At this moment, little Yi, who had been quiet, pointed at the small forest in the wetland park not far away and said, "There are quite a few free canopy tents over there. Let's snag one first!"
"Alright, you go ahead with Brother Zhou, I'll wait for the others!"
Soon, Zhang Yang was the only one left, sitting on the fishing box, stretching lazily and looking around aimlessly.
Ten minutes later, Han Qiang and Wang Yan returned, each carrying five large lunch boxes.
"Where's little Yi and my master?" Wang Yan asked.
Zhang Yang gestured with his chin at the sunshade tent under the forest not far away: "They went to secure the tent first, come on, let's go over together!"
The three of them, carrying their meals and fishing equipment, strode over to the canopy.
In fact, calling this sunshade tent a canopy was a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn't as large as a real outdoor sunshade canopy; the top was fixed to the landscaping trees and provided around four to five square meters of shaded space. After all, it was the blazing hot August, and outdoor temperatures were fairly high.
Everyone placed their fishing boxes on the flat ground, distributed the purchased lunch boxes, and started eating lunch!
Zhang Yang opened his lunch box and couldn't help but frown slightly.
Han Qiang and Wang Yan hadn't listened to Zhang Yang's advice and the dishes they picked included stir-fried peppers with meat, cold jellyfish salad, and even a portion of pickled crab legs.
These dishes paired with the sufficient amount of rice looked quite fresh but were raw, cold, and spicy!
"Guys, do you want a drink? I saw they're selling chilled beer over there!" Han Qiang, just sitting down, got back up again.
"Grab some beer to drink!"
"I'll have two cans too! Can't eat these crab legs without some beer!"
Wang Yan and Zhou Chu chimed in.
Zhang Yang originally wanted to remind them, but seeing their high spirits, he let it go and said, "I'll skip the beer, bring me a bottle of iced red tea!
Take it easy, the dishes we bought are quite hearty, just don't end up with a stomach ache! We have the competition in the afternoon!"
"Don't worry, we eat this stuff at home all the time; they're just home-cooked dishes, it's fine!"
Han Qiang didn't take it seriously, got up, and strolled towards the cold drink stand.
Since the meals had been bought, Zhang Yang didn't fuss much, though he was concerned and hardly touched the jellyfish and pickled crab legs, finishing his rice with the stir-fried peppers and meat.
Looking around, he saw the four guys, including little Yi, were clinking glasses, drinking beer.
After eating and drinking, Zhang Yang carried his fishing box to a tree, leaned against the trunk, and took a nap.
The others drank a whole box of canned beer, tidied up the trash, and finally settled down.
At 1:30 in the afternoon, the loudspeakers sounded again, announcing the call for the lottery draw, accompanied by the background music of the athlete march. Everyone carried their fishing boxes, picked up their gear, and headed to the plaza for the draw.
The lottery process was exactly the same as it was in the morning. Fifteen minutes later, all four of Zhang Yang's group had drawn their seats.
Zhang Yang at section 11, number 22; Wang Yan at section 8, number 19; Han Qiang at section 22, number 02; Zhou Chu at section 40, number 25.
The other three's numbers were quite ordinary, but it's worth mentioning that Zhou Chu's number was somewhat special.
With a total of a thousand participants divided into 40 zones, each zone with 25 anglers, Zhou Chu's number 40, zone 25, was a genuine major boundary spot this round!
In competitions with 30 or 50 participants, there are four major boundary spots, so it seems like the chance of drawing one is high. In a river fishing competition with a thousand participants, the chance of drawing a major boundary spot is much smaller; Zhou Chu was indeed very lucky!
During the pre-match scouting, Zhang Yang had noticed that the north and south sides of the river fishing competition area were fenced with iron nets, meaning all the fish released there were confined to the competition area.
This meant that this major boundary was not just a nominal advantage but really had a geographical edge.
Fish moving from north to south would gather near the iron net as they couldn't pass it.
You could say that although the competition hadn't started yet, Zhou Chu was highly likely to secure a point this round.
Zhang Yang reminded, "Brother Zhou, being aggressive at the boundary is beneficial; there's definitely going to be a gathering of fish around such a spot. This round is basically secure!
For everyone else at ordinary spots, it's better to fish cautiously; if there's no bite using thick line, try switching to a thin line and soft rods.
If the fish have already been caught and released once, the bites might not be too good in the afternoon; use the toad spike or heavy lead method if necessary!"
"Got it, we'll fish like it's Second Water Stolen Donkey venue!" Han Qiang said casually.
Zhang Yang nodded: "Yes, Second Water Stolen Donkey, snatch fish where the fishing condition is good, focus on success rates where it's not!
Also, I'd particularly remind you to attach a pitch rope, since there aren't restrictions in the rules; I lost a big fish cutting the hook in the last minute of the morning session!"
"Got it! The entry is now open, let's hurry, the bait isn't even prepared yet!"
"Let's go!"
The four of them, along with a photographer, strolled leisurely towards their respective fishing areas.
Zhang Yang's section 11 was located on the west side and was quite close to the lottery draw area, just a three-minute walk to reach it.
Although there wasn't any obvious advantage regarding the fishing spot quality, being assigned to the East Bank in the morning and the West Bank in the afternoon was already quite lucky for Zhang Yang.
Both sessions being in shaded areas was good for viewing the float, which was easy on the eyes. Once he found the fishing spot, Zhang Yang began working on the bait.
Having fished for three hours in the morning session, Zhang Yang naturally made some adjustments to his baiting work for the afternoon.