Squatting by the pond all day, Zhang Yang returned home, ate dinner, took a shower, and went to bed early, setting an alarm for 4:30 the next morning to continue the battle.
The next morning, Zhang Yang was woken up on time by the alarm, quickly freshened up, and drove towards the meeting point.
When the five of them drove to Joyful Forest Fishing Ground, it was still dim outside,
As Zhang Yang expected, there were only three cars in the parking lot at the entrance, and the large fishing ground was empty, hardly anyone came to "steal the donkey." Including Zhang Yang's four anglers, there were only eight people!
Compared to regular fishing, "stealing the donkey" grounds have much fewer rules, you can start fishing as soon as you arrive, without having to draw lots for a fishing spot,
The weather forecast predicted a southeast wind level 3 to 4 today, so Zhang Yang chose a spot near the northwest corner's leeward side and quickly set up his gear, entering a battle-ready state.
The oxygen machine won't turn off until six, so without any bites yet, Zhang Yang wasn't anxious, adjusting his bait and tackle, waiting for Liu Mazi to turn off the oxygen machine.
Seeing so few people coming to steal the donkey, Liu Mazi felt even more uneasy,
From yesterday afternoon to early this morning, he was so anxious that he hardly slept, posting "stealing the donkey" announcements in the group every now and then, but the anglers just wouldn't bite, refusing to come.
It was almost six, and there were still only eight people in the pit, including four from Zhang Yang's side at half price, collecting a total of only 1,000 yuan in fishing fees! His hopes of making up for the losses were once again dashed.
"It's six o'clock, turn off the oxygen machine! The water flow makes it impossible to see the bobber!" At the appointed time, Han Qiang shouted loudly.
"Turn it off now!" Liu Mazi replied with reluctance, quickly flipping the switch off for the oxygen machine.
The rumble of the oxygen machine disappeared, and the crowd instantly felt a lot more quiet around their ears.
Zhang Yang picked up a loser spoon and scooped some corn kernels from the basin behind him, leisurely sprinkling bait.
Yesterday, the fish were not in good condition, and baiting was a complete waste of bait material, but today was different. If the fish recovered their activity, then a proper amount of bait would be essential for impressive catches.
With this in mind, Zhang Yang periodically sprinkled some fresh corn kernels, leisurely looking for the fish school and water layer, waiting for the fishing ground's water level to stabilize completely and the grass carp to start biting.
Just ten minutes after the fishing started, Wang Yan, near the middle of the southern bank, was the first to catch a fish.
Before Wang Yan pulled the fish ashore, Zhou Chu across the bank and a neighboring unfamiliar angler also caught fish in succession,
In this eight-person "stealing the donkey" event, surprisingly three people were simultaneously raising their rods, pulling in fish.
Seeing the aggressive fish situation, Zhang Yang decisively replaced the corn on the hooks with homemade raw gluten bait and live grasshoppers, starting a rhythmic retrieve frequency.
The bites at the edge were slightly slower than in the middle, but there were more fish around, so it didn't matter at the moment. With Zhang Yang's continuous casting and baiting with the loser spoon, the bobber soon showed signs of activity.
Just as the 4.3g lead-weight bobber hit the water and turned over, it took two big chomps, directly pulled down to black.
Zhang Yang was already prepared, silently counting one, two, three in his mind, deliberately raising the rod a beat slower to hook the fish, successfully hitting the target.
The first fish, an immense resistance transmitted from the rod tip to the handle, made Zhang Yang's heart tremble, a big grass carp!
A grass carp weighing four or five pounds has some vigor after being hooked, but after striking the fish, raising the rod can move it, but this fish now was like snagging the bottom, with no initial reaction when the rod was raised.
Zhang Yang held the rod in a bent posture for a few seconds, then the underwater big guy began to move slowly. Ever watchful, Zhang Yang noticed the big fish darting towards the center first, immediately crouching to grip the rod securely with both hands.
The fish rod was pulled by the big fish to the point of buzzing, and crouching to control the fish had limited effect, with the big fish still fleeing forward.
At the critical moment, Zhang Yang decisively thrust the rod into the water, powering to one side to guide the big fish to turn around.
Thrusting the rod into the water is an effective technique for playing big fish; it not only adjusts the direction of the exertion but also increases the rod's resistance in the water,
If handled correctly, the big fish would be guided to turn around, overcoming the most dangerous first round of hooking a big fish.
