Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 361 - 170: Time to Show Real Skills

In fact, even for a fishing master like Li Younan, it’s not possible to immediately catch a constant stream of fish the moment he casts his line. It naturally requires patient waiting.

But Li Younan is indeed different from others. Before fishing, he already had a clear plan in his mind about which water layer in this area would have fish.

After mixing the bait properly, Li Younan did not rush to drop the hook, but began to prepare the fishing spot.

Preparing the fishing spot is not just about sprinkling bait on the lake to attract fish. Li Younan knows well that the fish are quite clever and vigilant at this moment. After dropping the bait, they might watch nearby or sneak a nibble and quickly slip away. Casting immediately after preparing the spot is a very poor fishing rhythm, so Li Younan is not in a hurry.

His strategy is to nurture the spot over several hours, meaning he doesn’t plan to fish during that time.

Because he hasn’t tested fishing, only Li Younan can use this method. Others couldn’t figure out the underwater situation without constant testing, which would disturb the fish, making it impossible to nurture the spot. Using the regular method would be the only way to attract fish.

However, Li Younan has a pretty accurate grasp of both the water and fish conditions in the lake, so he is very confident using this method to nurture the spot.

While scattering bait into the water, Li Younan observed the water’s conditions.

Moments later, feeling assured, he leisurely sat on the bench, squinting his eyes. He took out a thermos filled with goji berries and jujubes and took a slow sip.

At this time, Lu Ya, who had tested fishing a while, felt she almost figured out the fish’s position.

The last time she reeled in the float, adjusted the sensitivity a bit, then attached the line and bait to officially start fishing.

It was only then she had the energy to see what Li Younan was doing beside her.

She saw Li Younan already lounging on the chair.

It was only then she noticed that Li Younan wasn’t even using a fishing box but had brought a folding chair instead.

In contrast, she sat on a very hard fishing box.

For a moment, she had mixed feelings, and once again confirmed that Li Younan was just here to experience the fun.

At this point, she also noticed that Li Younan wasn’t trying to find the water bed or test fish but just casting bait into the water and doing nothing else. With some curiosity, she couldn’t help but ask him, "What are you doing?"

The sunlight was somewhat glaring, so Li Younan put on his sunglasses and said unhurriedly, "Waiting for the fish."

Lu Ya couldn’t help but laugh and said, "Fish, as if they would just come over like that! Seems like it’s indeed your first time fishing."

However, Li Younan wouldn’t hide his skills, he snorted and said, "You don’t get it. This is the master’s way of fishing. Just wait and see, later I’ll surely catch more than you, so many that the fish basket won’t hold them."

To Lu Ya, Li Younan’s candid confession seemed boastful, but she found him quite endearing.

Without rebutting, she smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I’ll wait to see the master’s performance later."

Having some free time, Lu Ya started making casual conversation with Li Younan while waiting for a bite.

"See that person across the way? That’s Zhao Tianyu, the defending champion from last time. He’s a super-star in our domestic fishing scene, with several million fans. He has high commercial value and is also a spokesperson and shareholder of a well-known fishing gear brand. His technique is comprehensive and excellent with almost no weakness, and he is very experienced with top-notch and most expensive gear. It’s undoubtedly certain he’ll advance to the next round."

Curious, Li Younan took a closer look at the person in the distance, but could only make out an outline, without a clear view of the face.

Li Younan asked, "Is he very skilled? Then surely he can participate in the final national competition?"

But Lu Ya shook her head and said, "Honestly, if it were last year, he might have been more secure, but this year is different. Several contestants could challenge him."

Looking around, Lu Ya shook her head: "From this position, I can’t see Zhang Mang; he’s probably in another area."

So she started introducing some of the more competitive contestants.

Lu Ya said, "The person most likely to challenge Zhao Tianyu is Zhang Mang. It’s not that his fishing level is particularly high, but because he’s a local fishing expert. Whenever there’s a contest at Shengzhong Lake, he almost always secures a top-three spot. He calls himself the ’Lake Master of Shengzhong Lake’ and is very familiar with the lake’s water and fish conditions."

Just as they were discussing this, Lu Ya’s float visibly moved. Li Younan was the first to notice, pointing it out, and said, "Your fish seems to have taken the bait."

Lu Ya quickly snapped back to attention, her expression lighting up. She judged the timing of the bite was quite good, and after reeling in, indeed caught a four to five-pound sharp-toothed fish.

In this competition, sharp-toothed fish score very high on the point scale.

The scoring basically follows the difficulty of catching the fish.

Naturally, the most expensive is the mandarin fish.

Below mandarin fish, silverfish, sharp-toothed, and red-tailed fish are in about the same category.

Silverfish, due to their small size, despite high points, fishing for them is somewhat not worthwhile.

So sharp-toothed and red-tailed fish are pretty much the best choices under this competition’s rules.

Of course, luck would be better if one could catch a mandarin fish.

