"Zhang Yang, brother, can you come up with something? If the line is too thick, it blocks the bite; if it's too thin, it cuts the hook. What should I do? This 8.1-meter rod is hardly ever used, and now I'm completely at a loss!"

Cheng saw Zhang Yang hook another fish, and even someone as usually calm as him sounded a bit agitated.

Zhang Yang slowly increased the arc of the rod to steady the fish, and after a few rounds, brought the third fish above water, netted it into the keep, and only then leisurely put down his rod.

"To improve your technique, mastering the use of thin lines in unique fishing scenarios is a hurdle you must overcome! Otherwise, should I demonstrate how to effectively set the hook?

Before coming here, I prepared plenty of leader lines. Cheng, you and Hui should follow my instructions; if you cut a few, you won't cut any more!"

"Alright, will pick up a skill from you today! It's a sin not to respect the expert!"

Hui was now thoroughly convinced, his thirst for knowledge extremely high.

Zhang Yang's next cast had no bait, just an empty hook, which he cast into the fishing spot.

When the line reached the preset float point, Zhang Yang grasped the rod approximately 30 centimeters above the handle with his right hand and said, "Watch my hook-setting technique. The rod's rebound speed is actually quite fast; no need to worry about the hook tip not setting firmly. Just a slight movement, and the hook goes in!

When using a long rod with thin leaders, if you don't want the hook to cut, first, don't extend the rod to its full length; allowing some slack increases the margin for error!

The second point is the force technique when setting the hook. Just a collaboration between the wrist and forearm, a slight shake, a push-up, and small movements are sufficient! The principle is that at the first moment of setting the hook, the sinker can't leave the water!

You've been applying too much force when setting the hook, with a too high burst of force. The leader becomes like a whip tip; the increased speed easily exceeds the limit, naturally cutting the line!"

While speaking, Zhang Yang demonstrated, executing a hook-setting with minimal wrist and forearm movement.

Not to mention the sound of the line slicing through the water; there were barely any ripples on the water surface, making the entire process eerily quiet.

Hui and Cheng both closely observed Zhang Yang's demonstration and couldn't wait to try for themselves.

But watching others is easy; breaking bad hook-setting habits isn't something that can be changed just by watching once.

With an 8.1-meter long rod, even a slight increase in force is multiplied several times on the leader line.

The sound of the line cutting through the water rose and fell, sometimes loud, sometimes soft.

They were evidently restraining their power quite a bit, yet still couldn't achieve Zhang Yang's ease.

Zhang Yang patiently watched for a while, embarrassingly scratching his head. When he taught Wang Yan and the others the hook-setting technique, they learned quickly, but today, Hui and Cheng's progress was unusually slow.

"Zhang, look at my hook-setting now. What's wrong? I swear I'm not using much force, but I still can't do it as easily as you!"

Hui was a bit impatient, having failed dozens of times in a row, and was getting a bit obsessed.

Zhang Yang, left with no choice, said, "Why don't you two change your hook-setting approach?

Just lift the rod steadily without doing the powerful hook-setting action! For an 8.1-meter rod, forcefully correcting old hook-setting habits is indeed a bit tough!"

"Can I just lift the rod steadily?"

Seeing Zhang Yang demonstrate the position of slowly lifting the rod horizontally, Cheng asked out of curiosity.

In fact, he wasn't much better than Hui; he just didn't show it on his face because of his age, experience, and composure. Now hearing Zhang Yang offer a compromise, he couldn't hold back any longer!

Zhang Yang nodded: "Sure, but the catch rate will be somewhat affected! If you choose this hook-setting method, let the fish take the bait deeper!"

For a healthy person with all limbs intact, lifting a rod steadily is still relatively easy.

Cheng and Hui both tried slowly, found they could do it, and then eagerly rebaited and resumed fishing.

Within a few minutes, there was movement in Cheng's fishing spot. The bobber lightly rose half a point, then sank subtly.

Cheng held the rod, ready to act, but delayed setting the hook.

Not until after the bobber sank and then fully resurfaced did Cheng, a bit nervously, steadily lift the rod.

The entire lift looked quite ordinary, but to Zhang Yang, it was intriguing.

How to describe Cheng's cautious and confused rod-lifting?

The best analogy is like a man becoming a father for the first time, and carefully holding his newborn, with stiff limbs and extreme tension, unsure where to place his hands and feet, afraid of bumping or dropping the baby.

When Cheng finally lifted the rod to about 60-70 degrees, he let out a slight breath of relief.

Emulating Zhang Yang's fish control, he held the rod with his right hand, and placed his left around the midsection of the rod handle, gently feeling the force of the fish underwater, afraid the line might snap and the fish escape.

After a few rounds of patient playing, the fish's strength was almost spent, steadily pushing it above water, dragging it to his feet, and successfully netting and unhooking it.

"Hell yeah, finally got one up!

Back in the day, drinking with my buddies, I called myself a fishing expert. Now it seems, in fishing, I'm just a clueless novice!"

Cheng put the first meaningful catch into the keep and was filled with emotion.

Zhang Yang grinned: "How does it feel?"

Cheng put down the rod, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, took a long drag, exhaled a large puff of smoke, and said emotionally: "I wasn't this nervous my first night! Just now, afraid the line would cut, I didn't dare breathe!"

"Haha, a bit exaggerated! Actually, as long as the power transfer is soft, the line is much stronger than we imagine!

If you can catch a 1-pound carp with a 0.4 line without cutting the hook, then on hook-setting basics, you've passed!

First feel and slowly adjust the force, once you're used, there's nothing mysterious!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hui also had a bite, lifting the rod steadily, and seeing the rod tip bend into a clear arc, Zhang Yang's attention quickly returned.

But the next second, Hui felt something was off.

The fish's strength seemed much greater than that of a 1-pound carp.

"Damn, damn, damn! What's going on? It feels like it's not a carp! It's pulling forward, the line is too thin, I don't dare to force it, what do I do? What do I do?"

While Hui was shouting and heightening tension, the bending arc of the rod, indeed, surpassed the power of a 1-pound carp.

Zhang Yang could see the fish was moving towards the outer front of the fishing spot and had drawn the rod from a vertical 60-degree angle down to about 45 degrees.

"Don't panic, don't shout! Avoid making loud noises, listen to me!" Zhang Yang calmly said.

"Okay, I'm listening! What's the next step? The line is too thin; I don't dare apply force!"

Hui was already highly tense about using thin lines, and facing a fish clearly not the target, he felt even more constrained.

"Stay calm! The fish isn't startled; otherwise, it wouldn't swim so slowly! There's still a big chance to turn it back!

Now, tilt the rod towards me so that it is perpendicular to the fish's movement!" Zhang Yang said logically.

"Okay!"

Hui, following Zhang Yang's guidance, smoothly adjusted the direction of the rod.

The next second, a miraculous scene occurred; the fish underwater, guided by the force, easily gave up swimming forward and turned around following the pull.

Zhang Yang: "Yes, just like that, the fish turned around!

Let it swim slowly for now. If you feel it's about to move beyond the rod's control range, then try to lift the rod steadily upright again!"

Hui followed suit, the force on the fish shifted from lateral to vertical, once again adjusting its direction.

Thus, under Zhang Yang's command, Hui carefully negotiated with the fish underwater, consistently controlling the fish's swimming direction using the essentials of the figure-eight fish-playing method.

Small hook, thin line, handling a big fish, the situation was stabilized.