, divided into three sections! Adjust it to two marks, and start fishing at two marks to find the bite point!" Zhang Yang continued.
"Alright!" Meng Fan began making adjustments right after Zhang Yang's advice.
Old Zhao, who was nearby, also put down his rod, took out a cigarette, and offered one to Zhang Yang before asking, "How is it? How does the trial fishing feel?"
Zhang Yang nodded, "If no new fish are added, on the day after tomorrow, the normal competition won't have very fast fish bites; the stock density in this pond is average!"
"Is the density average? I saw your catch rate wasn't slow just now!"
Zhang Yang covered the lighter and lit his cigarette before continuing, "Right now, there are only a few people in the whole pond! If the competition were fully seated, the bites would definitely be much slower!
This kind of fish situation is relatively friendly to ordinary anglers. The chance for luck to determine performance would be bigger! As long as the sitting position is firm, anyone has the chance to earn small scores!"
"What about bait and technique? Were there any surfacing behaviors in the fish at Pond Number One?" Zhao Bingguang continued to ask.