163: Is its mouth blessed?

Both Gao Xiaofan and Li Yuer chose 4.5-meter rods. Since they were fishing for Crucian Carp, which aren't very large, using a 6.3-meter one would be exhausting.

After letting the bait sit for a few minutes, Li Yuer continuously kneaded it along the edge of the basin.

In hot weather, bait sometimes produces gluten without kneading, but in cold weather, it basically won't without it.

Once the bait was ready, Li Yuer gathered it into a ball and gave half to Gao Xiaofan.

Gao Xiaofan sat at his fishing spot. The Rod Rest and bait tray had already been set up by Qiu Gu. It had to be said that bringing Qiu Gu along on this Fishing Tour was a very wise choice.

The people from the Independent Regiment were still moving things down; the chosen fishing spots were all quite close to each other.

Gao Xiaofan and Li Yuer had already started casting. They both had their floats tuned to six eyes and were fishing at two eyes.

The slow sinking of the six eyes allowed them to clearly see the changes in the bait after it entered the water.

Fishing at two eyes was for sensitivity. In cold weather, Crucian Carp bites become light; if the setup is too dull, some float signals won't be clear.

In summer, you can fish dull and wait for the Crucian Carp to hook themselves firmly, but with winter approaching, that's basically impossible.

Ten minutes later, Li Yuer was the first to land a fish—a small two-pound Grass Carp. Both of them were a bit stunned.

A Grass Carp actually bit at this temperature?

Qiu Gu quickly assembled the Landing Net, walked over, and steadily scooped the Grass Carp from the surface in one go.

Li Yuer removed the hook and happily put the Grass Carp into the keepnet, muttering as she did so.

"Little guy, you'd better hope I catch a Large Crucian Carp soon. If I don't, you're dinner tonight!!!"

Gao Xiaofan smiled and asked Li Yuer about it, learning that the small Grass Carp had taken the bait on the drop—an interception bite.

Another ten minutes passed, and Li Yuer landed another fish. It was another small Grass Carp, this time barely more than a fingerling, weighing maybe a pound. Li Yuer disdainfully unhooked it and tossed it back into the water.

This one had also been an interception bite.

Gao Xiaofan shook his head and had Qiu Gu switch to a 0.3 leader line and a No. 6 sleeve hook.

There are no fixed rules in fishing; one must make timely adjustments, or else they'll just end up sitting there in vain.

As Qiu Gu changed the leader line, Gao Xiaofan looked at Li Yuer with a grin and teased her.

"Why were you in such a hurry to let it go? You could've waited until we were done fishing."

"So what? I don't believe it would bite the hook again!"

"Hehe, maybe this next cast will be that same one," Gao Xiaofan chuckled.

Li Yuer stared at the float on the water ahead and curled her lip. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the float give a Sudden Dip while it was still slowly sinking.

She instinctively lifted the rod, looked at the fish on the surface, and shouted in surprise.

"Holy crap, is your mouth blessed?!"

The fish on the surface was slowly dragged toward the bank by the rod.

Gao Xiaofan stood up and looked at the fish Li Yuer was lifting by the line, unable to stop himself from laughing out loud.

"See, I told you not to throw it back, but you didn't believe me~"

With a dark expression, Li Yuer unhooked the fish. This time, she didn't release it but silently dropped it into the keepnet.

By then, Qiu Gu had finished changing the leader line. Gao Xiaofan pulled on two clumps of bait and cast his line.

Ten minutes later, he looked at the small bubbles next to the float and smiled happily.

The fish had definitely entered the baited area. The water wasn't flowing here and it was calm; this was the only possibility.

After casting again, Gao Xiaofan focused intently on the float. Once the float settled into position, it slowly rose by half an eye.

A fish was eating.

As long as the float went down, he could strike.

In an instant, more than half an eye of the float vanished in a tiny Sudden Dip. Fortunately, Gao Xiaofan had been staring at the float and didn't miss it.

With a whoosh, he raised his right arm to strike. The tension from the rod made him overjoyed.

Fish on!

"Ooh, a Large Crucian Carp. Not bad, not bad at all~"

Gao Xiaofan raised an eyebrow at Li Yuer. Fishing is like that; fishing alone feels completely different from fishing with others.

To put it nicely, it's the joy of sharing; to be blunt, it's the joy of showing off.

Li Yuer stuck out her tongue and made a face.

Beside them, Qiu Gu chuckled as he scooped up the fish, then unhooked it and tossed it into the keepnet.

Gao Xiaofan blinked, feeling like something was off, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Shaking his head, he continued to hook on bait and cast into the water.

This time, he adopted a frequency casting technique, though the frequency was relatively slow.

Hook the bait, cast, let it slowly sink to the bottom. If there was no movement once it settled, he'd give the rod a light twitch.

If there was still no movement after a minute, he'd lift the rod, re-bait, and repeat the steps.

After three casts, Gao Xiaofan watched the float twitch slightly, and his hand instinctively tightened around the rod.

Sure enough, after a few brief seconds, there was another small Sudden Dip. Gao Xiaofan lifted the rod and hooked the fish.

"Ooh, beautiful. This is a good one, bigger than the last. We can have Crucian Carp tonight~"

Looking at the splashing water on the surface, Gao Xiaofan said happily.

Qiu Gu, who had just brought the tripod over to Gao Xiaofan's spot, picked up the Landing Net from the ground again, ready to scoop the fish.

"Personally, I really like fishing for Crucian Carp, especially when wild fishing. First of all, the meat of Crucian Carp is quite delicious."

After Qiu Gu successfully scooped the fish into the net and began unhooking it, Gao Xiaofan glanced at him and then turned to the camera, starting to share some of his experience.

"Secondly, when a Crucian Carp bites, it feels great. It gives a preliminary signal—there will be a slight movement before the main bite. Sometimes the float rises, and sometimes it sinks slightly."

"Then, right after that, if you pay close attention, it will definitely give you a follow-up signal as it takes the bait into its mouth—a small Sudden Dip. That's why fishing for Crucian Carp is so interesting~"

The livestream room's chat was also filled with "666"s.

"Brother Wo Zi suddenly doing a tutorial makes me feel a bit out of my element~"

"666, I've learned something~ I'll say the same thing whenever I can't catch big fish in the future!"

"Brother Wo Zi, can you explain why you start lifting the rod after just one minute?"

Gao Xiaofan glanced at his phone, ignored the fans who were Creating Hype, and thought for a moment about the question in the chat before speaking.

"Hmm~ because when Xiao Yuer was catching those Grass Carp earlier, I asked her, and she said they were all interception bites."

"This proves one thing: these small Grass Carp are stimulated to bite by the sound or the dynamic movement of the bait as it swings down after entering the water."

"So when we fish for Crucian Carp, especially in low temperatures, don't just sit there waiting after casting the bait."

Hearing the commotion, Li Yuer also put down her rod and leaned over to listen to Gao Xiaofan's insights.

"Basically, after the bait enters the water and the float settles, there will be some slight movements. It's actually the Crucian Carp at the bottom sensing your bait hitting the bottom and coming over to give it a couple of nibbles."

"The flavor profile of the bait can attract fish, but it doesn't necessarily stimulate them to bite, especially when the weather is cold."