The morning fishing session quickly passed by, and both Lin Yang and Wang Erwen caught over two hundred pounds each.
Of course, today’s morning practice didn’t count, and they weren’t serious yet. It was only after Wang Feng found a more professional catfish reservoir that the two would officially compete.
So for the entire day, both of them fished more leisurely at this "black pit" fishing spot.
...
Early the next morning, Lin Yang also received a message from Wang Feng that he had successfully found a venue for their competition.
Qingshan Reservoir is located in Qingshan Town, which, unlike Qinglong Lake Reservoir, charges a high fee for fishing—200 yuan per hour, more expensive than the black pit.
Therefore, relatively few anglers come here due to the high cost.
Thanks to Wang Feng, the boss, Lin Yang and Wang Erwen could fish here for free for a day.
"Master Lin, we’re both fishing for catfish, so there’s no need to sit too far apart. Closer fishing spots attract more fish and result in quicker catches," said Wang Erwen as he set down his fishing gear. "Catfish aren’t spooked by noise in the fishing spot. As long as there’s food, they’ll keep coming in. If we’re too far apart, it will just make it more difficult for the fish to bite."
Lin Yang didn’t object to Wang Erwen’s suggestion, but briskly agreed instead. Today’s weather wasn’t as good as yesterday’s, with a drizzle falling from the morning.
Fishing for catfish is best on clear sunny days, so weather like this is less ideal.
Since today was the formal competition, Lin Yang wasn’t teaching Yue’er how to fish. Also, with the bad weather and no place at the reservoir to take shelter, she didn’t come along.
Fishing for catfish doesn’t require chumming; it only requires choosing the right depth, as deeper waters hide fish, and selecting the right spot at the edge of a shoal.
Lin Yang and Wang Erwen each chose a location along the shoal, with the distance between their fishing spots being less than ten meters. For catfish, this proximity was already quite close.
The livestream started, and viewers began entering the live broadcast room.
"Waited all night, has the catfish fishing competition between Master Wang and Master Lin finally begun?"
"If Master Lin really wins against Master Wang today, then he’s truly a master."
"Eh? Why didn’t Master Lin bring his girlfriend today?"
"Rubbish, why bring a girlfriend? It affects the catching speed. This is an official competition against Master Wang."
After setting up his phone, Lin Yang stopped paying attention and started to immerse himself in the competition.
The fishing gear was ready, and it was time to prepare the bait.
Wang Erwen was naturally using Tianyuan’s gold version float fishing bait for catfish while Lin Yang was using a common bait mixed with his homemade rice wine bait.
"Master Lin, are you ready? Once you’re ready, we can start fishing for real," Wang Erwen called out from a distance.
Lin Yang nodded, "Let’s start."
After that, both started to cast their lines. They were both using 7.2 meter rods, with lines 30 centimeters longer than the rods, but they chose different line setups and hooks.
Wang Erwen was using a main line of 8+6 with a size 10 Ishiyaki leader, while Lin Yang’s setup was one size smaller.
Choosing a smaller size didn’t have any special meaning; he simply didn’t want to use the same gear as the other angler.
When fishing for catfish, you must fish on the surface.
Some anglers might catch catfish while bottom fishing, but those are mostly snags, with legitimate bites being rare given catfish feed differently than bottom-dwelling fish.
Catfish are filter feeders that eat by sucking in food from below them.
Also, when fishing for catfish, the float must be large; otherwise, the weight of the bait will sink it.
Adjusting the float is simple: first choose a depth of 1.5 meters, half-sink the float with a sinker, five or six marks without bait are fine, and three or four marks with bait are enough.
Although except for the first competition in Binjiang Reservoir Lin Yang had not specifically fished for catfish, this did not affect him at all.
No matter what fish you angle for, mastering three things is key: watching the float, baiting, and playing the fish. Do these three things well and there should be no problem catching any fish.
To attract fish quickly, Wang Erwen cast his line frequently, twice a minute.
Just as he was casting for the sixth time, he saw Lin Yang’s float dip.
Swoosh—
The fishing line made a swift sound as it slid through the water, and Lin Yang’s rod bent into a pronounced curve.
"Damn, he’s hooked a fish already, didn’t expect Master Lin to be so adept at catching catfish."
"Lucky hit, there must have been a catfish there looking for food, and Master Lin happened upon it."
"Luck my ass, always this lucky? This is all about the streamer’s awesome skills, all right?"
The viewers in the live broadcast room couldn’t stop debating about Lin Yang hooking a fish on his second cast, with many new viewers who had never watched Lin Yang fish before and hadn’t seen many such scenes.
On the water’s surface, the newly hooked catfish continued to struggle.
Since catfish are a surface-swimming species, their first reaction after being hooked is to dive to the bottom.
The difference of several meters is enough for them to struggle, and controlling a ten-pound catfish diving at the moment of impact is even harder than handling a twenty-plus pound grass carp.
Squeaking—
The fishing rod in Lin Yang’s hand emitted a tense noise.
"???"
On the other side, Wang Erwen’s face was full of question marks. This was too easy for Lin Yang; he hadn’t even managed to properly prepare his own fishing spot when Lin Yang had already caused a stir.
Lin Yang concentrated on playing the fish—it was vital not to let the first one get away.
Catfish are generally very powerful, especially at the start, which is the most difficult part to control. However, Lin Yang had managed to land giant fish weighing hundreds of pounds before, so a ten-plus pound catfish wasn’t going to escape under his watch.
After playing it for one minute, the catfish’s head surfaced.