By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 172 The Opponent is Also a Fan [First Update!]

Fishing is an unassuming sport, but it actually attracts far more attention than the average person realizes and has extremely high commercial value.

This is actually somewhat counterintuitive.

Many people believe that sports like football and basketball, which are popular with the masses and have a broad mass base, are more likely to generate higher incomes, whether for athletes or those working in related fields.

People who think this way often overlook the target audience and only focus on the number of people in the audience.

It's like the world's highest-paid athlete isn't Jordan, but Tiger Woods.

Although basketball has a larger audience, golf's audience is predominantly high-net-worth individuals.

Although fishing has a much smaller audience than golf, people in China who enjoy fishing either have a certain amount of time or enough money, and are often not from the lower classes.

At the same time, the target audience for fishing is mostly middle-aged and older people, who are generally more financially capable than young people.

So when Li Younan and Liu Yu arrived at the scene, there were quite a few luxury cars at the registration site, the most common being the Toyota Land Cruiser, and there were also some cars similar to the Wrangler or Land Rover Defender.

Of course, most of the people who signed up were ordinary people.

Li Younan and Liu Yu queued for quite a long time before they were able to register.

There were three or four hundred people who signed up, a huge crowd, and they all looked like anglers.

Although it looks like a lot, Shengzhong Lake is so big that these three or four hundred people can be easily accommodated without causing overcrowding.

Liu Yu calmly analyzed from the side: "Although there are many people today, most of them are cannon fodder. After the first day of the preliminary rounds, which are three or four hundred people, quite a few will even be the Air Force contestants."

Li Younan nodded.

The competition will last for two days.

On the first day of the preliminary rounds, hundreds of people started working at the same time, but only the top 50 could advance to tomorrow's finals.

The location of the fishing spot is determined by random lottery, making it virtually impossible to cheat.

The competition's outcome is simple and straightforward: whoever catches the most expensive and heaviest fish wins.

There are no restrictions on fishing methods, but only prepared bait can be used, and live bait is not allowed. Also, if you are lure fishing, snagging fish and floating shrimp are prohibited, and only artificial bait can be used.

The principle of winning or losing is determined by the success of the fishing rod.

Different types of fish have different scores. The score is calculated by multiplying the score for the type of fish by the weight of the fish.

The first day serves as a selection process, so in addition to comparing who catches the most expensive and heaviest fish, the faster one catches a fish, the more advantageous it is.

The specific rule is that the first 20 players to reach 500 points can directly advance to tomorrow's final.

Players ranked 20th or below, or those who have not accumulated 20 points of 500 by the end of the competition, will be ranked according to their accumulated points, and the top 50 will be selected.

Overall, the rules for the first day were quite flexible.

However, the rules on the second day were more restrictive, limiting the fishing to only three types of fish, with the winner determined by weight, and two winners advancing directly to the National Fishing Masters Tournament the following week.

Next came the drawing of lots. Before the drawing, Liu Yu said to Li Younan, "I hope to see you again tomorrow."

Li Younan shrugged and said, "Then let's see how it goes."

Liu Yu smiled slightly: "So you finally understand that the true essence of fishing is all about luck."

Li Younan didn't speak, but silently added in his mind, "Whether I can see Liu Yu again tomorrow depends on luck, but it depends on his luck."

Before officially starting to fish, Li Younan naturally didn't forget to film a video. As a traveler, participating in a fishing competition is a highly topical activity.

Liu Yu personally helped him shoot several sets of footage.

Next comes the drawing of lots.

Although Shengzhong Lake is very large, the area designated for fishing by the participants is still somewhat limited.

Li Younan drew the number 9, and he quickly found his own fishing spot.

There are no restrictions on fishing tackle for the first day of the preliminary rounds; everyone can use their own fishing spot, tackle, and bait.

As soon as Li Younan sat down, the contestant next to him greeted him: "Hello."

Li Younan turned around with some surprise, because the other person was actually a female angler. Anglers, generally speaking, are mostly male.

The female angler had dark skin, probably from sun exposure, and wore a white baseball cap with her ponytail peeking out from the hole at the back of the cap, looking very capable.

She greeted him politely at first, but after seeing Li Younan's face clearly, she paused for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "You're Li Younan? Oh my god, you really are Li Younan!"

……

Li Younan hadn't expected to run into one of his fans here; the girl in front of him was named Lu Ya.

In her own words, her name is Lu Ya, which sounds like "lure fishing," and she was destined to be the Queen of Lure Fishing.

Li Younan offered no comment on her chuunibyou (delusional) persona.

This girl has been following Li Younan ever since he started making videos, and can be considered one of his long-time fans.

In terms of fishing, Lu Ya has been fishing for much longer than Li Younan. When Li Younan was still a poor guy working in a cubicle, Lu Ya had already started fishing with her father.

Luya couldn't help but steal a few glances at Li Younan, her heart secretly pounding with excitement.

