CHAPTER 1015: CHAPTER 996: MATRIX-STYLE CASTING FISHING TECHNIQUE

There are a total of six matches today: two casting rod matches, two target fish matches, and two mixed fish matches, all under the small score system. The only difference is that once a draw is made for a project, it involves two consecutive matches.

Yue Feng, following the draw prompt, opened the mobile app to find the draw option and calmly clicked to draw.

Casting rod group number 35!

"Damn, that’s tough, having the casting rod match first thing in the morning! Casting rod group number 35! Is the scoring still based on the number of target fish tails?" Yue Feng stared at his number and turned to ask.

Zhao Ran also clicked to draw, quickly revealing his seating as mixed fish South Bank position 18.

Zhao Ran replied, "I’m mixed fish at South Bank 18! This time the scoring system includes casting rods. If scores are tied, it’s not the number of target fish tails that matter first, it’s the heaviest single fish weight! If single fish weights are the same, then it’s the number of tails!"

"Oh! That’s a bit better! Looks like we’re in the same boat, neither of us in great shape! Let’s get ready for the entrance! Time’s tight, good luck!"

"Alright!"

With the draw results out, Yue Feng handed over the Taiwan fishing box and related stuff to the assistant, while he himself carried a large rod bag and associated gear, leisurely looking for his fishing spot.

Position number 35 is located in the southeast corner of the reservoir area, more than a hundred meters away from the draw entrance location. After confirming the place marked with 35, Yue Feng immediately began preparing.

The competition requires using a casting rod not exceeding 3.6 meters to fish within a designated area. The reel and rod were checked last night. After finding the spot, Yue Feng promptly started preparing bait for the explosive hook.

Casting rod fishing isn’t closely related to competitive Taiwan fishing; if strictly dissected, it’s perhaps closer to reservoir fishing.

This fishing method is counted among the simpler types, relying on bomb-shaped bait balls cast into the water. The explosive hook carries at least four to six hooks. When fish eat the bait, there’s a chance they’ll swallow the hook, triggering the alarm to signal the angler to use the reel to retrieve the fish.

Compared to the Taiwan fishing’s loose powder and hand food preparation, bait for explosive hooks is simply more straightforward and robust.

The reservoir used doesn’t have artificial feeding; it’s entirely in a wild state, so Yue Feng’s bait is primarily pure grain-based with an addition of puffed Snail Carp bait aimed at big carp, plus a suitable amount of aged corn.

He adjusted the bomb bait to a semi-dry state that can be tightly compacted onto the bait group spring. After loading the bait, the hooks on the short leader are buried into the bomb bait cluster. A bomb bait group is thus ready.

However, Yue Feng’s bomb bait differs slightly from others. On the longest leader in the explosive hook, Yue Feng took a bottle of old corn, piercing the corn germ with the hook tip and hanging one kernel separately.

This old corn, previously during live reservoir fishing, had helped Yue Feng catch fish quite effectively, second only to the specially-targeted large fish "Sheep Dung Egg." However, Sheep Dung Egg is a special item within the System Mall, and aside from that one bottle, Yue Feng hasn’t had another chance to obtain it again—a slight regret.

After preparing the explosives on three rods, Yue Feng placed stakes for the rods in the designated area in advance, ready to start fishing upon the judge’s signal.

Casting rod fishing is more straightforward than Taiwan fishing, with less cumbersome equipment and larger spacing between anglers. Each spot is ten meters wide, and the space in front offers plenty of freedom. As long as you cast far, you could potentially go over a hundred meters without anyone interfering.

Over ten minutes later, the competition judge signaled the start of the match.

In the casting rod competition area, numerous anglers simultaneously raised their rods over their heads and coordinated to fling them forward.

The whistling explosive hooks flew straight to the reservoir’s depths, splashing large waves upon hitting the water.

Yue Feng adopted the same posture, aligning with the target direction, hooking the cord and swinging his arms, "Here we go!"

This initial rod seemed to offer no glimpse of technical proficiency.

When the second and third rods were cast consecutively, the differences between casting experts and amateurs became apparent.

Yue Feng’s casting, with three rods, saw bait clusters land in a concentrated area, almost within a five-meter circular range.

In contrast, some anglers less proficient in casting had bait cluster landing spots over twenty meters apart, epitomizing randomness.

Yet, the noteworthy aspect comes ahead.

After casting their rods, most wait at least five to ten minutes before re-casting. But Yue Feng didn’t immediately move his rods settled in the ground stakes.

For the middle rod, just a minute after casting, Yue Feng began calmly retrieving the line.

In a blink, over a hundred meters of fishing line was reeled back, and Yue Feng repeated his old technique, having another large bomb bait precisely land in the designated area, with deviation under one meter!

Over the next ten minutes, Yue Feng maintained this strategic repetitive casting to build a nest, using up more than half the prepared bomb bait. In such a short span, at least seven to eight kilos worth went into it.

If there were cameras underwater, you’d see a cohesive range of bomb bait dropping in, forming a whole nest distribution without leaks.

Feeling the nest was adequately prepared, Yue Feng paused the casting rod activity, clipped the alarm, and calmly sat down to catch his breath.

Why casting rod fishing in freshwater, particularly in the north, hasn’t spread widely lies directly within its simple-minded approach. As previously discussed with Zhao Ran, occasionally getting no bites is too normal! Many wild fishing enthusiasts like putting out one rod to wait for big fish, but truly encountering bites is rare.

Though limited, simple fishing isn’t entirely devoid of merit — skilled anglers like Yue Feng can fully exploit its voluminous nest-building advantage.

So once the nest is ready and the terrain isn’t too poor with a decent reservoir density, there’s an increased chance of catching fish!

For preparing for the tournament of the champions, moderate fish density in the reservoir remains fairly high. Fish fingerlings are released annually, it hasn’t dried out for decades, nor replenished properly. Compared to wild fishing, it’s relatively resource-rich.

During the first twenty minutes, the entire casting rod competition area was silent, not a single angler caught a fish.

Just past twenty minutes, Yue Feng’s side was the first to stir.

The originally taut mainline made a few beep sounds, followed by silence, then suddenly the entire mainline loosened.

Yue Feng, seated nearby, noticed the line retracing and promptly grabbed the right rod, vigorously raising the rod to strike the fish and quickly reel in.

A few beeps indicate fish eating the bait. Reeling doesn’t necessarily mean the fish escaped; rather, it suggests the fish swam towards the shore. In this situation, the line doesn’t increase tension but relaxes, and if unnoticed, you might end up tangled with another rod’s line, forming a net.

After strenuously reeling back over ten meters of line, Yue Feng finally felt the force under the water.

The fish is sizable! A good start!