Zhang Yang's timing for thrusting the rod into the water was perfect; before the rod was pulled flat, it was already bent backward in the water,
The big fish on the hook naturally changed its swimming direction due to the lateral pull force,
Zhang Yang felt the power change and naturally stabilized and raised the rod again.
The rod bent to about seventy to eighty degrees, this fish was basically a sure thing for Zhang Yang. The figure-eight technique of playing fish had almost become an instinct for controlling fish in Zhang Yang's hands, letting the fish swim back and forth to drain its energy.
After about five minutes, this big guy was almost exhausted, surfacing.
Seeing the head of this fish, Zhang Yang instinctively swallowed his saliva,
Damn, the biggest fourteen or fifteen-pound grass carp at the bottom of the tank released last Friday got caught on the first rod!
"Xiao Yi, switch the scoop net head to the big one! Caught a big guy!"
Zhang Yang was in no rush to pull the fish to his feet, first letting the cameraman help swap the scoop net head.
The 45cm diameter scoop net head felt cramped for this big guy, so they switched to a larger scoop net head for a greater safety margin.
Quickly Xiao Yi changed the scoop net head and handed it over, and only then did Zhang Yang slowly pull the fish to his side, grabbing the scoop net with his left hand, probing and lifting against the grass carp's head, successfully capturing it.
"Brother Yang, this fish is huge! Is it at least ten pounds?"
Xiao Yi, who rarely spoke while working, had never seen Zhang Yang catch such a big fish, couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Yang put down the rod and lifted the scoop net head, effortlessly bringing the fish ashore.
"This one is equal to three fish, at least fourteen or fifteen pounds! It's possibly that ballast fish from the last stocking!"
Easily detaching the fishhook, Zhang Yang cradled the big fish's belly with both hands, holding it flat.
Strangely enough, while this fourteen or fifteen-pound big fish was still struggling mightily in the scoop net, in Zhang Yang's hands it became very docile,
Zhang Yang merely spread his hands to hold the fish with his palms, without any forceful controlling or binding, yet the grass carp didn't struggle at all.
"Brother Yang, how do you do that? Is the fish too tired to move?" Xiao Yi asked again.
Zhang Yang smiled and shook his head, "Grass carp are interesting; the more you grab them the more they struggle, just holding them gently makes them obedient!
Their belly seems to have a vagus nerve; if not forcefully stimulated, they won't thrash about!"
While speaking, Zhang Yang moved the fish lightly back and forth between his hands, and it remained very obedient!
Admiring the fish for a few seconds, Zhang Yang placed the big guy into the fish keeper, returning to the fishing spot to continue fishing.
The earlier fish took the top hook with raw gluten bait, so when Zhang Yang changed bait, he replaced the grasshoppers with double hook gluten bait.
The large, flat raw gluten bait, combined with 80-stranded coarse lubricating powder, allowed Zhang Yang to form almost walnut-sized bait balls using the gluten bait technique; he didn't bother refining the bait balls' details, roughly tossing them into the baited area, randomly adding a few corn kernels with the bait scoop.
Reality proved once again that Zhang Yang's trick was quite effective,
After the gluten bait balls hit the water, they absorbed water, expanded, and released a lot of flaky residue, all favorite materials of large grass carp, quickly attracting the big, feeding grass carp to enter the baited area to eat bait.
After casting three or four times in a row, this time the bobber movement was even more dramatic, hardly tilting in the water before being dragged by the high-end interface.
Zhang Yang silently counted one, two, three, raised the rod to strike, hitting the target again!
Once again, the steady force typical of a hooked big grass carp, Zhang Yang arched the rod normally and continued to play the fish!
The grass carp that didn't bite yesterday were biting en masse today. Within less than twenty minutes on Zhang Yang's end, he managed to bring up four big guys in succession, with no sign of the bites stopping.
Grass carp, a relatively timid fish, still couldn't be scared away from the school even with such extensive fish-playing, revealing the enormous potential of today's fish situation.
After hooking a fish and casting three or four times to replenish the baited area, bites would soon come again, often resulting in massive plunges of the bobber.
Everyone who didn't get their fill of fishing yesterday certainly got it today!