"Hehe, learning is putting it too seriously, you take care of me." Zhang Yang chuckled, as usual, keeping a low profile.
"There are still a few hours before the fish arrive. What should we do for fun? Old Diao has poker in his room, how about we play a few hands?" Qian Wenbo glanced at his phone and made the suggestion first.
The card game mentioned by Qian Wenbo is a Northern variant of poker often played in many places, usually with bets starting at two or three bucks, with a cap of fifteen or twenty. In an afternoon, you can win or lose a few hundred bucks at most, a little gambling for fun kind of thing.
Zhang Yang despises gambling and shakes his head, indicating he doesn't know how to play, but Old Zhao and Wang Jun were quite interested after hearing it, so they hit it off and went to Diao Changhe's cabin to play cards with a few others.
With a few hours to go before the fish arrived, Zhang Yang, having nothing better to do, got into Old Zhao's car, reclined the seat, and lay down to nap and recharge.
The hours quickly passed and more anglers started arriving at the fishing spot.
Fishing enthusiasts who arrived one after another found Zhang Yang, handed over the fishing fees, and gathered a total of ten people, while the cabin poker game was coming to an end.
The outcome surprised Zhang Yang a little. Old Zhao was extraordinarily lucky with the cards today; in a few hours, he won over three hundred bucks from Qian Wenbo. With more people and the fish arriving soon, they couldn't continue the game, so they promptly dispersed.
"Damn! Today's so weird! Always just shy of a bit, got good cards but barely won a few hands!" Qian Wenbo was upset about losing money, cussing while chatting with his companions, clearly feeling the sting.
Zhang Yang took a few bottles of mineral water from the car and handed them to Old Zhao with a grin, asking, "Pretty lucky, huh, did you win money?"
Old Zhao smirked, "With just those moves he dares to play poker with me? When I was owning the small commodities market, he was still playing in the mud! No matter how the fish haul turns out today, we're set for a little barbecue tonight!"
"Haha, Old Zhao is right. Qian Wenbo, whom losing his nerve holding a pair of kings, his card-playing skills are just so-so!" Wang Jun laughed heartily, fully agreeing with Old Zhao's comment.
After another ten minutes, the fish delivery truck arrived back at the fishing ground.
Once again, Diao Changhe called for everyone to help release the fish, but this time upon seeing the fish, Zhang Yang frowned slightly.
The variety of fish was still the robust carp from previous releases, but compared to before, their condition was noticeably different.
An untrained eye might not see it, but Zhang Yang could tell.
The size and appearance were fine, but some fish had abnormal red flushes on their belly bottoms!
The causes of such a situation are many, mostly linked to transportation issues.
The most common is overcrowding in the live fish tank exceeding its capacity, or fish in the bottom tank being pressed too much, leading to insufficient oxygen.
If the symptoms are mild, the fish can still feed when put into the pond, but most of the time, their feeding schedule is delayed, noticeably pushed back.
Top-condition fish will start feeding within half an hour of being in the water; these fish might take hours or even longer to begin feeding. In severe cases, they might not feed that day at all.
Aware of this, Zhang Yang didn't bring it up directly. After releasing the fish, he pulled Old Zhao and Wang Jun aside to a quiet spot.
"What's up, young Zhang?"
"I predict today's fish won't feed well! Their bellies are red!" Zhang Yang said.
"What? I didn't see any redness earlier! Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"
"No mistake. The first two crates were fished from the top, the situation with red bellies was less severe. The latter few crates mostly have this issue."
"Will it affect the feeding? What should we do then?" Wang Jun asked further.
Zhang Yang briefly organized his thoughts: "It will definitely affect! Just not sure how much! Mildly speaking, it delays feeding, heavily speaking, it impacts today's fish haul!
If the fish have problems, don't bait too much at the start; no matter how fast the frequency, it won't attract many fish. Keep the pace steady, grab a few active fish, then slow down the frequency!
Keep an eye on phone messages; I'll notify you once the fish start feeding!"
"Okay!" Upon hearing the news, any anticipation of a fishing bonanza by the two was immediately dampened.
After sharing the general situation, the three returned to their respective fishing spots for preparations for the fishing session. Today's session had nearly thirty participants, among whom were many unfamiliar faces.
Zhang Yang had just sat on his fishing box when Qian Wenbo next to him turned his head to take a look at Zhang Yang's rod: "Hey, Master Zhang, what brand is your rod? Haven't seen this style before!"
Zhang Yang shook his head, "Just a cheap material rod, no brand! I'm just making do!"
"A fishing gear shop owner using this rod? Totally doesn't fit your status, does it? You should at least get a few rippling carp or speed duel rods to match the scene!"
"I'd love to use a good rod, but I don't have the capacity for that! Can't compare to President Qian!"
"Check out mine, how is it? Got it last month, a friend of mine brought it, discounted at 4300 bucks!"
Qian Wenbo flaunted his 5.4-meter Speed Duel rod, exuding an air of superiority.
"Looks good, nice rod!"
Zhang Yang dismissed him nonchalantly, already regretting his choice to be next to Qian Wenbo, who had too much superiority for just fishing.
The time finally reached six-thirty, and with a call from Diao Changhe, the fishing session began!
After starting, Zhang Yang stuck to old habits, using lead skin to create a nest, with four ball-sized egg nests placed in it, then lowered the frequency, and started slow Triangle Cannon casting.
Qian Wenbo, on the other hand, is an observant person. After being next to Zhang Yang, he also had the intention to observe secretly.
But after watching for a while, he gave up.
Other than Zhang Yang's slightly skilled baiting technique, there wasn't much worth seeing. No rhythm, no noticeable details, his initial casting was quicker, but less than half an hour, he started lazing about on his phone.
Someone on the South Bank had already started catching fish, but on the North Bank, together with the northeast corner, adding up to eight or nine people, none saw any activity.
Fishing enthusiasts know that fish activity leads to easy fishing. Even if they're not biting, movement provides useful info for anglers.
Fishing's biggest fear is sitting around with a dead bobber, no movement, leaving the angler bewildered after a session.
That's the current state for most people on the north bank, with poor fish condition and no interaction with the bobbers in the nesting spots.
In Zhang Yang's spot, no fish seemed present, but this was within his expectations; today it was unlikely he'd enjoy a swift series of catches.
Ending before it even starts, sums up the night's mood. Zhang Yang spent nearly the first two hours dazing and chatting on QQ group.
Every now and then, he'd look up to observe the overall situation at the fishing spot.
The time dragged on till after nine, with three hours into the fishing session, fewer than five fish caught across the pond, all by long rod anglers targeting older fish.
Even considering the first two crates of fish without red bellies, none were caught - no need to say, they weren't feeding either!
Zhang Yang thus judged that chances for the carp to feed in the early hours tonight were slim indeed.