"What's happening, boss? Can't catch anything after casting, even when I try to snag a bite. Are small fish messing with the hooks?"
Han Qiang was getting a bit frustrated with the bobber's reaction to the bites and instinctively turned back to ask Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang had been closely watching the bobber's movements, too. Thanks to the high-magnification lens, he saw the bobber's details even more clearly.
After thinking for two seconds, Zhang Yang replied, "The hooks are baited with screws, how could it be small fish? It's definitely a big one, but it's picky about the bait!"
"What to do? Can't catch it!"
"Let me try!" Zhang Yang was also itching to try after seeing the continuous strong dip of the bobber and stood up from the commentary seat.
The two brothers didn't have fixed roles for the live stream; one would fish, and the other commentate. With Han Qiang at a loss himself, Zhang Yang was welcomed to give it a shot.
Quickly, the two switched places, and Zhang Yang sat back down on the fishing box.
Carefully, Zhang Yang lifted the fishing rod from the water, his eyes scanning over the double-hook line and the foam beans attached to the hooks.
The foam beans weren't big, and testing them in the shallow waters by his feet showed the buoyancy was balanced. Zhang Yang thought for a moment, then skillfully took out small scissors to cut a narrow strip of lead from the lead seat.
After finely adjusting the line group's buoyancy balance, Zhang Yang aimed for Han Qiang's previous bobber landing spot, swung the long rod with a flick of his wrist, making an accurate cast.
The bobber and line group entered the water, and now came the waiting game. Zhang Yang squinted his eyes, fixating on the bobber atop the water, unwilling to miss any minute movement.
Over the next few minutes, the bobber remained motionless, as if the rig had been tossed into a home aquarium.
Waiting for a big fish bite takes patience, and Zhang Yang held on patiently, waiting for the moment the bite action would come.
After patiently waiting a few more minutes, finally, the bobber began to move.
The movement was similar to what he'd seen before, an abrupt bite with a swallow, followed by two powerful dips, each nearing two units, the motion looking very precise.
After the consecutive dips, Zhang Yang didn't rush to lift the rod or grab the bite but continued to observe.
Then, as usual, after the dip, the bobber quickly sprang back up, going still once again.
Seeing this, Zhang Yang lifted the rod a second time.
This time, he didn't continue adjusting the lead weight but instead focused on the screws attached to the hooks.
Who knows what he was thinking; he stood up, opened the fishing box lid, and took out a pair of needle-nose pliers.
Grabbing the screws on the hooks with the pliers, he snapped and crushed one side of the screw's pointed tip.
After adjusting these details, Zhang Yang repeated his technique, casting out the double hooks again.
With the second adjustment, the bobber rose noticeably by a small fraction in position, and once in the water, settled again without movement.
But this time, the reaction time was much faster. Within less than two minutes, the bobber suddenly dipped dramatically, plunging directly down three and a half units, before a second bite drowned the bobber!
A sunk bobber is a call to action, Zhang Yang decisively lifted his rod to strike the fish, "You're done!"
With a swoosh, the rod rose steadily, instantly bending into a large arch.
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Due to casting in full, the rod's rising angle was very small, estimated only about thirty to forty degrees. As soon as Zhang Yang felt the hooked big fish surging forward with power, he directly tossed the rod into the water.
The next second, the big fish in the water swam frantically forward, covering about seven or eight meters in a heartbeat.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yang calmly maneuvered the reel's slip line to ensure smooth release.
"Holy shit, caught it! Is it big?"
Seeing this, Han Qiang became exceptionally excited, blurting out profanities uncontrollably.
Zhang Yang grinned, "It's got strength, should be as big as the last one! I lifted the rod too quickly, causing the fish to escape fiercely once hooked!"
No sooner had he spoken than a new wave of acceleration began, the big fish dragging the line and rod forward in another charge, the slip line whirling outward.
This time, Zhang Yang was also losing his composure.
This reel only holds fifty meters of slip line, counting the stretch of the elastic cord; at most, there's seventy or eighty meters, and it only took ten seconds since the hook-up to release half of the slip line. Plus, the big fish was still pulling the line.
"There's another slip line in the trunk, go get it, this guy's going crazy!"
"Got it!" Han Qiang responded, getting up to retrieve the slip line.
In terms of maneuvering a slip line to play with fish, Zhang Yang was undoubtedly experienced. In a previous time when taking shop friends to fish for big catches at reservoirs, he used this method to catch grass carp over forty pounds, and many carp and blue carp weighing twenty to thirty pounds.
Yet even with Zhang Yang's rich experience, he'd never encountered such a line demanding fish. Hooked fish that dash out without slowing down are remarkably strong!
By the time Han Qiang returned with the spare slip line, Zhang Yang had already released over forty meters of the original slip line, the fish's forward rush finally somewhat slowing.
"Here, the spare slip line! How's it going?" Han Qiang asked, drawing close.
With a very solemn expression, Zhang Yang said, "I suspect we've hooked the big one of the pond! Charging forty-plus meters in one go, this fish isn't small!"
"If it's really that hundred-plus pound big one, it'd be awesome! Later, when I go fishing, I can brag that I've caught a hundred-pound fish!" Han Qiang said smugly.