Made three nests in total, using half of the bait prepared in the bathtub in one go.
Then, Meng Fan sat down near the middle of the northern bank and began today's fishing.
Despite the confidence displayed by Zhang Yang and Meng Fan in such a large body of water, there was still a bit of nervousness inside.
The promises Zhang Yang made to the fishing friends during the live stream were not made casually. Except for the half-hour trial fishing yesterday to check the fish's feeding status without making a nest, no extra preparations were made before fishing.
You could say, except for the fact that the fish aren't native to the reservoir, the fish situation now in Yaokeng Reservoir is not essentially different from natural reservoirs with slightly higher density.
From the moment Meng Fan sat at the fishing spot, he entered battle mode, not even using hand-baits and directly grabbing a food box of nesting bait, using it as scattered bait to lure the fish and starting to maintain a rhythm of casting every forty seconds.
There was indeed pressure, but the desire to take on a challenge was also real, after all, fishing in such a venue is an opportunity not available to everyone.
As soon as fishing began, Zhang Yang had been watching Meng Fan's performance from behind, unknowingly for five minutes, and only then did the live stream chat gradually calm down from the earlier 'enthusiasm' of throwing bait like bombs.
Zhang Yang adjusted the camera slightly on Meng Fan's position and said, "Brothers, how does Xiao Meng's casting look? Seems like he's got the hang of it, doesn't the seven-meter-two rod seem not as difficult as imagined?"
[Can't tell if it's good or bad, personally it feels pretty standard! Is Xiao Meng a disciple of Brother Yang?]
[Just wondering, didn't we just go all out dumping bait into the nest? Why is he still casting at this frequency, from that angle I vaguely saw Xiao Meng seemingly using the nest as scattered bait?]
[I'm also a bit curious, it's understandable to open more nests, but it seems there was no fishing bait prepared? What's going on? Waiting for the fish to come before preparing?]
[No fishing bait +1, I'm also curious about this!]
Zhang Yang grinned, "This point everyone can see very clearly, indeed no fishing bait was prepared, but we did bring bait! Look, it's here!"
The camera switched, and Zhang Yang held up a package wrapped in newspaper, shaking it in front of the camera with a smile.
"As mentioned earlier, there are very few small fish in the reservoir, and today we're mainly targeting big crucian carp, so we're using red worms for bait!
The reason I didn't prepare it earlier is not because I forgot, but to ensure the freshness of the red worms as much as possible!
There's ice in the cooler, we'll prepare it when the nest draws fish, the activity of red worm bait will be higher!
After all, we're fishing on a large body of water, and the temperature is starting to rise! From baiting the nest to attracting fish, the time may be measured in hours!"
Zhang Yang expected to attract fish in terms of hours, but reality proved him wrong!
When Meng Fan kept casting at a frequency for about forty minutes, there were movements in the nest.
Occasional fish bubbles surfaced around the nest, visible to the naked eye from a depth of over three meters.
"Brother Yang, it seems the nest is working!" Meng Fan squinted slightly, a little uncertain but still said.
"Oh? Earlier than expected! Let me take a look!"
Zhang Yang got up, shading his eyes with his hand, scrutinized the nest for a moment, and casually examined the subtle movements of the bobber near the bottom.
"Looks like there are indeed fish in the nest! I'll prepare the worm bait for you!
Anyone in the live stream not know how to prepare red worm bait? Today we're doing a live tutorial!
Prepare the red worm bait with worm glue, get ready!"
After a quick greeting, Zhang Yang took out the pre-prepared red worms from the cooler.
A total of four rolls of newspaper-wrapped red worms, two male small buds, and two female, totaling exactly four pounds.
They were stored in a foam cooler, with two solid frozen bottles of mineral water underneath to keep it cool.
Zhang Yang immediately broke off half a pound of female worms and mixed it with half a pound of male buds, simply stirring it together.
Next, it was simple: he opened a bottle of red worm glue, sprinkling a thin layer like flour on steamed buns.
Zhang Yang didn't personally mix it but held the bait bowl with his right hand, shaking it constantly.
"There's a small trick to preparing red worm bait; it sounds fancy but is actually quite simple. Keep shaking so the worms get evenly coated with the glue powder! If one layer isn't enough, add two more layers!"
As Zhang Yang explained, he repeated the sprinkling process twice, and soon a pound of worms was evenly coated.
"The glue is evenly spread, the next steps are also crucial, I call it shaking water! If you have a spray bottle, spray twice for even coverage, if not, you can use your palm to dab water into the red worms! Be careful not to touch the worms with your hands; the glue sticks and is hard to wash off!"
Zhang Yang demonstrated live, casually dipping his hand in the water and shaking it over the bait bowl. After repeating several times and shaking the bowl slightly, it was even!
"When the glue encounters water, it becomes sticky. How to tell when it's ready to use? When the worms start sticking together like now, it's good!"
Zhang Yang slightly used his fingers to gather some worms that previously were scattered, effortlessly forming them into a cluster, with spots of swelling glue powder visible.
The red worm bait prepared by Zhang Yang was a vibrant red, with the worms showing great vitality.