Seeing the number of registrations, Zhang Yang decisively told Old Zhao to immediately find someone to secure a registration slot.
You can't miss a competition right on your doorstep, especially since the Marukyu Cup offers a generous prize. A ten thousand yuan prize is quite substantial for a regional commercial fishing competition.
The slots are controlled by the organizers, with a registration fee of one hundred yuan and a potential ten thousand reward, a hundredfold return ensuring no shortage of participants. Hence, you need to hurry, as waiting even a bit might leave you without a slot, making you just a spectator.
Old Zhao, who knows many people in the circle, quickly found friends to secure three slots after confirming Zhang Yang's interest in participating.
By two o'clock in the afternoon, Old Zhao finished his tasks and leisurely made his way to the store.
"Tired of playing at the black pond and want to try out the Li Yuan Commercial Competition?" Old Zhao asked with a cheerful smile.
Zhang Yang grinned: "I've been thinking about it. The Marukyu Cup is at least a formal commercial competition. Let's go have some fun and shoot some footage for a video while we're at it!"
"Have you looked at the rules? One session targets specific fish and another mixed species. Are you up for it?" Old Zhao seriously inquired, specifically mentioning the competition events.
The term "target fish" here is interesting and refers to specified fish species in the competition, typically crucian carp unless otherwise noted in freshwater fishing competitions!
Opposite of target fishing is mixed fishing.
Mixed means keeping different species together, and any fish in the pond counts as a valid species, usually featuring common crucian carp, common carp, grass carp, and black carp.
Old Zhao mentioned the event to gauge Zhang Yang's understanding, as being skilled in both black pond and wild fishing wouldn't be sufficient if one lacks familiarity with formal competition formats.
In response, Zhang Yang nodded: "I know the basics, but I've never participated in a formal freshwater fishing competition!"
Old Zhao shook his head and suggested: "Just knowing the basics isn't enough! Why don't we check out the venue now? Bring the gear, let's test the rods in advance!"
"Sure, know your enemy, know yourself, and you'll never lose! Let's go scout the spot!"
Zhang Yang had the same thought initially, planning to go tomorrow since the competition is over the weekend. He figured there was still time, but since Old Zhao was free today, they decided to go ahead.
"We have three slots, what about the other two? I haven't practiced the basic skills for small crucian carp in a long time. This kind of competition makes me a bit nervous!" Old Zhao was candid, recognizing his limits and being somewhat hesitant about participating.
Zhang Yang: "It's just a hundred yuan registration fee, participation is what counts! Is Brother Jun available? Let's call him and form our iron triangle!"
"Xiaojun has gone out of town for something and hasn't returned yet. I just called him! He probably won't make it back for the weekend!"
Zhang Yang suggested: "Then let's call Meng Fan? Or Wang Yan could join too! The result is secondary! Let's just soak in the competition atmosphere!"
"It's your slot, make the decision yourself, isn't Wang Yan going to help you shoot footage?"
"Then it'll be Meng Fan, I'll call him. That guy has a good fishing sense!"
"Excellent!"
After a brief discussion, Zhang Yang called Meng Fan, letting him know about the fishing competition over the weekend and that a slot was reserved for him. Meng Fan was so happy he jumped with joy. Upon hearing Zhang Yang and Old Zhao were heading to scout the venue, he said he'd join them.
With the competition arrangements settled, Zhang Yang and Old Zhao immediately drove to Li Yuan Fishing Ground.
There were still two days until the weekend competition. Li Yuan wasn't crowded today, with only six or seven cars sparsely parked near the parking lot and about seven or eight anglers practicing or test fishing around the ponds.
"For a commercial competition with a ten thousand prize, it shouldn't be this deserted! Why so few people practicing?"
Noticing the fishing ground's condition, Old Zhao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, asked curiously.
"Maybe they'll come in groups tomorrow! Let's not worry about them, let's walk around the ponds and get a general sense of the place!"
"Let's go!"
To achieve results in a competition, in addition to having great skills and luck, preliminary preparations are also crucially important.
