Chapter 948: Chapter 929: Ultimate Old Slippery Fish

The sound of the old-fashioned alarm clock, Wang Xiaomin remembers only hearing it on TV when he was a child, and the memory is a bit blurry because he is a genuine post-2000s kid.

While he was in a daze, Hu Changsheng stopped the alarm and stood up from his seat.

“Not bad, Xiaomin, your kick at the float is pretty smooth! You’re a hidden master!”

Wang Xiaomin scratched his head: “Hehe, just lucky, that’s all. The fish situation in our pit is a bit similar to the practice fish at our club. Felt it, tried it, and the effect wasn’t bad! Captain Hu, your fish-catching frequency is also quite fast!”

“I’m not as fast as you! To tell you the truth, in our number one pit, it’s been a long time since anyone caught fish at the speed you just did!”

“Let’s count, see how many tails! I feel it shouldn’t be too different!”

Hu Changsheng nodded: “Jiang Hui, get a basin and count the tails!”

Soon, a young angler in the front responded, turned around to get a basin, and quickly started counting the fish.

Ten minutes later, the count was done, and the results were shocking.

Wang Xiaomin total tails: 192, Zhao Zheng: 167, Han Luofeng: 189, Hu Changsheng: 178.

Among the top four, the trio took up three spots, with only Zhao Zheng’s score slightly lower than Hu Changsheng’s by eleven fish.

After seeing the top scores, looking at the other regular trainees’ scores was a bit eye-opening, with four over 130, seven over 100, and three who only caught seventy to eighty tails.

Especially Xiao Gang, who was next to Wang Xiaomin, caught the least this time. In the first half, he caught some fish smoothly, but once Wang Xiaomin’s spot gathered fish, he slowed down, and in the last twenty minutes, he was completely shut out. His final catch was a measly 63 tails.

“Tsk tsk tsk, Old Hu, you’re a bit over the top as a host, aren’t you? We three came from afar, but there’s no need to go easy in the competition! This round’s results aren’t your real strength!” At this time, Han Luofeng walked over, smiling.

When Han Luofeng said this, his tone was very natural, like friends joking with each other, but when Hu Changsheng heard it, it took on a different meaning.

“What are you saying, Little Han, mocking our team members’ poor skills? We admit defeat if we’re not as good, but this complaint is a bit too much, isn’t it?”

“Who’s complaining, just stating the facts! Even the second-line youth trainees used to be better technically than now! Brother Hu, you must have told them to go easy!”

Hu Changsheng waved his hand: “Losing is losing, no need for so many excuses, talking more is useless! It’s getting late, the small side meal at the restaurant should be ready, let’s go eat first! After eating and drinking, if there’s nothing else, we can have another round, and I’ll transfer the stakes to you on WeChat!”

“Sounds good! Anyway, nothing to do this afternoon, I’ll drink with you at lunch!”

With a light touch, he brushed off the loss in the competition, and just this alone shows the sophistication of Han Luofeng and Hu Changsheng.

The lunch was quite lavish, with chicken and fish, and Hu Changsheng even led a drink with Han Luofeng and the others.

Perhaps wanting to regain some face from the morning’s competition loss, Hu Changsheng was very aggressive in urging drinks, and unknowingly, Han Luofeng drank a whole pint of strong liquor.

Zhao Zheng, who normally handled his liquor well, tried to block some drinks for Han Luofeng but ended up getting drunk too. After lunch, only the teetotaler Wang Xiaomin walked away unscathed from the group of three.

After lunch, it was already past one o’clock. Wang Xiaomin and Old Hu helped the two drunk ones to the guest room sofas to rest, and after being busy for a while, they saw the team members outside the window training under the sun again, and Wang Xiaomin couldn’t resist but went to the fishing grounds.

Wang Xiaomin walked in and asked, “In this heat, Brother Hu, you all train at noon too?”

Hu Changsheng’s face was flushed with liquor, but his mind was clear. He said with a smirk, “On our own turf, getting overturned by you guys, what right do we have to complain about the heat! If Leng Xiaojun were here to see the team’s performance, he’d be fuming!”

“In competition fishing, luck plays a big part in winning or losing! We might get beaten quite badly if we go another round! Watching you all getting to the rods makes my hands itch, count me in?”

As he spoke, Wang Xiaomin rubbed his hands, the thrill of challenging unfamiliar people and fish situations had made him a bit addicted to the sense of achievement.

“If you want to play, I’ll join you in the mixed pond, but those little brats better not go. Dropping rods would be a waste!” Hu tried pointing to another pit next door.

“Sure, let’s do the mixed pond! I wonder how the density is in the pit? Are the bites fast, and is there anything I should be mindful of? Last time, it was thanks to Brother Hu reminding me not to fish on the float!”

“Old slippery fish, seven or eight years old, only growing in age, not in size! Pick your rigs and bait state! That’s all there is to it! The density is decent too!”

“Ah, alright then, I really like fishing for old slippery fish, the bite selection is quite interesting!” Wang Xiaomin nodded.

“Get ready, and we’ll start fishing in five minutes!”

“Okay!”

For old slippery fish in a mixed setting, Wang Xiaomin also had his own strategies, like using extreme bran which worked well when added to the bait.

Based on his knowledge, Wang Xiaomin prepared two types of bait and then opened his small tackle box for slippery fish, ready for the competition.

He didn’t know the size of the fish, so Wang Xiaomin prepared meticulously with a 0.6 main line, 0.3 sub-line, and No. 6 Sleeve Hook, a typical setup for dealing with old slippery fish.

And with the lower midday temperature, the bait flavor was also quite strong. He specially added compound Fruit Acid to stimulate the fish to open their mouths. Once everything was set, he gave a nod, and only the two of them started the competition fishing.

As soon as he cast the first rod, Wang Xiaomin swiftly entered battle mode.

With a double hook bait about the size of a soybean, he intensely watched the float’s movement after entering the water.

Unexpectedly, at midday, the fish were very active, and as soon as the float turned, he got a sudden bite.

Wang Xiaomin, unsure of the situation, cautiously cast a single rod.

Wow, a nice sudden bite, but he couldn’t feel a thing, the first cast was empty.

“Shit!” Wang Xiaomin couldn’t help but mutter softly, not convinced, he baited again and cast the rod into the water.

The fish were still very eager. This time Wang Xiaomin deliberately let two bites pass, selecting the steadiest movement to strike and yet again, he caught nothing!

After two empty casts in a row, Wang Xiaomin knew he had encountered the ultimate old slippery fish!

Without hesitation, he reeled in and cut off the 0.3 sub-line, replacing it with the thinnest 0.08# ultra-fine sub-line.

As for the float adjustment variation due to the hook number difference, Wang Xiaomin didn’t make any deliberate adjustments, just casually pushed the float a few notches higher and tried fishing again.