Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 855 - 573: Silver Carp and Bighead Carp Season! Expedition to East Lake Reservoir (2)

"Alright, is there anything else? If not, let’s get back to practicing the rods!" Zhang Yang spread his hands, putting an end to the meeting.

Old Zhao shook his head, "Nothing else! Let’s just disperse and continue with our activities!"

With the general manager’s approval, Meng Fan energetically stood up from his seat first.

"Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go catch some fish and practice, the loser buys skewers tonight!"

"Let’s go, practice catching fish, we can’t embarrass Brother Yang!" Liu Zi also responded enthusiastically.

Soon, everyone started to leave the meeting room one after another, leaving only Old Zhao and Zhang Yang in the room.

"Brother Zhao, do you think I’m being a bit excessive with this?" Zhang Yang’s tone was quite different from before, sounding a bit unsure.

Old Zhao shook his head, flicked a White General cigarette over, lit it, took a couple of puffs, and then said, "I think your idea is fine! It’s been quite effective. Look at those kids, their fighting spirit has been sparked just by a few words of yours!

If you were doing this kind of motivational work in wartime, you’d definitely be a political commissar!"

"Hahaha"

"Hahahaha"

Understanding laughter echoed in the office.

Over the next dozen or so days, the competitive team’s training was indeed more vigorous, like they were on a high. The two captains, Han Mocheng and Wei Song, also adjusted to the team’s condition and training mode, leading the team through various fishing drills all day long.

With a regular match, it’s easy to lose enthusiasm if you can’t win. So, they gave each other handicaps. The club’s backyard practice pool was too familiar and lacked challenge, so they drove the Iveco to Star Moon Lake, or simply went to the side of the Wen River, found a small eddy and started fishing, without restricting the species to just small crucian carp or carp.

One day, Han Mocheng even brought everyone to the river to catch fish, taking home a big basin of allisas, which he humorously called increasing the difficulty by putting them in their own mixed cultivation pool.

While the club members were training hard, Zhang Yang was much more relaxed. When he had nothing else to do, he joined the team training, but when other things came up, he got busy elsewhere. No one cared about him. At meal times, he might buy some drinks and food and head to the reservoir base to drink with Old Ma, living quite an easy and carefree life.

However, while Zhang Yang seemed relaxed, he wasn’t just idling away. He was preparing for the upcoming short film shoot for the lake and reservoir silver carp season.

First, in the iron fan group, he asked around about all the reservoirs with good density and large silver carp across the country. After receiving feedback from fellow anglers, he conducted initial screenings and verifications through other dealer channels, finally compiling the information into various candidate projects.

In addition, Zhang Yang had the company hire a professional cameraman and post-production person, bringing back Xiao Yi, who had always cooperated well with Zhang Yang, from Wang Yan’s side.

Before they knew it, it was May, less than a week before the club’s bubble competition. Zhang Yang, along with Xiao Wei and YOYO, as well as the cameraman and assistant, a total of six people, embarked on their journey south to shoot the silver carp season video.

Two cars, six people. Their first stop was the East Lake Reservoir in Xinxiang City.

Leaving from W City, the distance to the Xinxiang Reservoir was less than four hundred kilometers. Departing after six in the morning, they reached the reservoir destination by the afternoon.

This was a famous reservoir in the area, suggested by several dedicated fan anglers to Zhang Yang. Because it connected with a local wild river tributary, it hadn’t dried up for decades. The reservoir had been run by contractors, primarily stocking silver and white carp fingerlings, and was regularly harvested once every three years. Due to the relatively deep water and less than thorough fishing, large fish frequently appeared here.

From the photos shared by anglers in the group, Zhang Yang learned that last year the largest silver carp caught was nearly forty pounds, and there were countless stories of broken rods and escaped fish.

The reservoir is open for business; fishing for mid-to-bottom layer crucian and carp costs fifty yuan a day, but the fee for catching silver carp is quite high, five hundred yuan for four hours, and silver carp under five pounds are not allowed in the protective bag.

