Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 348 - 158: Take It and Make Fish Soup [Second Update!]

The Shengzhong Lake area is quite large, with many places where cars can drive directly to the shore, making good fishing spots.

Li Younan observed the location where they parked and from his professional perspective, this location actually wasn’t a great fishing spot.

When making this judgment, Li Younan didn’t even need to analyze deliberately—with the fishing talent given by his system, he almost completed the judgment subconsciously.

Of course, if you think about the core logic seriously, it’s possible to figure it out as well, but it’s not necessary, intuition already told him that this area is hard to catch fish.

Not that there aren’t any fish at all.

If you’re fishing here, it’s suitable for catching razorbelly; it might be worth a try.

And the razorbelly is considered quite a difficult species to catch in any freshwater lake, ranking at least in the top three in terms of difficulty in Shengzhong Lake.

The reason it’s difficult is because this fish belongs to mid-upper layer predatory fish.

At this time, they will chase small fish in the shallows.

To catch this kind of predatory fish, throwing a fishing rod like a beginner and waiting there won’t work; to catch this fish, you have to use the lure fishing method.

Lure fishing, simply put, is using the aggression of predatory fish—this fish actively attacks smaller fish, essentially big fish eating little fish.

Lure fishing uses hooks to mimic small fish or other bait to entice predatory fish into actively attacking.

Different predatory fish have different preferences for food, so lure fishing is a highly targeted fishing method that requires a certain level of skill.

This is almost a dividing line between novice anglers and advanced ones; learning lure fishing and being able to consistently avoid blanks shows that you’ve progressed from "waiting for fish" to being able to actively "find and hook fish".

However, regarding the difficulty of fishing in this area, Li Younan didn’t speak up.

This spot was chosen by Liu Yu.

Liu Yu is very confident, and it’s unnecessary to have a disagreement over this matter—he would surely try to persuade him and then babble on proving himself right, which Li Younan was reluctant to listen to.

Moreover, for him, it actually doesn’t matter where he fishes; he’s just worried that Liu Yu might get embarrassed and angry from not catching any fish—this is almost predictable.

This time, Li Younan brought cooking tools, unlike the single mountain stove used in previous hiking trips, but rather a camping stove and a larger pot for leisure camping.

Shengzhong Lake has plenty of plump and delicious fish, and directly preparing them while they’re freshest and frying them would be very enjoyable.

Beside him, Liu Yu noticed Li Younan had already taken out the cooking tools and smiled awkwardly.

He certainly knew that Li Younan’s cooking skills were excellent, and felt satisfied seeing that his partner was aware of it—seems like Li Younan trusted him.

Liu Yu understood well that Li Younan was proud by nature, and it’s not easy to convince such a person.

Although he’s confident he can tame Li Younan in this regard... actually accomplishing it still brings a sense of satisfaction.

Liu Yu’s gaze turned towards the lake.

He had already analyzed... judging from the color of the water, this would be a good fishing spot.

Zhongshan Lake’s fish varieties were not familiar to him, but reservoir fish don’t differ much, and as long as the baiting is done well, soon enough, many fish will gather for him to pick.

He’s very confident about this part.

The most important thing is bait preparation.

He moved his fishing box to the shore and began preparing the bait, while saying to Li Younan, "Once I’ve baited the spot, you’re welcome to try as well. Oh, and I can help you record some videos then."

Li Younan didn’t respond, walked to the shore, stood on a large rock looking into the water, while calculating in his mind.

The system’s task was to catch fish without using fishing tools.

After considering it, using a bow and arrow seemed the best option if no net was allowed.

By tying a fishing line to the tail of the arrow, if his aim is accurate, it would be easy to complete the task.

Also, this is relatively simple for him; easily achievable.

The current issue is, places with lots of fish usually have murky water, and unless fish swim to the upper layers, they are impossible to see.

Moreover, the resistance of the water is large, and no matter how strong a bowman is, only at one to two meters water depth can it be lethal.

If fish swim any deeper, arrows quickly lose their kinetic energy.

Scenes on TV where bullets are shot into the water and penetrate deep water are against physical laws; baiting is still quite important, needing to find ways to make those fish swim a bit higher.

Liu Yu quickly finished preparing the bait.

He opened the umbrella.

This season is very comfortable, neither too cold nor too hot. There’s a bit of sunlight in the sky, overall it doesn’t feel scorching. Liu Yu threw several handfuls of bait into the lake continuously.

Li Younan walked over slowly, looked at the feed Liu Yu prepared, then stood at a distance and sniffed lightly, with a somewhat odd expression.

Well, how should I say, Liu Yu’s prepared bait can’t be said to be terrible, but this bait probably won’t attract small fish.

If it doesn’t attract small fish... it seems Liu Yu is doing it deliberately, just wanting to catch big fish.

If not directly using a suitable baiting technique for razorbelly, the best way should be to first attract small fish over, and then use them to lure the razorbelly, and further use lure fishing to make them hook... if it were Li Younan, that’s how he would fish.

But obviously Liu Yu doesn’t have this experience and skill.

Right now, his understanding of fishing is still a bit hazy. It’s not that his theoretical knowledge isn’t solid; it’s more about his ability to accurately judge the waters and fish types, thus limiting his choice of the best method.