Having traveled far and wide in his previous competitions, Zhang Yang has accumulated a wealth of experience participating in competitions.
Scouting the venue in advance involves a lot of nuances as well.
As they strolled around Pond One, setting down his pole bag and tackle box, Zhang Yang didn't rush to mix the bait and test fish. Instead, he walked the perimeter of the pond.
This is called a pond survey. Having come to Li Yuan Fishing Ground for the first time in his life, Zhang Yang had no clear understanding of the water quality or fish conditions here, so he needed to walk around and observe.
While Zhang Yang seemed to be wandering casually, most of his attention was focused on the details of the fishing ground.
For example, how wide is the distance between fishing spots along the pond edge? Is the water quality rich or lean? Is there an oxygenation machine? Which fishing spot generally holds an advantage for fishing conditions?
These details can be obtained through an experienced pond tour. Seemingly insignificant details might impact the final result of the competition.
After patiently walking around Pond One and Pond Two, Zhang Yang was quite satisfied with the competition venue's conditions.
The fishing spot spacing was two and a half meters, relatively spacious. The water in the pond was a light yellow-green hue indicating good water adjustment work done. If the fish species condition was good, the fishing situation shouldn't be too bad.
"Why are you just wandering around? Since we're here, why not quickly test the rods for bites?" Old Zhao had already pulled out his fishing rod and continued to ask while adjusting the bobber: "Are we each testing different flavors and states, or are you arranging everything?"
"I'll handle it!"
Zhang Yang responded, opening his tackle box and starting to mix bait based on his preliminary assessment.
Pond One is the target fish pond, mainly targeting crucian carp around a half ounce each. As it's already June and the daytime temperature is rising, the bait mixing approach should focus on savory and fragrant flavors.
The commonly used commercial bait was casually poured into the bait mixing bowl. After mixing evenly, Zhang Yang scooped some water with his hand to start mixing the bait on the spot.
He didn't use any measuring cups, just casually scooped water and stirred. Before long, he had mixed the experimental bait for the target fish!
After blending a batch of bait without pause, he adjusted the ratios of savory and fragrant baits and prepared a second batch.
During this season for fishing crucian carp, the primary flavors are either savory-fragrant or fragrant-savory, with directional differences being minimal.
Having prepared the bait, he formed it into a ball and expelled the air before starting to work at a measured pace.
Compared to regular black pond and wild fishing, competitive fishing has similarities and differences.
The fish in competitive ponds have often been repeatedly fished, making them elusive compared to wild fishing black ponds, and the difficulty of fishing is significantly higher.
For instance, Zhang Yang used a 1.4g bobber adjusted to three units and began pulling bait from two units for testing.
Despite a perfect little pattern of movements, the rod frequently came up empty. After several test casts, Zhang Yang raised the bobber and tried again,
Adjusting the fishing unit from two units to three, the empty strikes continued until the bobber was raised to three and a half units when the catch rate gradually improved.
Even a mere half-unit difference can have a negligible impact in wild fishing and black pond, but in an intensely fished competitive practice pole pond, even someone as skilled as Zhang Yang would see a noticeable impact on catch rates if adjustments aren't made to the right condition.
Finding the bait state and flavor that fish love, and locating the bobber and fishing gear setup suitable to the current fishing conditions, are the main efforts when test fishing in advance.
Through a series of explorations, Zhang Yang swiftly grasped the general fish conditions of the current location.
In general, the average size in Pond One Crucian Carp is about one and a half ounces. By Zhang Yang's tier of slippery fish, the pond mostly falls under the category of moderately slippery fish.
If performed well, the normal bottom-fishing speed could yield forty to fifty catches an hour without much problem.
The fish bites are tricky, with noticeable bait-swiping phenomena. Lower positioned bobber and higher fishing line are more suitable. A 0.5# leader lightly covers the mouth, but for precise bottom fishing, a 0.3# or 0.4# bottom fishing line leader should be relatively suitable.
With a preliminary judgment, Zhang Yang changed his position and continued experimenting.