There's a car racing competition here, they must be putting fish in, right? Using Huazi as a lead, isn't it more persuasive to ask the gatekeeper for information than to hear rumors everywhere?
With this explanation, Wang Yan slapped his head: "Oh, damn! You're right! How did you even think of that? Did you find out the real situation?"
"Yes, I did. Three aquatic vehicles delivered a total of ten thousand pounds of fish! Mainly big carp and fathead fish!
Also, in the fishing base reservoir area used as the venue for this competition, there are few fish stored. Last year's winter fishing cleared the nets, and the information about fifty thousand pounds in the notice is likely untrue!"
"Uh, damn!" Wang Yan instinctively swore after hearing this, very surprised!
If few people know about this, a pack of Huazi is worth it, not to mention a whole bar!
"Don't you understand such a simple principle of paying respects when in unfamiliar places? And yet you still pride yourself on being seasoned travelers? Huh!"
Zhang Yang mocked as he accelerated and shifted to third gear to keep up with the car ahead.
After the two vans entered the manor gate, they zigzagged along the paved asphalt road up the hill.
This Dragon and Phoenix Manor is a comprehensive tourist destination built on the mountain. It covers a very large area, and the car drove along the mountain road for more than ten minutes before finding the car racing venue.
This is a very representative small-scale mountain reservoir, running east to west, with an estimated total area of about twenty to thirty acres.
However, the reservoir side is not in the pristine state of a natural reservoir. On the side near the road, a large number of wooden platforms have been built.
The environment on the shore looks neat and clean, with plank walks that stretch at least a few hundred meters, extending all the way to the pavilion in the distance.
After parking the vans, Old Zhao led Han Qiang and his group to quickly get off and walk up to Zhang Yang.
"What were you chatting with the gatekeeper about just now?"
Zhang Yang grinned: "Got some insider info from the gatekeeper about this competition!
To organize the competition, they put ten thousand pounds of fish into the reservoir, and there's not much fish stored in the reservoir. The density isn't as high as everyone thought!"
"Oh, damn! Is it true?" Zhao Bingguang, usually the calmest competitor, couldn't help but swear upon hearing the news.
"I'm not sure if it's true, just for reference. I traded a pack of Huazi for the info! Don't just stand there, let's walk around the reservoir!"
"Wang Yan, grab the seven-meter-two long pole and matching fishing set with bobber from the car!" Zhang Yang shrugged off the topic and instead reminded Wang Yan about the pole.
"Oh, oh!" Wang Yan responded, quickly opening the car door to search for the pole.
"I'll measure the general terrain and water depth of the small reservoir, you all look around and see if there's any special terrain! Let's split up and meet back here later!" Zhang Yang took the pole and greeted the team.
"Oh, okay!"
Very soon, Zhang Yang took the pole and wandered towards the plank walk.
Without deliberately adjusting the bobber, he put together the fishing set and bobber and began walking and stopping, casting poles along the shore to scout.
Zhang Yang's actions might seem confusing, but the idea is quite simple.
The purpose of visiting the venue early is to gather enough intelligence; now by testing the water depth to understand the overall terrain is part of the pre-race preparation.
Doing a quick run-through with the pole can give a preliminary understanding of the water level and underwater terrain. By matching positions on the day of the race, he'll have a thorough grasp, ensuring a strategic approach to the competition.
Although this task sounds simple in theory, it's quite tedious when actually implemented. Fortunately, Zhang Yang does not aim for precise underwater terrain measurement, just collecting general intelligence by measuring spaced distances.
Through a series of water depth tests, Zhang Yang found the underwater terrain of this reservoir better than expected.
Whether it had been deliberately remodeled during the construction of the plank walk or not, the bank of this reservoir doesn't have the steep slope common to other mountain reservoirs.
The normal depth at the seven meter two fishing point is about three and a half meters, while at the five meter four point, the depth is also three meters.
After testing several locations, the general conditions were fairly consistent.
