Fishing Livestream
Chapter 162 - 162 162 Tit for Tat

162: Chapter 162: Tit for Tat 162: Chapter 162: Tit for Tat The 7h stiffness rods retrieved the fish quicker, and the second one was soon in the bag.

After unhooking, Yue Feng cast the bait into the feeding spot once more!

This time even more decisively, the float, still en route and at least ten centimeters from the bottom, was bitten—it was intercepted mid-way!

Just two minutes earlier, the score was tied at 1:1, but in the blink of an eye, Yue Feng had hooked two more fish, taking a significant lead.

Awesome!

Brother Feng is on fire, is he about to catch them in quick succession?

Hard to say, but the third fish just now seemed to take the bait near the bottom, so there should be plenty of fish at the feeding spot!

Liu Fengnian glanced over and said, “For now, the count is 3:1 with Yue Feng in the lead, there should be fish there, after the float enters the water you can see quite a few subtle disturbances!”

On the field, Zhou Tao gradually felt the pressure and couldn’t help but increase his casting frequency.

Although his first fish bite was solid, why was there no movement afterward?

Could it be the fish don’t like the wet diffusing state?

The bait I used during the practice session was exactly this, and it performed well then!

While he was puzzling over this, Yue Feng’s fourth fish was already on the hook!

Now, even Xiao Zhao and Li Cungen, who were watching from behind, were getting restless.

With the two of them fishing so close without any disturbances, the opponent catching fish one after another, and oneself getting no bites, there was definitely something wrong.

Having been on the competitive fishing scene for so long, Zhou Tao certainly had some skills; seeing Yue Feng hook another fish, he made a snap decision to abandon the wet diffusing bait and took out the soft sticky bait he had prepared.

Not only that, inspired by Yue Feng, he added a bit of water to the soft sticky bait, and after some mixing and adjusting, he turned it into a doughballs bait core that could hold small particles.

After preparing the bait, Zhou Tao took out a bag of pure black, richly stinky granules from his fishing box and poured them into a cleared-out food container.

“Zhou Tao has started to adjust, switching from wet diffusing bait to soft sticky bait with pungent doughballs particles, we’ll see if there will be any improvement,” Liu Fengnian continued his soft commentary.

After changing his technique, Zhou Tao’s frequency increased even more!

Even though the wet diffusing bait had made a feeding spot, it didn’t seem to appeal to the fish at all.

If the flavor wasn’t the issue and the fish didn’t stick to the spot, there was only one reason: the condition of the bait was off.

The wet diffusing bait quickly dissolved into a heap of lightweight powder after hitting the bottom, leaving very little substance to retain fish.

Next to a better option, such a feeding spot simply couldn’t hold fish.

Zhou Tao was acutely aware that what he needed to do most urgently was to use the pungent doughballs particles to steal the fish by increasing his casting frequency, not allowing Yue Feng to gather more and more fish.

If Yue Feng’s bites became any quicker, he would have no chance at all!

From the second rod on after readjusting his strategy, Zhou Tao let everyone see what it looks like for a competitive angler to ramp up the frequency.

An average person’s casting is generally slow, which reflects in all aspects: baiting, separating hooks, casting, pressing the line—all details are slow.

But a professional competitive angler, after prolonged, rigorous practice, has turned all those details into muscle memory that doesn’t require conscious thought.

When going all out, their speed is incredibly fast, maintaining at least three casts per minute.

The incredibly high frequency of casting brought a considerable amount of scattered particles to the feeding spot, which is exactly what the commercial fish feed on to grow, so they were quickly attracted and started to gather, bringing some activity to the spot at last.

Experienced Zhou Tao was not content with catching just a few fish over a short period and catching up with the lead; with two hours of fishing time, there was enough time to close the gap.

What he needed to do now was to stabilize the fish’s behavior and manage the feeding spot well first.

An excellent competitive angler knows precisely what to do at any given moment, and Zhou Tao was definitely up to par, stabilizing the situation with his high-frequency rod-lifting.

On the field, this translated to a gradual slowdown in the fish bites at Yue Feng’s feeding spot.

After Zhou Tao changed his fishing method and engaged in a tug-of-war with Yue Feng’s side, both sides were catching fish at a similar pace, neither able to gain an advantage.

The situation where Yue Feng had several consecutive bites while the other side had none was quickly equalized.

Seeing the good situation being reversed, Liu Fengnian exchanged glances with Zhang Fenglin, both seeing a hint of regret in each other’s eyes.

Zhou Tao certainly had the skill, with such a quick response time he had figured out the fish’s behavior and achieved a period of success.

It seemed that Yue Feng had missed his best chance to win.

Although Yue Feng’s fishing experience could not match Zhou Tao’s savvy, he was not lacking in his perception and judgment of the fish’s behavior, quickly noticing the subtle changes in the situation on the field.

His own frequency was slightly slower, but the speed at which he was catching fish was essentially the same as his opponent’s, indicating that he was not at a disadvantage when it came to bait.

The only thing he needed to do was to speed up the frequency once again!

With this in mind, Yue Feng forced himself to also desperately match the other party’s rhythm.

While the other party was making ragworm and dipping for particles before casting, Yue Feng’s process using elastic bands and particles was even simpler, requiring just a roll in the bait to stick properly.

Moreover, his ability to sense to the condition of the bait allowed him to have a deeper understanding of it, and with just a pinch, he could control the desired scattering time just as he wanted.

Initially, Yue Feng couldn’t keep up; when Zhou Tao cast five rods, Yue Feng would fall behind by one.

However, this didn’t last long, for Yue Feng also had a basic skill boost in rod casting, and after gradually adapting for a while, he roughly kept up with Zhou Tao’s rhythm.

Once he caught up with the rhythm, Zhou Tao’s advantage was gone, and the situation at the feeding spot began to tilt back towards Yue Feng’s side.

What was supposed to be a covert stealing of a march turned into an open competition for fish, with both sides catching fish at a fast pace.

Less than an hour into the fishing session, each had already brought in more than a dozen fish.

Liu Fengnian had been watching the competition while holding his breath in concern, initially feeling quite nervous, but after Yue Feng stabilized the situation, he relaxed a little.

His friend Zhang Fenglin casually offered a cigarette, “Relax a bit, your young buddy has good skills!”

“It’s neck and neck, the outcome is still uncertain!” Liu Fengnian was not overly optimistic.

“Who says?

I think there’s not much of an issue!”

“What do you mean?”

“Zhou Tao doesn’t have a problem with his technique, but he is at a slight disadvantage when it comes to bait and equipment!

The 5h speed rod is a classic and excellent model, but I feel it’s a bit of a hold-up for today’s fish,” Zhang Fenglin whispered to old Liu.

Indeed this was the case; it wasn’t too noticeable during the initial baiting and fish attracting stage, but later, when the fish behavior stabilized and the biting frequency increased, the speed at which the 5h rod brought in the fish was noticeably half a beat slower.

With every fish hooked, Yue Feng could lift it out of the water in one motion, but Zhou Tao had to make at least two attempts before getting the fish out, wasting at least five to ten seconds per fish.

It was precisely this performance gap in the rods that allowed Yue Feng to stabilize and keep up with the opponent’s frequency.