Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 57: Bowling Ball Baiting Method

Upon hearing Zhang Yang’s greeting, the expressions of Lang Junfeng and Qian Wenbo became briefly unnatural.

Old Lang was afraid of being discovered by Zhang Yang while selling his expensive bait, and subconsciously, Qian Wenbo wanted to distance himself from his close relationship with Old Lang.

After all, when dealing with Zhang Yang alone, Qian Wenbo still maintained a superficial "friendship." Now, caught between two fishing gear store owners, he felt a bit awkward.

"Haha, it’s Zhang Yang. Nothing much! Wenbo and I were just discussing some small stuff. I noticed you took a spot on the south shore today; what brings you over to our side?"

It was Lang Junfeng who, being older, reacted a bit faster and ambiguously answered, starting to change the topic.

"Right, Wenbo and I were just discussing some things! Just chatting idly!" Qian Wenbo echoed.

"Oh, I see!" Zhang Yang pretended not to notice the small medicine bottle they were examining earlier and nodded slightly.

"Got any business, Little Zhang?" continued Qian Wenbo.

"Actually, I do have a bit of a favor to ask! I’m used to staying around the midsection of the north shore and wanted to discuss with you if I could change locations and learn some fishing tips from Brother Lang at the same time!"

While speaking, Zhang Yang was humble, giving enough face to Qian Wenbo between the lines.

Hearing Zhang Yang wanted to change his fishing spot, Qian Wenbo instinctively glanced across the shore.

If either side of Yue Feng’s spot had Zhao Bingguang or Wang Jun next to each other, he definitely wouldn’t agree to change positions.

In the last round, Xiao Liang was knocked out by the two working together. After returning to base, they reflected on the event.

Upon observation, Qian Wenbo noticed Zhang Yang was seated between Old Zhao and Wang Jun, which meant the two could only fish separately and couldn’t collaborate on one spot.

Additionally, Qian Wenbo had just acquired the so-called secret weapon bait and wanted to test which one had a better practical effect, prompting his thoughts.

"Alright, since yours is also a good midsection spot, if you want to switch, I’ll swap it for you!" After a brief thought, Qian Wenbo quickly agreed.

Hearing Zhang Yang wanting to sit next to him, Lang Junfeng felt a bit nervous inside. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Although he got the sweet barren bait from his elder brother, which supposedly worked well, he wasn’t sure how effective it would be in practice.

However, he couldn’t show uncertainty on his face, having lived this long. Old Lang still maintained some composure in front of others!

"Haha, perfect! Didn’t fish well sitting next to you last time, let’s see how my luck is today!" Lang Junfeng chuckled.

"Alright, settled then! You guys chat for now, I’ll move my gear later!" Zhang Yang nodded and soon headed towards the south shore.

After settling the location switch, returning to the south shore, Zhang Yang didn’t hurry to move his equipment but took out a small brown paper bag from his fishing box.

This brown paper bag was a size smaller than the one used for packaging bait recipes, without any markings, containing a light pink powder.

These powders weren’t anything rare; they were the Jinlong carp powders ground by Zhang Yang. Currently, there weren’t any small medicines available on the market, so Zhang Yang used these flavored formula bait ingredients as agents to adjust flavor intensity.

Based on the common formula, adding a portion of Jinlong carp to absorb water while preparing bait could increase the flavor and enhance the fish attracting effect.

"Little Zhang, what are you up to here?" asked Zhao Bingguang from the side, a bit curious about the brown paper bag he took out.

Without being vague, Zhang Yang lowered his head, retrieved two small packets from the fishing box, and handed one to Old Zhao and another to Wang Jun.

"A flavor agent for bait preparation. If the fish is of good quality, the flavor can be enhanced, providing a boost in fish attracting effectiveness! Best used after bait preparation to absorb water (see explanation ①)!"

"Wow, you brought such a good thing?" Upon hearing Zhang Yang’s explanation, Zhao Bingguang’s eyes lit up. This was the core ingredient in the new bait recipe!

"Use it discreetly; I have more in hand!"

"Sure thing!"

...

After more than an hour, as it turned past five o’clock, Zhang Yang carried his fishing box and other gear to the north shore next to Lang Junfeng, just waiting for the fish vehicle to arrive and stock the fish.

At five thirty, the fish vehicle arrived on schedule at the fishing ground, and as usual, Zhang Yang took a look and quickly returned to his fishing position to start bait preparation.

The fish quality was excellent today, and importantly, the fish size was slightly smaller than previous times. Judging by Zhang Yang, the average weight was around two pounds and two or three ounces.

This average weight, combined with this seasonal timing, allowed Zhang Yang to basically confirm these were one-year-old new fish of the current year.

Compared to the previously mentioned two-year-old fish, one-year-old fish are relatively less robust, with lesser strength and resilience.

However, one-year-old fish have their advantages: being smaller in size, they are at the peak of growth and development, showing stronger feeding desire and larger bravery.

The fish skin quality in all aspects was no problem today, and when considering the characteristics of one-year-old fish, Zhang Yang felt 90% certain that tonight’s fishing wouldn’t be poorly.

With this judgment, Zhang Yang was aggressive in bait preparation.

He quickly prepared four pounds of scattered bait with a 1:0.4 water ratio, and after completion, poured all the Jinlong carp powder from the brown paper bag in to absorb water.

After some adjustments, the scent of Jinlong carp with its rich composite aroma was noticeable within a three to five meters radius.

Shortly after Zhang Yang’s return, Lang Junfeng also leisurely came back. Smelling the massive composite aroma of Zhang Yang’s bait, Old Lang began preparing his own bait.

The two barely exchanged words, yet tacitly kept up their competitive spirits. Last time, Old Lang suffered a great loss; this time, he was determined to make up for it.

In light of this attitude, Lang Junfeng’s bait preparation was quite aggressive.

He routinely prepared a foldable bucket of bait, adding no less than 10ml of sweet barren food to both the hand bait and bucket.

For a moment, around Zhang Yang and Lang Junfeng’s fishing spots, the combined scent of Jinlong and sweet barren food spread, causing neighboring anglers to frown.

Finishing early, Zhang Yang kept watching Lang Junfeng’s bait preparation with the corner of his eye while Old Lang was getting ready.

Through bait preparation, a lot of intel can be gathered, such as the water ratio of hand bait.

Last time, Old Lang used hand bait that was kneaded to a soft sticky state, but today, it’s different.

Today, Old Lang’s hand bait had a water ratio of about 1:0.5, slightly more than usual.

After preparation, Lang Junfeng experimentally mounted some bait on-site.

Previously, Zhang Yang didn’t pay much mind, but upon seeing Lang Junfeng’s bait mounting technique, he was intrigued.

This hand bait with a 1:0.5 water ratio, in fishing lingo, falls into the category of wet scattered bait, with the water ratio slightly greater than dry scattered 0.3, 0.4, thus easier to mount.

However, Lang Junfeng didn’t use the Triangle Cannon method, opting for another bait mounting technique.

One of the renowned techniques of Hua Shaoxin, the legendary fishing sage from the previous era—bowling bait method.

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Explanation ①: Absorb Water: A special technique when preparing commercial fish bait, roughly meaning after the bait is almost entirely prepared, sprinkle some additional taste-oriented or specially conditioned dry bait to adjust the final state and flavor.

Common options include state-bait absorb water and flavor-bait absorb water. For example, using excellent absorbent light wheat bran to absorb water can significantly reduce the bait’s water ratio and improve its spreading and disintegration characteristics. Alternatively, using fish powder, shrimp powder, or fish bait with other flavors for final absorbent adjustment can highlight the final bait flavor effectively.