CHAPTER 926: CHAPTER 909: HAN LUOFENG’S UNRESERVED DEFEAT

The fish slipping away didn’t cause any psychological waves for Yue Feng, but next to him, Han Luofeng, felt a small surge of anxiety.

Another one?

Even though it got away, there were too many bites. Why wasn’t there any action on my side? Did Yue Feng add something special to his bait when he adjusted earlier?

The more uncertain the answer, the more severe Han Luofeng’s anxiety grew. The initially strong fundamental skills were significantly affected as his emotions changed.

This was reflected in his casting; the originally very precise landing spot was off this time!

With a technique like Da Fei, which tests the foundation of casting, any deviation in the spot has a huge effect, resulting in the bait landing about thirty centimeters away from the nest.

At this moment, Han Luofeng’s luck suddenly turned. During the float’s descent, a little motion finally appeared, by some stroke of fortune, resulting in a fish taking the bait.

With a similar pause during the float’s descent, followed by a tiny fracture of a nibble, Han Luofeng suppressed the minor excitement within and hesitated for half a beat before letting it strike.

He lifted the rod and hooked the fish, and it was on!

Just another small crucian carp, and once it was in the net, Han Luofeng’s self-doubt about his bait and technique finally relaxed slightly.

It turned out to be just bad luck. The fish were still eating the bait I used. Judging by the bite action, the general direction of the bait should be fine.

Yue Feng glanced at Han Luofeng’s relieved expression from the corner of his eye and smiled again.

"Got a bite, feeling relieved? Haha!"

A gentle voice sounded in Han Luofeng’s ear, Yue Feng’s words hit right at his heart.

"If I didn’t hook a fish soon, I’d have gone crazy! The fish condition is terrible!" Han Luofeng admitted openly, not hiding the minor fluctuations he felt earlier.

"If you still feel uncertain by now about these fish today, you’re going to lose!"

As the words left his mouth, Yue Feng flicked his wrist and lifted the rod, hooking another one!

Still a crucian carp, and this was already the third one.

Why say this, then? This wasn’t just chit-chat and psychological warfare but really Yue Feng’s judgment and thought.

Through continuous fishing, Yue Feng discovered a very interesting point. At about eighty to ninety centimeters in the mid-layer of the water, it seemed to be the unified depth where crucian carp took the bait.

All three fish were caught at this depth, and once the bait went beyond this level, there were no more actions.

Besides, another important detail was that these fish all took the upper hook. Compared to the lower hook, the upper one had a slightly shorter line, and the Lure ball was somewhat affected. Yue Feng would trim the tail off the Lure ball before each cast.

It was this action of trimming the bait ball that made the Lure ball on the upper hook slightly smaller than the lower one, allowing it to be swallowed by the fish.

After discovering this insignificant pattern, Yue Feng drew the Lure on the next cast deliberately keeping the bait core smaller.

The cast entered the water, the float quickly flipped over, and slowly descended.

The smaller bait ball slowed the dropping speed further, and when it reached the previous depth, a small tugging bite occurred again, and a fish attacked the bait.

Another successful hook on a fish!

Seeing the detail he noticed again validated in practice, Yue Feng’s confidence soared.

The fish activity was poor, and they were moving in the high water layers, with high demands on the state of the bait and weight. If even slightly heavier, the fish would not continue the chase!

Conversely, if the bait ball was small enough and the descent slow enough, a bite could be had, bringing up a small crucian carp if a fish was present in that layer.

With two consecutive small crucian carps caught and Yue Feng’s words, Han Luofeng instinctively tensed up again.

At this moment, Han Luofeng’s true state was like Zhao Zheng subconsciously becoming nervous when facing a top angler, despite the self-deceiving mental fortification built before the game, the real confrontation still led to subconscious tension. This vague anxiety had already affected the competition’s practical performance.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so that’s how they like to eat it, I see!"

Yue Feng muttered to himself again, switching positions to perform the same trick of manipulating the Lure, then casting again into the water.

Having found the method, the next step was to repeatedly change positions around the nest to find bites.

In such a tricky fish condition now, relying on spreading bait to lure fish was purely impractical. Actively finding fish to catch was the most reasonable strategy.

Hearing Yue Feng’s muttering, seeing Yue Feng’s random casting to search for fish, and recalling his own experience picking up a starter fish on a miscast, Han Luofeng quickly followed suit to try.

The same Da Fei lead search across the full water layer, the same search for fish, but the subtle status of Lure ball size created difficulty for fish to bite. It looked the same, but the fishing results were vastly different.

In less than twenty minutes, Yue Feng had reaped seven small crucian carps, while Han Luofeng, for now, had only the one fish caught at the beginning in his Fish Guard. They trailed by six in count.

As the end of the first section of the competition approached, Han Luofeng’s mental state of anxiety turned into agitation again. He tightened his face, unconsciously frowning slightly.

"Getting more confused the more you fish? Try adjusting the bait core of the Lure ball, and refine the size of the bait on the hooks! Pay attention to subtle moves at the high water layer!"

At this moment, Yue Feng’s advice rang in Han Luofeng’s ears.

Standing on the brink of a mental breakdown, having tried all conceivable response strategies without effect, Han Luofeng ignored everything else upon hearing Yue Feng’s reminder and immediately took action.

There were still a few crucian carps in the nest. Following Yue Feng’s reminder, Han Luofeng pulled a smaller bait and refined the bait ball. After casting the second rod, there was an almost immediate bite.

Another hook on a crucian carp!

The capture of this fish made Han Luofeng suddenly understand the real situation of the fish condition he was facing.

Afterward, Han Luofeng resurveyed every corner of the fishing position, gradually capturing five more crucian carps.

As the first section of the match neared conclusion, Yue Feng had eight fish caught, while Han Luofeng, after adjusting the details per Yue Feng’s guidance, quickly followed with five more, totaling six fish caught in all.

"Anglers on the field, please note that there are five seconds left till the end of the first section of the competition. Second-section anglers, please prepare for a substitution! 5 4 3 2 1! Substitution!"

The referee’s commanding voice echoed, and Yue Feng put down his fishing rod and stood up from his position.

Next to him, Han Luofeng also rose as if shocked to his feet, looking at Yue Feng with a complex gaze.

"I... I lost! Thank you for the reminder earlier; I’m convinced by this loss!"

Han Luofeng gave up his spot to his teammate stepping onto the platform, a faintly bitter tone in his voice as he spoke.