It’s not really a problem though, because the bait used by Liu Yu to create a fish feeding spot can attract some larger fish to the upper water levels near the shore, which conveniently aids Li Younan in shooting fish.

Li Younan silently observed for a while, noticing that Liu Yu’s baiting method indeed was effective, then turned around to continue preparing the kitchen utensils for cooking.

If Liu Yu was lucky enough to catch a fish later on, that would be ideal. If not, it didn’t matter; as long as the fish gradually gathered here, he could catch one himself and complete his task.

The scene then unfolded harmoniously.

As a handsome young enthusiast in fishing, Liu Yu sat leisurely under the shade of an umbrella, with a multifunctional fishing box beneath him.

He waited confidently for the fish to gather around.

Meanwhile, behind him, a Land Cruiser was parked steadily on the open ground.

Another equally handsome young man was carefully preparing the kitchen utensils, mixing flour and egg liquid, ready to fry up the fish the moment Liu Yu caught one.

While both were engaged in their preparations, a car suddenly approached from not far away.

...

Li Younan didn’t mind, but Liu Yu slightly furrowed his eyebrows.

It was a small Jimny, capable of traversing many narrow wild paths. It was obvious that the person driving the vehicle frequently ventured outdoors for fishing.

The car quickly stopped nearby Li Younan and Liu Yu, and out came a guy who was obviously a seasoned fishing enthusiast—he was so dark-skinned that he almost had the appearance of a black man.

The fellow approached and greeted Li Younan and Liu Yu with a playful smile, saying, "Mind if I fish here?"

What could Li Younan say? It was a public area after all. Liu Yu remained silent but nodded.

The guy was just being courteous. Even if Li Younan and Liu Yu said he couldn’t fish there, he probably wouldn’t have cared anyway.

This fellow, all too familiar in nature, directly carried his fishing box and sat down seven or eight meters from Liu Yu’s bait spot, starting to mix his bait.

While stirring a bowl of bait, he leisurely walked over to Liu Yu’s bait spot, glanced over with a peculiar expression, and said, "Brother, the way you’re baiting isn’t ideal for fishing."

Liu Yu’s expression turned slightly displeased, but he managed to keep his composure and casually replied, "Haha, I’m a novice."

Of course, he said this modestly. In his mind, he was thinking about showing the guy up once he caught a fish later.

Upon hearing Liu Yu claim to be a novice, the fellow enthusiastically began explaining to Liu Yu: "Let me tell you, in this area, there’s a lot of reefs underwater. Here, you mainly fish for needlefish, and sometimes, if lucky, you might catch a redtail. These two fish are becoming harder to catch in Shengzhong Lake. That’s mainly why I’m fishing here today. Actually, boat fishing is a better method. When baiting, it’s best to mix dynamic fish luring with a static baiting approach."

The fellow passionately explained the intricacies of baiting in this area, but Liu Yu listened absentmindedly, nodding with polite smiles.

The fellow didn’t notice Liu Yu’s impatience, whereas Li Younan, touching his chin, found the situation somewhat amusing—the guy’s words actually aligned quite well with his own assessments, indicating he was indeed a skilled angler.

Having finished mixing his bait, the fellow returned to his fishing spot to start baiting. Meanwhile, Liu Yu had begun preparing to fish.

Once the fellow moved back, Liu Yu quietly said to Li Younan, "Don’t mind these folks too much."

Li Younan chuckled, "Why do I get the impression he seems quite professional?"

Liu Yu chuckled helplessly, "What makes you think that? Because he’s tanned enough?"

Li Younan blinked, "Isn’t that evidence enough?"

Liu Yu laughed and didn’t say anything, planning to prove it once he started catching fish.

Time ticked by slowly.

Standing on a large rock, Li Younan noticed that there were now signs of fish on the distant water surface, although he couldn’t determine the type.

Nonetheless, if there were fish coming over, it was a good sign.

The excitement was apparent in his eyes.

Naturally, Liu Yu was equally thrilled. He sat upright, starting to employ the fishing techniques he had learned from books.

However, after several attempts, there was no action, yet Liu Yu remained patient and continued to sit there. While he said to Li Younan, "Fishing is something that requires patience. Once the fish start biting, they’ll continue."

Li Younan stayed silent.

Suddenly, Liu Yu’s expression brightened a bit.

His fishing rod moved slightly, and after feeling it carefully again, he confirmed it was hooked. Instantly, he stood up, laughing, "What did I say?"

Li Younan blinked and looked at Liu Yu, only to see him skillfully reeling in fish that quickly came up—a crucian carp about 10 to 20 centimeters long.

Crucian carp is probably the easiest fish to catch in Shengzhong Lake. They have a strong ability to reproduce and are the cheapest, with a market price of only four or five yuan per kilo. They’re also the easiest to catch, with a chance of being caught in any water area.

Li Younan felt a tad disappointed; if he had caught such fish, he would have intended to toss it back.

Nevertheless, Liu Yu clearly didn’t feel that way. He took the fish off the hook quickly and handed it to Li Younan, saying, "Let’s brew up a nice, tasty soup."

His words exuded confidence and pride.

Li Younan chuckled, accepting the fish dutifully and prepared to make soup.

Liu Yu said, "Judging by today’s start, we’re going to have a fruitful day."

Li Younan replied nonchalantly, "Keep it up then!"