Only to see Zhang Yang intentionally delayed his rod lift by half a beat, the familiar force of a catch transmitted from the tip of the rod.
The size of this Grass Carp should not be considered large, but the first round after being hooked had quite a strong burst.
Holding the rod in his right hand, Zhang Yang rested the middle section of the handle on the back of his left hand for leverage, effortlessly controlling the fish, and the rod lifted up.
"Wow, our President Yang's social prowess hooked a fish! How's the bite?" Wang Yan, observing the scene, sparkled with excitement, questioning before Zhang Yang even landed the fish.
While managing the rod to control the fish, Zhang Yang replied, "Two bites with a four-eye black bobber! The bite's alright, not sure what it's feeding on yet, I'll check when I bring the fish up!"
After four or five rounds with the bent rod, the first Grass Carp surfaced, Zhang Yang grabbed a net with his left hand, both fishing and netting himself, easily pulling the fish into the net.
He lifted the net and inspected the fish closely.
As expected, the Grass Carp had taken the bottom hook baited with grasshopper; the hook was slightly inside at the twelve o'clock position in the fish's mouth, clearly showing the fish liked the bait a lot, biting with a very decisive and neat manner.
"From the bottle over there! It's hitting the bottom hook!" Zhang Yang whispered a few reminders to Wang Yan and then re-baited, continuing to fish.
It was mentioned earlier that while Grass Carp often eat grass, they aren't strictly vegetarian; quite the opposite, they have a good appetite for animal bait.
Besides the usual animal bait like red worms and earthworms, grasshoppers are a secret weapon for fishing Grass Carp. When the bait is right, its effectiveness is enormous.
Through the recent trial fishing, Zhang Yang basically grasped the Grass Carp's dietary preferences in the pond, swiftly rebaiting a grasshopper and continuing fishing.
Perhaps the prior commotion of hooking and landing the fish caused disturbances, as the bobber remained unresponsive for the next ten minutes.
In contrast, the neighboring Wang Yan had better luck; he switched to grasshopper bait and attempted Zhang Yang's suggested method, surprisingly catching two fish consecutively, overtaking the lead.
Three fish emerged from the mid-area of the southern bank, while the rest of the fishing spots seemed much quieter in comparison.
On the opposite bank, two anglers yanked fish and ran away; other anglers hadn't seen any notable bites.
Without noticing, nearly an hour had passed since fishing started, and the fish situation was far below expectations, leaving many excited anglers feeling like wilting eggplants.
Another half hour passed, and the fish situation remained poor; some anglers grew impatient.
"Boss Liu, the Grass Carp you stocked aren't doing well. The charge for proper fishing is so high, yet there's hardly any bite despite claims of guaranteed satisfaction,"
This thirty-something angler, familiar with Liu Mazi, spoke without reservations, starting to complain directly.
Liu Mazi, consistently monitoring the fishing situation, was anxious himself as hardly any fish had been caught after an hour and a half.
Calling the fish supplier, consulting peers for solutions, he was constantly busy.
"Old Wang from the supplier assured there's no problem, who'd expect such poor bites? Everyone keep fishing a bit longer, don't rush! If the fish situation remains bad, I'll reschedule for everyone!"
Seeing he couldn't deliver on his promise, Liu Mazi resolved to assure everyone with a promise.
Rescheduling here is similar to rescheduling a flight, meaning the fish situation is bad today, yet the fishing fee was paid. Boss Liu would record the names of paying anglers, allowing free entry next time; it's a compromise preserving both anglers' and the boss's interests, after refunding fees.
Zhang Yang, noticing Liu Mazi feeling uncertain, shouted, "With poor bites, the rules should be relaxed a bit, maybe allow early position changes? Everyone wandering and fishing might yield some success!"
Given the rescheduling promise, early position changes naturally wouldn't be refused by the boss; Liu Mazi now wished everyone could catch a few fish to wrap up the event decently.
Liu Mazi nodded, "Alright, if anyone feels their spot isn't ideal, try elsewhere!"
Seeing Liu Mazi's concession, Zhang Yang gave Wang Yan a look, "Don't stick around stubbornly, move around with your rod, maybe the fish have gathered somewhere!"
With poor fish mobility, expecting fish to gather normally in one spot was challenging; trying guerrilla tactics might work, finding fish yourself!"
Regarding being perceptive, Wang Yan was top-notch; with Zhang Yang's suggestion, he decisively stood up, moving to a nearby empty spot with his rod.
Zhang Yang watched Wang Yan stand and fish guerrilla-style, so he lifted his rod and moved to another side himself.
The old saying 'A tree moves to die, a person moves to thrive' suits this scenario; guerrilla fishing sometimes works wonders with sparse, unstable fish conditions.
With fish in low activity, minimal movement desires, staying still in one place,
this kind of fish might bite if bait gets within a certain range nearby; successfully luring fish with bait and feed is difficult.
That's when guerrilla fishing can be highly advantageous.
Indeed, Zhang Yang had just cast into an empty spot on the east side, and his bobber was intercepted and pulled away as soon as it flipped!
Anyway, treating a dead horse as if it's alive, relaxing the rules was meaningless now, Zhang Yang didn't care if it was a true bite or just a line brushing, decisively lifting the rod to hook the fish!
Through the force transmitted via the underwater setup to the rod, Zhang Yang knew it was a true bite, steadily controlling the fish, soon landing another greedy Grass Carp.