"How on earth do you fish? I've seen you fussing around, prepping bait and adding additives for so long! What's the secret? Share with everyone!" Xiao Hui asked with a look of curiosity.
Zhang Yang nodded: "It's actually quite simple, wasn't Brother Yan just calling his friend to ask about ice fishing?
The call mentioned catching big fish using dry sour dates as bait, and that's when it clicked for me!
Look at this reservoir, it runs north to south, with wild, low shrubs on the east and west sides. The soil on the mountain crest is so barren that even weeds hardly grow, and the banks are mostly geological rock formations, making the water very lean!
With lean water, there's naturally little for the fish to eat. Check out this crucian carp; outside in the big river, it might weigh one and a half pounds, but here, at most just one pound and two ounces!
Did anyone notice the detail that there are sour date trees scattered along the shore?
In autumn, when sour dates are ripe, the wind easily blows them into reservoir waters. Without much to eat, fish here must pick up and eat sour dates, and over time, their diet naturally adapts!
Earlier, I added a date-flavored ingredient to my base bait, and just like that, it worked immediately!
Nature is truly amazing!"
Zhang Yang's explanation was logical and solid, clearly laying out the reasoning and tying it to real circumstances.
Upon hearing this explanation, Brother Yan turned slightly to exchange a glance with Brother Cheng, and both had a look of being greatly impressed in their eyes.
"Wow, specialization really makes a difference. Old Ye said before you were a fishing expert, I had some doubts, but now I believe it!" Brother Yan said with much seriousness.
Ye Wencheng extinguished his cigarette butt even more eagerly and said, "Now that the puzzle is solved, what are we waiting for? Give me some of that additive to try! These big, beautiful crucian carp are amazing!"
"And me! I want some too!" Xiao Hui raised his hand excitedly.
Zhang Yang grinned: "Don't worry, everyone gets a share! I brought plenty in my tackle box!"
After showing off his skill, Zhang Yang quickly adjusted the bait flavor according to the results from his experiment, and then distributed the newly adjusted bait to Brother Cheng and Xiao Hui.
With the new bait, Brother Cheng and Xiao Hui were again motivated to cast their lines, quickly getting busy.
In less than ten minutes, Xiao Hui's bobber began to show some action.
The bobber's action was erratic, twitching upwards and trembling downwards, but never giving a clear sink.
Suddenly, a surprising rocket motion appeared with a one and a half mark rise, and Xiao Hui eagerly attempted to hook the fish!
There was a swoosh sound, and a fish scale was hooked up.
"Damn! Didn't get a proper bite! The rise just now didn't hook, only managed to snag a fish scale!"
Looking at the fish scale, Xiao Hui couldn't help but curse.
"The change in bait is giving me some action too! Same here, the bobber's movement is sluggish! It shouldn't be, given I'm using a quality Alu bobber worth over a hundred bucks!"
Brother Cheng heard Xiao Hui's complaints and couldn't resist chiming in.
Zhang Yang heard this and grinned, continuing: "I also started with no action; the water temperature is relatively cold, fish have a small bite, and thick lines are too hard to swallow!
Do you have thinner lines? Try lines between 0.5 and 0.6!"
"0.6? That line is too thin to use, it'll snap instantly when I hook! I'm using a 1.2 line!" Brother Cheng frowned upon hearing the suggestion.
Xiao Hui: "I'm using 1.0, it's already the thinnest I brought!"
"Uh, I have some spares with me, why not use mine! Just be gentle when hooking!" Zhang Yang took out his line box directly.
"1.0 and 0.6 aren't that different, are they? It can't be that significant?" Brother Cheng, though internally agreeing with Zhang Yang's theory, was still slightly skeptical.
Zhang Yang chuckled and shook his head: "In seasons with good fish bites, thickness doesn't matter much, but now, with low temperatures and cold water, the fish's activity is restricted, and thick lines block the bites!"
Zhang Yang's views definitely came from experience; when it comes to fishing crucian carp, the impact of the line set is far greater than most people realize.
Even slight thickness in the line shows entirely different bobber movements, directly affecting the actual fish catch.
Xiao Hui, having hooked just a fish scale, was the first to follow Zhang Yang's advice and changed to a new line, then started fishing again.
Strangely enough, just by switching from a 1.0 to a 0.6 line, the bobber's motion clearly changed, there was less idle movement, and after a slight adjustment to the bobber's indicator, soon came the first strong half-mark sink.
Seeing the sink, Xiao Hui tried hooking, and swoosh, no fish appeared, but the hook was snapped off!
Everyone looked over after hearing the hooking action.
The person in question, Xiao Hui, frustrated, scratched his head: "Oh, man, finally got a sinking motion, but the hook snapped instantly! This 0.6 line is just too weak for me to handle!"
Xiao Hui almost started crying; he had hooked scales and snapped hooks, encountering an array of troubles, yet hadn't landed a single fish.
"Switching to a thin line actually resulted in bites? I'll give it a shot too!"
Brother Cheng couldn't hold back either, so he grabbed two sets of 0.6 lines from Zhang Yang's line box!
In less than five minutes, another swoosh from hooking, and Brother Cheng also snapped the hook!
The two brothers maintained highly consistent poses and actions of hooking and snapping hooks.
When do skills show? It's when encountering strange, unusual fish activity!
Zhang Yang had landed two crucian carp using a 0.5 line, while Brother Cheng and Xiao Hui snapped hooks upon hooking, the three of them fishing in parallel, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere.