Chapter 352: Chapter 217: The Knowledge of Bait
After receiving the bait that Zhang Yang personally mixed and prepared on-site, Meng Fan and Liu Zi divided it equally, exchanging a knowing glance as they did so.
The two brothers acknowledged Zhang Yang’s fishing skills, but their inherent pride made them believe their own bait’s performance wouldn’t be much worse. Their eyes revealed a similar mindset.
With this suspicious mentality, the two quickly adjusted their bobbers according to Zhang Yang’s instructions and began the practical fishing.
On autumn mornings, the temperature hasn’t risen yet, so various aspects like water environment and temperature have minimal impact on the fish bites.
Plus, there weren’t many people practicing at the Small Crucian Carp Pit No. 1, so the situation was almost like the two brothers had the whole venue to themselves.
It’s important to know that the density of fish in the match pits is considerable; whether sitting anywhere, there is certainly no lack of fish to catch in this situation.
Under such conditions, Meng Fan and Liu Zi entered a state of practical fishing.
Throughout, Zhang Yang didn’t express any opinions. He just quietly sat behind the two watching.
Initially, there was no feeling for the first dozen casts, but after a few more, the bobber soon reacted to the bait.
Seeing the bait performing well, Meng Fan breathed a sigh of relief; his bait wasn’t as ineffective as he feared, and the effect seemed evident.
However, while there were reactions on the bobber with various tip, pause, tug, and lift movements, there were some catches as well.
Overall, the hit rate wasn’t high. About three to four fish were caught for every ten casts aimed at bites.
Meng Fan was like this, and Liu Zi next to him was about the same.
With increased bait casting, there were many bobber actions, but the hook rate remained low.
Many times, eating actions seemed very steady, yet upon lifting the rod, it ended in emptiness. This odd state was entirely different from the fishing experience at the reservoir base.
How to describe this discrepancy?
When fishing in the reservoir, most of the time, what you see is what you get. As long as the bobber movements were stable and standard, most bites were effective, with a hit rate not less than seventy to eighty percent.
But here, despite knowing every bobber movement being the small crucian carp biting the bait, oddly, the fish couldn’t be caught.
The previous experiences of catching bites and fishing from the reservoir pit were entirely unusable here.
After about fifteen minutes, Zhang Yang watched as they had essentially adapted to the fish situation and stabilized the hook rate, he then chuckled and suggested, "Now, you two try my bait. See if there’s any difference?"
"Let’s give it a try—can we really hook fish every time? The crucian carp in the Practice Pole Pond have become crafty, and your bait maybe doesn’t appeal to the small fish either!"
Meng Fan, unconvinced, quickly switched bait and continued fishing.
The difference began to show in the shape and general condition of the bait ball when using the bait.
With the bait prepared by Meng Fan, the bait ball appeared slightly larger but was rather loose and seemed flimsy, leaving noticeable lubricating powder residue on the hook after casting, remaining as two small gluten clumps at the base.
After switching to the bait Zhang Yang personally prepared, when the double hook was baited normally, the bait ball’s condition improved a lot, slightly smaller than Meng Fan’s, yet the bait cluster was firmer, giving a sense of fullness, a round and fluffy appearance.
Once the new bait was hooked and cast into the fishing spot, the bobber quickly showed action. Meng Fan, following his previous biting habits, lifted the rod again and found a distinct difference.
With only a change in bait and nothing else, the hook hit rate in the resumed fishing soared to over 50%.
As the fishing continued, with Meng Fan becoming more adept at selecting bites from the bobber movements, the hit rate was even higher than before, reaching six to seven hits out of ten, especially for movements that appeared very steady, where the bite hit rate surged.
"Hey! It seems using Yang’s bait makes it easier to catch fish!" Liu Zi also noticed the difference and exclaimed.
"There seems to be a difference, but I wonder if it’s due to more fish gathering. Let’s switch back and try again!"
Meng Fan was still reluctant to accept this reality, switching back to his bait for another attempt.
Often, it’s not about lacking goods but the impact of comparison; such on-site comparison quickly revealed the disparity.
With his own prepared bait, the success rate of grabbing bites quickly fell again, and after four consecutive casts, not a single fish was caught.
"Hey! It’s really weird! The difference is damn obvious! Switching bait made the empty rod rate high!" Meng Fan quickly acknowledged defeat.
With a cigarette in his mouth, Zhang Yang happily suggested, "Attach your bait to one hook and mine to the other, and gather data from ten fish to see which they prefer."
Meng Fan tried again as instructed, discovering that regardless of whether Zhang Yang’s bait was on the upper or lower hook, the fish mostly ate Zhang Yang’s bait. Patiently catching ten fish, seven times they preferred Zhang Yang’s bait, nearly crushing the competition.
This time, Meng Fan no longer dared to boast.
The difference was indeed obvious, visible to the naked eye.
Meng Fan scratched his head, somewhat sheepishly asking, "What’s going on here, boss? Why is it easier to avoid empty rods with your bait, and why do fish prefer yours?"