Five meters four fishing point depth is three meters, seven meters two is three and a half meters, suggesting the underwater environment is a relatively gentle slope.
With such terrain, the overall fish situation is relatively balanced, avoiding the extreme pitfall position bias like excessively shallow or deep spots.
After scouting for over half an hour, Zhang Yang wandered along the bank, eventually regrouping with his teammates.
"This small reservoir is alright, the foundation is quite even, not much variation in water depth!
A full pole at seven meters two is about an average of three and a half meters, with the deepest point in the southeast corner near the pavilion at roughly four point two or three meters deep!
The shallowest spot is around the seventy-something fishing point, with a depth of three meters."
Zhang Yang shared the collected intelligence generously with his team.
"Wow, this reservoir is neatly organized! When we arrived, I thought just the plank fishing points were tidy, but the underwater terrain is pretty good.
Oh, there's a good number of crucian carp in the reservoir. We wandered casually, and Wang Yan held a line and hooked a kernel of corn—and caught a red crucian! It weighed over half a pound!" Zhao Bingguang added his observations.
"If that's the case, then the fish stored should be quite hungry! The body of water is rather lean, but at this season and color, it's still basically okay!
By the way, during winter fishing, they used nets with coarse mesh openings, so the density of native crucian carp should be high!" Zhang Yang nodded, adding a few points.
"Heh, in these double-points competitions, forcing anglers to catch crucian carp could be interesting!" Han Qiang grinned and couldn't help but exclaim.
Old Zhao smiled, lit a cigarette, and while smoking, said: "Don't underestimate the crucian carp, because winning a championship with a mayweed two years ago brought in thousands in prize money!"
"So, what should we do next? Since no one is managing, why not unload the equipment and test the fish?" Wang Yan boldly suggested.
Just then, a shout came from behind.
"Hey! What are you guys doing? Fishing is not allowed here! How are the poles even out!"
Everyone turned to see a staff member with a red armband walking briskly over, eyeing the fishing rod Zhang Yang hadn't had time to put away.
"Oh, oh, sorry, we're anglers here for the race venue! Just tested the water depth beforehand! This pole isn't set up with a line, see for yourself!"
Zhang Yang explained, while showing the position of the swivel at the bottom of the setup.
"Even without a hook, it's not allowed! If the leader sees this, we'll get scolded! Familiarize yourself with the surroundings and note the seating arrangement; all equipment must stay out of the water pre-race!"
"Okay! I'll pack it up! By the way, does the location clear out at night? This place is big, hopefully, nobody sneaks in, right?"
Zhang Yang began packing the fishing line, casually diverting the topic.
"24-hour patrol, there's a police station right next to the manor! Who sobers up and wanders here at night?"
"Haha, just curiosity! We've seen enough, moving along now, sorry for the trouble!"
"No trouble, nothing much to see, just covering the basics, mutual understanding!"
Zhang Yang nodded: "Long live mutual understanding!"
The idea of unloading the equipment for a test cast naturally came to an end, but the group had gained some initial insights about the competition venue. Zhao Bingguang gestured, and everyone got back in the van to check into the hotel.
As Zhang Yang and Old Zhao drove down the mountain in their two vans, they happened to see Ma Yuhua's car just passing through the entrance, heading up.
Old Zhao's sharp eye recognized Ma Yuhua's license plate, he honked twice, and Old Ma, sitting in the passenger seat, waved as a greeting, and the two groups passed each other.
After leaving the manor, the car drove straight onto the main road, navigating twists and turns according to the GPS to reach a pre-booked hotel. All five of them unpacked their luggage and equipment and successfully checked in.
According to the competition schedule, the race only starts the morning after next; the afternoon, evening, and the whole of the next day are relatively free. But the crew wasn't idle, Wang Yan and Zhou Chu organized an offline fan meeting in a WeChat group.
That evening, a local loyal fan from Fengcheng called Wang Yan.
There's a reception at night, a welcoming party for the five-member team!