Fishing in a reservoir naturally wasn't about catching small fish anymore.
So today, Xiang Ye and the others mainly used fresh corn to bait the area and tender corn as bait.
They first tossed a few scoops of corn into the water, then began preparing their fishing rigs.
Originally, Xiang Ye thought the 8.1-meter rod he bought was long enough, but reality proved him wrong. Aside from him and Ai Bai, everyone else had at least 9-meter rods. Zheng Jianping even brought out a 12-meter one.
"An 8.1-meter rod is fine for Wild Fishing, but for reservoir fishing, it's just not enough. Want to use mine instead?" Huang Kai said with a smile, glancing at the rod in Xiang Ye's hand.
"It's fine. Let me try first. What about the rig setup? How does it work?" Hearing Huang Kai's comment, Xiang Ye couldn't help but ask.
"It's obvious you're used to fishing in natural waters. In reservoirs like this, rods are rarely under 9 meters. As for the line, 10, 11, or even 12 meters are all acceptable—it depends on your choice. This reservoir has plenty of Topmouth Culter, Silver Carp, Bighead Carp, Common Carp, and Grass Carp. There are also Black Carp and Mandarin Fish, but those are nearly impossible to catch. Depends on what your target fish is."
Huang Kai replied to Xiang Ye while explaining the fishing rig, then gave some background on the reservoir.
When this reservoir was originally built, no one intended to lease it out for private farming, especially since private businesses weren't allowed in that era.
So, when they selected the site for the reservoir, they deliberately chose a location with many underground rivers, which saved the effort of water storage.
Later on, during the reform period, villagers tried to lease out the reservoir.
But because of the underground rivers, anyone who leased it ended up losing money.
For fish farming, you'd have to release fry into the water. But once in, they'd be eaten by predatory fish already in the reservoir. And if you tried to net those predators, they'd smartly retreat into the underground rivers—making it impossible to catch them.
Even raising ducks didn't work. They'd get eaten by large Black Carp and Mandarin Fish.
Anyone who leased this place ended up losing everything.
So eventually, no one bothered to lease it anymore.
Until a few years ago, when the nearby town decided to launch a tourism project and remembered this reservoir. With support from the local government, a rural resort was built beside it. While netting fish here wasn't viable, fishing by rod was allowed.
And since the fish here were basically wild and very large, the fees were quite substantial.
According to Huang Kai, the place charges by the rod—200 yuan per rod per hour.
Because of this, no one fished here like they did during Wild Fishing—setting up multiple rods at once. After all, five rods would cost 1,000 yuan per hour.
That kind of expense might not be much for Huang Kai and his group, but no one liked to waste money. After hearing Huang Kai's words, Ai Bai quietly reeled in his few short rods and only kept one 8.1-meter rod to play with.
While chatting, Xiang Ye soon finished setting up his rig. By now, the baited area had been sitting for about half an hour. Though there probably weren't fish around yet, Xiang Ye wasn't like the others—he was ready to start!
With the fishing platform set up, leaders attached, it was time to begin.
Many people actually didn't know how to cast a long rod properly.
Casting a long rod wasn't like using a short one—no swinging or using the rod's springiness to drop the hook into the water. Instead, you had to lift the line up, swing the rod in a circular motion, shape the line like an umbrella, and then cast it into the baited spot.
It really wasn't easy. Xiang Ye had to try five times just to cast while adjusting the float. Watching him struggle, even Zheng Jianping and Liu Guangqing started to believe he might actually be a beginner.
But Xiang Ye didn't care. With the bait in place, he cast his rod into the spot and was ready to wait.
Just then, Xiang Ye suddenly remembered—he hadn't checked his daily missions yet.
He opened the system, and sure enough, the mission tab was glowing.
When he clicked in, there were two missions.
The first was the temporary mission he accepted yesterday. It had a 48-hour time limit, with 29 hours remaining. The goal was to catch a 10-Jin fish, species unspecified.
The daily mission was to catch a Common Carp weighing over 3 Jin.
"If a 10-Jin Common Carp bites, that would take care of both," Xiang Ye muttered under his breath as he looked at the tasks.
He was using an 8.1-meter rod with a 9-meter, 8.0-strength main line.
Not particularly long. He didn't go for the longest rod and line because he trusted his BUFF.
The leaders were 6.0 strength, with two hooks spaced about 40 centimeters apart—one for bottom fishing and the other slightly above.
If this didn't work, he'd switch to float fishing!
Fishing wasn't as simple as people imagined. Xiang Ye still had a lot to learn. But he wasn't worried about catching fish.
After all, his BUFF was pretty powerful!
Sure enough, about five minutes after casting, his float began to move—it likely meant a fish had entered the baited area. Glancing at the others' floats, they were all still and lifeless.
According to Huang Kai, reservoir fishing required patience. The first hour was basically a waste. Getting fish to enter the baited spot usually took at least an hour and a half!
But that rule didn't apply to Xiang Ye!
Another three minutes passed, and finally, he got a bite. Watching closely, he saw the float bobbing up, and he quickly placed his hand on the rod.
Under his gaze, the float wobbled, then suddenly sank completely.
At that moment, Xiang Ye immediately lifted the rod!
As he did, he felt a heavy pull on his right hand. Keep in mind—his strength was now four times that of a normal person!
He had thought one hand would be enough, but now he had to use both hands to lift the rod and force the fish out of the baited spot!
"Damn! Got one!"
"Uhh, this Xiang Ye comrade is acting a little suspicious… Is he really a newbie?"
"Beginner's luck?"
"Hurry, see what he got!"
As soon as Xiang Ye hooked a fish, he instantly attracted the attention of everyone around the reservoir—even the owner in the distance looked over, puzzled.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。