Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Chapter 88

Lin Yuan set up his fishing chair next to the willow tree roots, took out his fishing rod from his tackle bag, threaded it onto the reel, and baited it with a light green, mid-water hard lure. He didn't rush to cast, but instead opened the system panel to take a look.

Under the fishing skill category, there are two passive skills—Basic Fishing and Lucky Fishing Spot. The icons are a bit darker than when they were last activated, but the descriptions remain unchanged. He closed the panel, stood up, flicked his wrist, and the lure flew out, landing on the line where the willow's shadow met the flowing water.

The lure made a very soft sound as it entered the water, and he slowed down the reeling, letting the lure trace a natural arc beneath the surface. He waited for about thirty seconds, but the float didn't move. He waited another thirty seconds, and still nothing.

He reeled in the line and cast again, this time about two meters upstream. After the lure hit the water, he slowed down the reeling speed, allowing it to sink to a deeper layer of water. The float bobbed on the surface for about ten seconds, then suddenly sank.

The rod tip bent. Not in a sharp, jerky way like last time, but a steady, gentle bend, as if something underwater was slowly pulling the line. Lin Yuan steadied the rod, not rushing to reel in the line, letting the fish swim for a few seconds before lifting the rod tip to begin reeling it in.

The underwater pull wasn't strong, and the pace wasn't fast; there wasn't that kind of sprinting surge. He reeled in the line a dozen times, and a small black bass, less than a foot long, was pulled to the surface, swishing its tail in the morning light. He removed the hook, released the fish back into the water, re-baited, and cast again.

Peter called out from a distance, "Are you in?"

"Let him go."

Frank walked over from upstream, holding a coffee cup, and stood next to Lin Yuan for a while.

"You were reeling in too fast. Your reeling pace was faster than last time. You started reeling in before the fish had even taken a firm bite, so you only caught small ones."

Lin Yuan thought about it and agreed with Frank. Last time, his reeling in the line was very slow because he didn't know anything at the time, and it was actually a lucky accident. Today, after he became more aware, he started to consciously control the rhythm, which actually increased his speed.

He slowed down and cast again. After the lure hit the water, he waited longer, letting it sink close to the bottom before slowly reeling it in. The float traveled about five meters on the surface, then paused briefly before suddenly sinking.

The moment the rod tip bent down, he felt a difference from the last time. He no longer hesitated about whether the rod had snagged on the bottom. The pulling force was transmitted directly from the rod tip to his palm, strong and heavy, with a low-frequency vibration.

He steadied the rod, let the line out of the spool, and the fish darted into the deeper water. The spool hissed for a few seconds and then stopped.

He began to reel in the line. Round and round he reeled it in, the fish moving slowly underwater, unlike the frantic sprint of the three-foot giant he caught last time. Instead, it was a larger, heavier, unhurried drag. He reeled it in for about two minutes before the fish was pulled into shallow water.

Robert strode quickly from downstream with a landing net. As the fish flipped over, its dorsal fin ripped through the water, revealing its dark green back. Frank gave a number from the side, and Peter said, "You underestimated it. We'll measure it when it comes up."

The net caught the fish, and it was pulled ashore. It was a largemouth bass, a little over two feet long, smaller than the three-foot one from last time, but with a broad and thick body and a high, bulging back, looking like an old piece of wood that had been soaking in the water for a long time.

Frank crouched down and gestured with his hand to indicate the length of the fish. "Two feet two inches. Not big, but the size suggests it's an old fish, at least seven or eight years old."

Lin Yuan removed the hook, put the fish in the fish basket, re-baited, and cast the line again.

For the next two hours, his fishing spot was rarely deserted.

The second fish came up just after eight o'clock. It was a largemouth bass about two feet long. It was slightly less forceful than the first one, but it was very aggressive in cleaning its gills, leaping out of the water twice and splashing water all over Lin Yuan's face. He wiped the water off his face with his sleeve and put the fish in the fish basket.

The third one was caught around 8:40. This one was even smaller, less than two feet, but its pulling power was surprisingly strong. The spool hissed several times when reeling in the line, and Lin Yuan thought for a moment that he had encountered another three-foot behemoth. When he pulled it up, the fish wasn't big, but its belly was round, probably because it had just eaten and had nowhere to exert its strength.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth catches were a little slower than the last time, but the catch rate remained stable. By 10 o'clock, his fish basket contained seven largemouth bass and two smallmouth bass, the smallest of which was nearly one and a half feet long.

Frank came over at 10:30, squatted down next to the fish basket and looked inside, then stood up, put his hands on his hips, and said in a tone that was hard to tell whether to admire or envy, "You changed your fishing spot, changed the time, and you still got the same result. Let me tell you the truth—I've been fishing on this river for forty years, and I've never caught more than fifteen fish in two consecutive weekends. You did it all by yourself."

"There are fewer today than last week," Lin Yuan said.

"Last week was pure luck. Today was just normal." Frank tightened the mouth rope of the fish basket and sank it back into the water. "Your results from last week were impossible to repeat. The fact that you caught so many fish today, and that they're evenly distributed in size, shows that you didn't rely on luck. You really know where the fish are, when they bite, and what bait to use."

Peter also came down from downstream, holding his own fishing rod with a small black bass that had just been hooked hanging from the tip.

He threw the fish back into the water, squatted down next to Lin Yuan, and watched his reeling technique for a while.

"Your reeling rhythm is different from last week," Peter said. "Last week you were slow, today you're steady. Slow and steady are two different things. Slow is waiting for the fish to bite, steady is letting the lure's movement remain natural. Today you had a very slight pause in your wrist when you reeled in, making the lure move in a zigzag pattern in the water—where did you learn that?"

Lin Yuan was taken aback. He hadn't even noticed this detail himself. "I probably figured it out on my own while fishing last time; I haven't practiced it intentionally."

Peter shook his head. "Some people are naturally sensitive to the movement of underwater lures, knowing when to stop and when to pull. It's not something that can be taught."

The system panel flashed briefly in the corner of his field of vision. Lin Yuan didn't open it immediately, but waited until Peter returned to his fishing spot before opening it for a quick look.

[Side quest triggered: The Fisherman's Path]

[Mission Objective: Catch at least ten largemouth bass in an informal fishing activity (6/10)]

[Quest Rewards: 5 High-Quality Bait, 200 Fishing Experience, 1 Random Fishing Accessory]

[Note: You've already proven this wasn't luck. Now prove you can do even better.]

Lin Yuan turned off the control panel, rebaited, and cast again. He had already caught six of the ten largemouth bass, four more to go. There was still time, the fish were still around, and the chances were good.