Below these two categories, other fish such as carp, grass carp, crucian carp, and silver carp are on another tier with not much point difference.

Since it’s a competition, you naturally need to design a more reasonable strategy matching the rules to have hopes of winning.

And today, for Lu Ya, catching a sharp-toothed fish for her first catch meant that the area already had a school of sharp-toothed fish. This species doesn’t bite then doesn’t bite, but when it does, it keeps coming. She’s quite lucky.

Li Younan smiled and said, "Since your first fish is a sharp-toothed one, it shows there’s already a school of them in that area. Sharp-toothed fish are like that, either they don’t bite, or they keep biting continuously. You’re lucky."

Lu Ya nodded: "That’s what they say." Suddenly, she realized something, her expression was a bit peculiar, and she glanced at Li Younan.

She really didn’t expect Li Younan to be so familiar with the habits of the white bream.

However, at this moment, Li Younan still had no intention of casting his line, so Lu Ya couldn’t help but remind him: "Aren’t you planning to cast your line yet?"

Her thought was that Li Younan probably knew he wouldn’t catch many fish, but he should at least give it a try. Flat out giving up like this was somewhat... boring.

Li Younan smiled without saying a word.

Time quickly passed for a long while, and Li Younan still showed no intention of casting his line.

No rush, he’s not in any rush at all. Right now, he estimates that the nest he’s been feeding has gathered dozens of fish, but it’s not yet at its limit.

At this moment, he even prepared another kind of bait and increased the feeding.

The purpose now is not just to nurture the nest. The bait he puts into the water quickly decomposes into small particles, serving mainly to satiate the small fish in the nest. This way, when he casts his line, the small fish won’t bite, allowing him to focus on catching the big fish.

Just as Li Younan was about to officially start fishing, the broadcast at the competition site announced the progress of the competition: "Zhao Tianyu has reached 500 points."

Next to him, Lu Ya was suddenly surprised, then nodded as though it was expected, saying: "Indeed, worthy of being the defending champion, reaching 500 points so quickly."

She looked at her own fish basket, estimating she had roughly over 300 points, but still considered it a bountiful catch.

Just as she was thinking this, another fish was caught.

She still had a chance to be among the first 20 people to break 500 points.

However, shortly after, there came successive updates of other competitors breaking 500 points and advancing directly.

Next was Zhang Mang, the local snake who claimed to be the master of Shengzhong Lake.

As time went on, more and more people began to break into the 500 points bracket.

Lu Ya was quite lucky; although she didn’t catch any more white bream, she did snag several large carp.

Though the points weren’t high, the weight was substantial.

Finally, she became the 20th competitor to break 500 points.

And just then, Li Younan was ready to start fishing.

Lu Ya, having already advanced, was free of pressure. She hesitantly glanced at Li Younan, then covertly looked at the referee nearby, contemplating how to help Li Younan get a few fish over.

By this point, it was unlikely Li Younan could advance, especially since he hadn’t even started fishing yet.

So, even if caught by the referee, she thought she could explain a bit and persuade the referee to be lenient, and it shouldn’t be a problem.

As she was thinking this, Li Younan suddenly stood up, glanced at Lu Ya, and said, "It’s time to showcase real technique."

Lu Ya couldn’t help but laugh, saying, "Li Younan, I didn’t expect you had a comedic talent as a streamer!"

Li Younan shrugged, did not respond, and straightforwardly cast his rod.

This one action made Lu Ya stunned.

An insider could see the skill at first glance.

Li Younan’s cast was extremely precise. The lead hit the water, he lightly pressed his wrist, just enough to make the line adhere to the water surface, then pulled half a rod’s length back, a subtle maneuver to submerge the line and avoid wind interference. Once the float steadied, he pushed it forward half a rod. She instantly saw this was to let the hook and bait reach the designated fishing spot, a complete action in 2 seconds, the float steady like a rock.

Because Li Younan hadn’t done the prior groundwork of finding the bottom or similar preparations, by rule, this cast was a blind toss, but inexplicably, she had a feeling this cast would yield results. What was this about?

And within less than 5 seconds of this cast, even before the float reached its designated spot, Li Younan’s hand started to shake.

Lu Ya was stunned for a moment—ah, was it already hooked?

Sure enough, Li Younan leisurely played with the fish, raised his rod, and netted a huge white bream that left her dumbfounded.

It looked to be about six or seven pounds heavy.

However, this was merely the beginning of Li Younan’s show.

Li Younan smiled serenely, baited again, and once more cast with the same surgical precision.

Within seconds of the rod being in the water, it hooked again.

It felt like picking up fish.

If one success could be chalked up to luck, then catching fish consistently was something even a fool would know wasn’t luck.

This time, it was a red-tailed fish, also weighed heavily.

Five or six pounds, seven or eight pounds big fish hooked continuously; Lu Ya could no longer remain calm.

Her smile had completely frozen, leaving only her eyes darting around with Li Younan’s actions of raising, casting, and catching fish.