"Master, I’ve been studying the technical stats for a while. Zhang Yang is really good at catching double fish. I’m feeling a bit pressured! What do you think?" Huang Zheng respectfully sought his master’s opinion.

"Indeed, Zhang Yang’s success rate with double fish is higher than everyone from second to eighth place, and not just by a little, at least by a whole level! Even if I went up there, I probably wouldn’t do better!

This kind of performance, especially in the final four or even in the fight for the championship, greatly influences the pace of the competition. Once your mentality is affected, you lose the duel!"

"Then... what method should I use to counter it? Fast attack? Or should I follow his lead and target double fish as well?"

"Neither approach is ideal. I was watching the last round, and Zhang Yang changed his fishing method. The whole session he was using teasing tactics, catching bites with float manipulation!

If you use teasing tactics well, it can be very effective, especially in the mid to late phases of the fishing session!"

"Then, I..."

"Don’t panic, your mindset is already a bit unstable, which is not right!"

Deng Gang, being an old hand, quickly sensed the taste of unease in his disciple’s emotions with just a few words.

"It’s not panic, it’s just that I’m not confident! In the past, I would dare to take on even the best, but now facing Zhang Yang, I really don’t have the confidence!" Huang Zheng admitted, sounding a bit shaky.

"You... I always tell you to work hard when you practice, but you never take it seriously. Now you’re nervous, it’s a bit late!

In competitions, the foundation is basic skills, moving up a level is about adaptability to fish conditions and tactics, and at the highest level, what you know I also know; it’s all about mentality!

With your current mindset, even with perfect performance, it’s still hard to win against Zhang Yang. You’re showing fear!"

On the other end of the phone, Deng Gang shook his head at the camera, not giving his disciple any face.

"Uh..." Huang Zheng was left speechless, not knowing how to continue the topic with his master.

"This is the reality, so don’t put too much psychological pressure on yourself, just go all out against him.

From the intelligence gathered, Zhang Yang’s only weakness is his young age, with fewer competitions behind him, his experience is not as rich as yours.

If worse comes to worst, use the mirror strategy. Fish like he does, adapt accordingly, you might not suffer losses!

It would be best to employ psychological tactics, talk and engage in conversation. As long as you can stabilize the duel’s pace and momentum, you’ll have a chance!"

Hearing his master mention psychological tactics, Huang Zheng felt a sudden pang in his heart.

"Master, just now in a round, I faced someone called Han Mocheng, a teammate of Zhang Yang. I used provocation tactics and bet him 10,000 bucks! Should I use the same trick against Zhang Yang?"

"That could also work, just improvise if you really face him!

The theory behind talking tactics is simple; as long as you can cause emotional changes in the opponent, it might influence their decisions and lead to mistakes.

When they make mistakes, you have a greater chance to seize opportunities, create a good competition rhythm, cause a vicious cycle, gradually eat away at your opponent’s rationality, and eventually win the match!"

"Alright! I’ll listen to you then! Thank you, Master, once the competition is over, I’ll come back and have a drink with you!"

"Get lost, you just want to drain my stock again, hanging up..." Deng Gang grumbled, directly hanging up the call.

At Deng Gang’s level as a top angler, his assessment of the situation has no issues, and the advice he gave his disciple Huang Zheng is also sound.

But does that guarantee Huang Zheng’s victory? No, because the competition requires actual performance, not just theoretical discussions.

Technical statistics and fishing styles can only provide indirect references, they cannot directly influence the result of the subsequent competition. If everything were according to statistics, there wouldn’t be any dark horses.

While Huang Zheng regarded Zhang Yang as the biggest assumed opponent in this tournament, on the other side, the three-member team of the Hua Clan was also engaged in a tense discussion.

Because the Hua Clan team is the title sponsor of this tournament, they have more or less gained some advantages.

For example, bait; when it comes to understanding the competition bait, the Hua Clan disciples undoubtedly know their own bait the best.

Furthermore, regarding the venue, other team anglers have no chance to practice and familiarize themselves with the fish conditions at the Daily Fish Fishing Base before the event; the committee keeps it a solid secret until it’s announced.

But these secrets are not secrets to the title sponsor of the tournament. The Hua Clan arranged to recon the fish conditions here more than ten days before coming. Although the time wasn’t long, they undoubtedly have a much deeper understanding than anyone else.

What’s home advantage? This is what you call the Hua Clan’s advantage.

Is this considered cheating? To be nitpicky, yes, but in actual practice, nobody can really find fault with it.

The competition rules aren’t even out yet; who knew the competition would be held at the Daily Fish Fishing Base?

The base was still operating normally, receiving anglers for practice and training. Anyone could come. So what if they came?

With these advantages, the Hua Clan had the most anglers among the top eight, reaching an impressive count of three.

Wang Chao, Xu Ting, Zhao Heyi, all three are core anglers in the Hua Clan team. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

However, even though it appears the three qualified and stood out the most, the initial advantage diminishes as the competition progresses.

For example, now in the top eight, it’s no longer possible to rely on knowledge of fish conditions and bait advantages.

After so much fishing, the remaining competitors have also figured out the fish conditions, found suitable bait states and flavor profiles, and from here on, it depends on on-site performance.

The trio in the top eight is currently discussing the technical statistics of the top eight anglers.

However, being too close to the situation, they did not immediately grasp the critical points like Deng Gang did.

The trio didn’t notice Zhang Yang’s teasing method in the last session; they focused all their attention on Zhang Yang’s high double-fish success rate.

Wang Chao put down his phone, turned to Xu Ting, "Old Xu, you’ve matched against Zhang Yang, how do you rate his level?"

Xu Ting: "He’s pretty shrewd, keeping pace with me in the first half, then abruptly switched tactics in the second half without giving me time to react. By the time I realized it, it was too late!"

"And you, Xiao Zhao? What do you think of Zhang Yang’s technical stats?" Wang Chao then turned his gaze to Zhao Heyi.

Zhao Heyi apprenticed under Wang Chao’s disciple, so technically, Zhao Heyi is of a lower rank in the team.

But being of lower rank doesn’t mean he lacks skills; Zhao Heyi has a natural talent for fishing, penetrating insights with extraordinary skill.

"I think the most alarming thing is his double-fish rate! In the quarterfinals, if we have the chance, it’s necessary to try to improve our catch rate with double fish!

Even if a teammate is eliminated because of this, as long as we understand the experience then, during the final champion match, we won’t be too passive! I will definitely figure out the catching details in the upcoming matches!" Zhao Heyi stated.

This perspective surprised Wang Chao. Zhao Heyi’s view was completely based on a team strategy without considering personal gains and losses.

"Heyi has a point too. If the draw isn’t too pressured, we should go with his idea!

After all, there are still a few independent anglers; we can decide our tactics once the draw results are revealed!" Xu Ting concurred after listening.

Indeed, having three people in the top eight is the biggest advantage for the Hua Clan. With a simple discussion, the trio quickly reached a consensus on tactics.

However, they seemed to be a bit oblivious, not realizing that post-eight-fish match conditions have changed significantly.

There was no longer any chance of winning the game by strategizing on releasing and catching double fish.