Chapter 779: Chapter 445: First Match of the Round of 16, Battle Begins (Part 2)

"Hello, ran into you early! Hi Zhang Yang!"

Just as Zhang Yang was squatting down to fetch water for bait preparation, a familiar face walked over to fishing spot 01, and waved at Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang glanced up at the person, with a polite smile on his face.

The first angler to compete with him is no easy opponent, Xu Ting, who came along with Hua Clan and Wang Chao.

Xu Ting is thirty-one years old this year. In terms of age and experience, he is a bit older than Zhang Yang, but when traveling outside, Hua Clan’s anglers are quite kind and polite, unlike Tianyuan who are rather arrogant.

"Hello Teacher Xu! I’m a bit unlucky to be grouped with you!" Zhang Yang hurriedly greeted, in an unusually humble tone.

"Don’t give me that! With the total scores from the previous competitions aggregated, you’re currently leading first by a long shot!" Xu Ting laughed, exposing Zhang Yang’s politeness.

"Hehe, just lucky! Don’t think too much about it!"

"Haha..." Xu Ting laughed heartily, not continuing the topic.

After entering the venue, there’s a ten-minute preparation time before the competition begins. Both are refraining from idle chit-chat as they finalize preparations, not wanting to waste attention.

After all, they’re experienced foxes, chit-chat tricks hardly influence each other.

To deal with the upcoming fishing competition, Zhang Yang’s preparations were quite adequate.

A mix of number four-six plus steel egg with a fishy aroma for quick fish, moderate weight, nice condition. Aimed at small individuals and quick fish sensitive to flavors.

The other one, halved number six, added a bit of crushed bait Craze and Large Carp, with a slightly lighter overall flavor, but was quite complete in status bait, very light, with minimal residue in water, suitable for subtle bite slippery fish situation.

After preparing two types of bait, Zhang Yang also made slight adjustments to the bobber setup, water depth, and other preparation work, finishing all within five minutes.

Next to him, Xu Ting also completed his preparations almost simultaneously and couldn’t help but say to Zhang Yang, "Well done, Zhang Yang, you’re quick as well!"

"Still okay, Teacher Xu, you’re quite fast too!"

"Wang Chao told me your mixed fishing skills are very good, wonder how you’ll deal with the target fish? Normally there’s no chance to compete with you. By the way, don’t you usually pursue national competitions?"

Zhang Yang shook his head: "There are quite a few things at the company, and I’m not too keen on the title of Master Fishing; so I don’t pursue it. The company’s competition team did pursue it for a while, treating it as paying tuition!"

"So, you have no demands for master points?"

"Hmm, sort of! It’s fine if I get some points, but I won’t force it! If the points could be converted to bonuses, that would be the best!"

"Hahaha! You..."

Both were rather courteous, maintaining a harmonious chat atmosphere despite being competitors in the same venue.

After a bit more chit-chat, the ten-minute preparation time ended, and the referee called, marking the start of the first half of the afternoon’s first competition!

As soon as they heard the start, Zhang Yang and Xu Ting almost simultaneously cast their fishing setups into the fishing spot.

The thirty-minute segment competition is split into fifteen-minute halves, both Zhang Yang and Xu Ting have clear strategies.

Setting a bait and luring fish is unrealistic, from the first cast, they must seize the opportunity and catch as many fish as possible.

With such tactical demands, Zhang Yang used slightly larger bait balls with the number four-six plus steel egg formula combination for fast fish.

The target fish situation was far more formidable than Zhang Yang anticipated.

As soon as the bobber entered the water on its first cast, it immediately indicated clear bite actions.

Pop, pop, pop

Three successive small half-eye downward bobber fluctuations, Zhang Yang decisively raised the rod to strike the fish.

Missed it!

What seemed like a sure catch ended in a missed strike, Zhang Yang paused slightly, realizing the competition wasn’t as simple as he thought.

Despite consecutive downward bobber fluctuations, the strike missed—something’s off in this competition pond. Isn’t it supposed to be quick fish?

Realizing the fish in the pond is slippery, Zhang Yang promptly switched to the second slightly bland but better condition backup bait on the second cast.

With rich experience in angling competitive pond slippery fish, Zhang Yang dialed down the flavor and improved the condition to increase bite success.

Sure enough, after switching to the slightly lighter bait, the second cast once again entered the water. Though the initial bobber activity was reduced after flipping, it gradually descended, giving a slight pause coupled with a half-eye downward motion about ten centimeters from the bottom.

Raise the rod, strike the fish! Hit!

The force transmitted from the hook tip to the line group and fishing rod, eventually feeding back to Zhang Yang’s hand, he steadily lifted the rod, flying the first fish out of the water, directly towards him.

It’s a silver carp, less than two taels, small size, but fairly decent texture though its body is slightly slim from inadequate food in the pond.

Zhang Yang gently caught the incoming fish with his left hand, deliberately checking the position where the hook was set.

The sleeve hook size five landed slightly off to the 10 o’clock position on the fish mouth, not ideally within target, but the penetration depth was reasonable.

Seeing the hook’s position, Zhang Yang knew he was slightly late with the pull, though the fish bite force was decent, the strike timing was a tad off.

Next cast, Zhang Yang decisively adjusted the dual hook bait ball size while pulling, slightly firm and smaller for lower hook to nab fish, larger and looser for upper hook to lure fish.

After the slight adjustments, Zhang Yang cast the fishing setup back into the water in front.

As Zhang Yang’s first fish entered the net, Xu Ting next to him also nabbed his first fish, both started at an intensely competitive pace, practically chasing each other with no intentions of yielding.

The completely unfamiliar competition fish situation in the first few minutes post-start greatly tests an angler’s comprehensive skills—assessing pond fish conditions, determining the optimal fishing method, managing bite technique, analyzing fish layer height—all judgments needing quick decisions from a competent angler.

Zhang Yang is an expert, while Xu Ting beside him is no novice, quickly grasping the fish situation, initiating intense competition.

At the competition site, eight angler pairs began their PK; meanwhile at the commentary stand, event commentators and TV broadcast commenced.

Sun Yi, in formal attire, and Yu Wensheng sat composed at the broadcast commentary stand, speaking fluently towards the camera.

Sun Yi: "Dear viewers, hello! Welcome to the 2017 Hua Clan Cup FTT Quancheng Station 16 to 8 competition site, hosted by Happy Fishing and the Chinese Fishing Sports Association, organized by Daily Fish Fishing Center!"

"I am Sun Yi, the host from Happy Fishing, alongside me is senior fishing commentator Yu Wensheng, together we will provide match commentary today!"

Yu Wensheng: "Hello everyone, I’m Yu Wensheng! It is a great honor to be invited to commentate this event!"

"FTT-level tournaments feature numerous top-ranked players; after yesterday’s excitement, entering the top 16 is no exaggeration, they’re standout anglers nationwide!"

Sun Yi: "Indeed, FTT qualifiers this year have held two stations, could be described as a clash of titans. Top circle anglers were drawn in by the event, enhancing competitive standard significantly!"

Yu Wensheng: "Speaking of participating anglers, pre-broadcast I specifically noted the prominent figures attending this Quancheng Station, plenty of skilled entrants!"

"Could the director please switch to camera one scene? Hua Clan’s leading angler Wang Chao is currently fiercely competing against Liu Wenbo; let’s check on their match status!"

Live broadcast promptly displayed in segment format at the main view’s bottom.

In frame, both Wang Chao and Liu Wenbo were seen in high focus, engaged in fierce contention.