Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 578 - 332: Trading Blows Over Fishing Floats

A few minutes later, the loudspeaker on the field blared the preparatory sound, followed by the sound of a starting gun, marking the official start of the competition!

The gunshot was the command, and Zhang Yang immediately cast his first rod at the sound.

Two lumps of bait, each at least the size of a thumb tip, were cast out directly.

During the trial fishing two days ago, the fish were very aggressive, and now with the pond sealed for two days and the weather better than before, things shouldn't be too bad.

Zhang Yang's prediction was very accurate. After opening with several quick casts of scatter bait, the activities around the fishing spot intensified.

Zhang Yang's attention was focused on the details of various signals from the bobber, his mind rapidly analyzing the information reflected by it.

Seeing this, some might ask, since there's already some activity, why not just start fishing aggressively? The match lasts only an hour, so nurturing the spot doesn't seem much worth it.

That's true, but if you can gather fish with scatter bait, others will do the same. In parallel competition, it's hard to achieve a crushing victory.

What to do now? It's time to consider a bold move to break the situation and gain an advantage.

The absolute supreme technique for targeting fish is float fishing, which is undisputed in the competitive circle.

Earlier, it was mentioned that float fishing doesn't require waiting for the bobber to settle, allowing for a very fast frequency. When the fish situation is favorable, it can create miracles.

However, it has pros and cons. Float fishing is a double-edged sword; if the tactics are well-executed, it can create miracles, but if there's a misjudgment and there's no condition for float fishing yet pursued, it leads to wasted efforts and can result in a total defeat with no chance of recovery.

For anglers of ordinary level, this pros and cons relationship often relies on luck, with winning or losing mostly by chance. But Yue Feng has long moved past the stage of relying on luck in fishing.

He emphasizes collecting as much information as possible from the slightest clues to make the most accurate judgments.

What are these slight clues? It's actually quite simple when you break it down.

For instance, after casting to build the spot for a while, the positioning height or frequency of bites from interactions with the bobber. Or maybe the activity of the fish on or beneath the water surface.

As long as these details provide positive feedback with continuous baiting, float fishing is likely to be viable.

However, if despite constant efforts to gather fish, the situation remains stagnant, then it's likely not suitable for float fishing.

At this point, Zhang Yang would adapt by switching from float fishing to compromise strategies like targeted layer fishing, ensuring that the initial time invested in gathering fish isn't wasted, offering offensive and defensive potential, at least preventing Zhang from losing points.

From a tactical standpoint, Zhang Yang's approach was aggressive yet stable.

If the fish situation was favorable and led to successful float fishing, he could achieve substantial results; if it didn't meet expectations, he could stabilize the situation and not be left behind by others in the same group. It's the right strategy all around.

With this tactical mindset, Zhang Yang keenly observed the changes in the fish situation in the pond. Ten minutes into continuous baiting and gathering fish, he encountered the first instance of the bobber not turning over before being intercepted and stopped by a bite.

This detail alone solidified a decision in his heart.

Float fishing can definitely work; there are already fish making movements at a very high position, even intercepting and chasing bait.

With the decision made, Zhang Yang committed to a casting only, non-capture aggressive fishing method, strictly implementing it.

One could see the scatter bait from the feeder being consumed at an incredibly rapid pace, making the water around Zhang Yang's fishing spot muddy from the casting.

When the time for continuous baiting and building the spot reached the 19th minute, the first carp, extremely active, surfaced to snatch the bait!

The appearance of this fish signified that Zhang Yang's float fishing strategy was executed successfully!

Seeing the fish come to the surface, Zhang Yang decisively lifted the rod, adjusted the bobber below the lead seat, attached two bait balls with double hooks, and added a small scatter bait above the hook shank line, and started fishing aggressively!

The bobber immediately turned over in the water, but instead of sinking, it buoyed up.

As seasoned anglers say, this is called "raising the belly"! It means the fish grabbed the bait, lifted upwards, pushing the top section of the bobber above the water surface.

This is a stable bite pattern, prompting Zhang Yang to decisively pull the rod to set the hook.

The sensation and force transmitted from the hook point confirmed a successful catch!

By now, nearly twenty minutes had passed since the competition began, with faster anglers having caught several dozen fish, while Zhang Yang had just started earning.

Regardless of fishing skill, Zhang Yang's psychological resilience alone was far superior to ordinary competitors.

For regular anglers, with such a fast pace, not catching anything for twenty minutes would be unbearable!

Once he started catching fish, Zhang Yang's techniques became even more professional and extreme.

After several tries to time the pull within the gap between bites, Zhang Yang quickly found the optimal rhythm for releasing and retrieving to maximize dual catches under current conditions.

With a time frame of about one and a half to two seconds after the bobber turns, lifting the rod significantly increases dual catch chances to over seventy percent!

Don't underestimate this seventy percent probability; it actually greatly enhances overall fishing efficiency.

Just think, even for a top expert like Zhang Yang, the cycle from casting, observing, setting the hook, retrieving, unhooking, rebaiting, to casting again takes at least ten seconds on average.