She had been watching Li Younan's videos on her phone for a while, and to be honest, she really admired Li Younan, a capable and courageous guy. He quit his job to travel and gradually became a successful self-media blogger.

Of course, the more important reason is that he is really quite handsome!

She really likes travel blogger Li Younan, which perfectly solved her dilemma of wanting to watch Lan Zhanfei's videos but not wanting to see Lan Zhanfei's face.

Unfortunately, Li Younan's travel updates are not very frequent, and his travels are not just purely for experiences; they are currently limited to China. She really looks forward to seeing Li Younan travel all over the world like Lan Zhanfei.

She was truly surprised to run into Li Younan here today.

She certainly didn't believe Li Younan knew how to fish.

Fishing may seem like a matter of luck to laymen, but it's actually quite a complex activity.

She's been fishing for many years, but she still feels like she's only just gotten started and has a lot to learn.

Li Younan, who was standing next to him, was probably there to try it out.

Lu Ya whispered to Li Younan, "If I can advance ahead of schedule later, I'll give you all the fish I catch later."

As she spoke, she secretly winked.

Li Younan said with a hint of amusement, "If you help me cheat like this, you might lose your qualification too."

Lu Ya chuckled.

Li Younan then said, "Then you must be really good at fishing."

Lu Ya became serious and said, "I'm aiming for the top two. The upcoming national competition will offer more freedom, and I heard it's boat fishing. I've never tried competitive boat fishing before, so it's sure to be a lot of fun."

At this point, the organizing committee set up all the cameras, and there was a referee at every few fishing spots.

When the time comes, the competition is announced to begin.

The distance between each fishing spot is not very far, but they still affect each other.

Although there are no restrictions on fishing methods, since fishing spots have been set up, few people would be foolish enough to use lure fishing techniques exclusively. The vast majority of anglers here use platform fishing, while a few use traditional fishing methods.

Platform fishing involves fishing from a fixed location. Its main characteristic is that the fishing rod is relatively long, usually exceeding 5 meters or even 7 meters.

The core of Taiwan-style fishing is the float.

By adjusting the float and understanding the fish population, you can quickly determine the fish's bite and proceed with the next step. Because of the float, you don't have to rely entirely on the fishing rod to sense when a fish is biting.

In addition, there are also main lines and leader lines. The main line is mainly used to pull the fish, while the leader line is thinner and makes it less noticeable when the fish bites the hook.

In contrast, lure fishing is a highly engaging fishing method that uses the behavior of a prey to lure a large fish into taking the bait.

Li Younan didn't plan to show off his lure fishing skills this time. Since it was a competition, the winner would be determined by platform fishing.

At this moment, Li Younan's mindset can be described as Buddhist-like.

He had already observed that almost every fishing spot in this area had fish. Clearly, the organizers were quite fair in this respect; otherwise, it would have been quite embarrassing if some fishing masters had drawn spots where there were no fish at all.

Now that there were fish in the area in front of him, things became much easier.

The weather wasn't very good today; the forecast predicted heavy rain, so Li Younan even brought an umbrella.

However, weather forecasts can be inaccurate. The weather was extremely hot and humid, with no sign of rain, and such hot and humid weather is not very friendly to fishing.

The first step in platform fishing can be roughly considered as adjusting the float, finding the bottom, and choosing the right fishing line.

Float adjustment and bottom finding, in short, involves adjusting the sensitivity of the float while determining the location of the fish layer.

This is extremely important for platform fishing; it can be said to be the most crucial step.

Li Younan has fishing skills, and his zoologist skills, as well as his mountaineering skills that help him assess river geology, are all effective.

He glanced at the water a few times and then swirled his hand across the surface. Almost subconsciously, he had already integrated all the information and made a judgment. He had a clear idea of ​​the approximate water depth where the fish were located, and he was even pretty close to identifying the species of fish.

At this moment, Lu Ya, who was standing to the side, began to use the conventional method to find the bottom of the float. She kept casting the float out and then pulling it back up.

While doing this, he looked at Li Younan with some doubt, only to see that Li Younan did not make any move to find the bottom line, and at this moment he silently took out the thread set.

She was stunned for a moment.

Thinking that Li Younan was indeed a novice, he probably didn't understand.

That makes sense.

Can't you even figure out the bottom line?
I originally wanted to remind Li Younan, but after thinking about it, I realized that Li Younan was probably just here to experience it, so I didn't need to take it too seriously, as it would seem like I was showing off.

After several attempts, Lu Ya began to try fishing.

While doing this, she looked at Li Younan and said with a smile, "By the way, are you going to film a video today?"

Upon hearing this, Li Younan blinked and nodded as if remembering something: "Luckily you reminded me."

As he spoke, he took out the camera bracket and set it up next to himself, so that he could see himself fishing.

Lu Ya chuckled to herself. Sure enough, Li Younan came mainly to film videos. But if he only took the air force today, the video wouldn't be very interesting. Oh well, when she advanced, she would definitely get him a few fish that could be used for filming.

(End of this chapter)