The conditions might sound harsh, but it still attracts many dream-chasing anglers, especially during peak fishing periods, where you can see dozens of people lining up at the fishing platforms, all catching silver carp.

The car navigated directly to the edge of the reservoir. Zhang Yang pulled up the handbrake and got out of the driver’s seat.

Looking out, the scenery of the reservoir was beautiful. In the season of May, the plants had begun to rejuvenate, spreading greenery everywhere, even the air was filled with the scent of spring.

"Wow, it’s so beautiful here, Zhang Yang!" Xiao Wei and YOYO also got out of the other car. After scanning their surroundings, their eyes lit up at the sight of the stunning reservoir.

Zhang Yang glanced over and pointed to the reservoir manager’s house not far away, "Let’s go, let’s find the reservoir owner and have a chat! You two be smart, don’t let anything slip! Xiao Yi, put on the GoPro!"

"Got it!"

After saying hello, Zhang Yang took the lead and headed towards the house where the reservoir contractor lived.

"Is anyone there? We’re here to fish!" Zhang Yang didn’t rush to push the door open but politely called out in the yard.

Soon, a man in his fifties opened the door from the north room and stepped out.

The man was about 1.65 meters tall, with hair slightly graying. He wore a half-sleeve shirt that was washed to a yellowish hue and army green shorts, with plastic sandals dangling from his feet. His thin face was quite tanned, but his eyes were bright, giving off a very sharp impression.

"You’re here to fish? The reservoir doesn’t allow night fishing; it’s getting dark; come again tomorrow!" The reservoir owner gave Zhang Yang and his team a glance, his tone was reasonably polite but confirmed that they couldn’t start fishing until the next day.

"No problem, we planned to fish tomorrow anyway! We just drove a few hundred kilometers to get here and wanted to check it out beforehand. What’s your name, sir? I’m Zhang, you can call me Xiao Zhang! We drove from W City!"

Very courteously, Zhang Yang offered a cigarette to the reservoir owner and briefly introduced their situation.

"My surname is Zheng, Zheng Ximin. You can call me Old Zheng! From W City? Are you here to play or to fish?" Taking the cigarette from Zhang Yang, Old Zheng’s tone noticeably softened. He glanced at the women accompanying Zhang Yang, thinking they were here to enjoy the scenery rather than just fish.

"Hehe, we are here to have fun and do some fishing! I’m not that skilled, just trying it out! Friends told me that your reservoir has big fatheads of several dozen pounds? How’s the fishing lately?"

Hearing that Zhang Yang intended to catch silver carp, the owner grew more amiable, warmly describing, "You’re here to fish for silver carp? How many rods will you use? The prices for fishing silver carp here aren’t cheap! Five hundred yuan for four hours, under five kilograms cannot be taken out. But if you catch a big one, you can take it with you, or if it’s over ten pounds, you can sell it to me for ten yuan a pound!"

"Five hundred for four hours? That’s really quite pricey!" Zhang Yang feigned hesitation.

"In my reservoir, the density of silver carp is very high; one fish at least a hundred yuan, and if the fishing conditions are favorable, you can break even or even profit within an hour! Last year, a young guy caught a forty-something-pound bighead carp, as soon as he shared the catch in the group shortly after landing it, a businessman drove out to buy it, selling for over eight hundred yuan."

"We’re putting down more rods; can you give us a discount? We’re using three rods! My partner and her girlfriend, the three of us are fishing!" Zhang Yang continued negotiating with the owner.

Initially, Old Zheng assumed only Zhang Yang and Xiao Yi would be fishing, but it turned out Zhang Yang brought along two lovely ladies, which was unusual for the reservoir.

"Are you sure both of your lady companions will be fishing? I must caution you, the fish here are big, and it’s unsafe for female anglers! You’ll be responsible for any risks!"

"No problem, we can all swim; there won’t be any accidents!"

"Alright, twelve hundred for all three of you, for five hours!"

"Deal!"