After the opening ceremony, the two-day knockout stage will begin.
The elimination tournament format is very simple: it's about who catches the most fish. The tournament consists of two rounds, each lasting eight hours, with the top twenty-five from each round advancing to the finals.
This method may seem a bit unfair, and in fact it is not particularly fair, because you can't tell how good a person's fishing skills are from just one fishing session.
Besides, fishing is largely about luck; if you're lucky, you can easily have a great catch.
But if you're unlucky, then you're in trouble; it's not impossible to go home empty-handed after a whole day of fishing.
However, none of the contestants raised any objections.
After all, for all anglers, luck is often a part of skill. If you are really lucky and win the championship in this competition, others will also offer their blessings.
Of course, this blessing is only in public; most anglers won't truly accept it.
In this competition, all participants, whether they registered on their own or were specially invited by the organizers, whether they are fishing bloggers or members of the fishing association, must participate in the elimination rounds.
Bai Yu and his three companions were no exception. What was even more frustrating was that the four of them were in the same half of the bracket, meaning they were all vying for one of the twenty-five spots in the finals.
The match they will be participating in is the first elimination round, which is on the 25th. It will run from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with a one-hour lunch break in between.
Bai Yu and his three friends had a very simple idea for this competition: as the Haida F4, at least two of them had to make it to the finals.
The competition has already come to Hai Province, which can be considered their territory. They have the home advantage, and if they can't even make it to the finals, they'll be ridiculed by their fans!
There will definitely be all sorts of opinions then, such as how the number one person on Douyin (as named by netizens) couldn't even make it to the finals of a small competition.
What kind of fishing competition champion and uncrowned king of fan benefit tournament is this? Can't even make it to the finals. Were all the fish you caught before just baited by yourself?
Such comments will definitely exist, so the competition format will be a considerable challenge for Bai Yu.
To be precise, this competition was a challenge for all the fishing bloggers who participated, especially the top bloggers in the fishing community.
As a prominent figure in the fishing community, losing in such a competition would mean being overshadowed by other bloggers. Whoever fails to reach the finals will be the one who loses face.
This competition format has also increased the level of attention this competition has received, and now many netizens are following the competition online.
For example, the official live stream of the fishing association already has more than 30,000 viewers online.
Keep in mind that it's only a little past eight in the morning, and they've just finished their opening ceremony. They already have over 30,000 viewers on Douyin alone. If you add other platforms like Kuaishou, Huya, and Guagua, wouldn't there be over 100,000 viewers watching online?
If there are already so many viewers so early in the morning, what will happen if we wait a little longer until all the netizens have arrived? There will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of viewers watching online.
Therefore, this competition is a test for the participants, but also a rare opportunity. As long as they perform well, even if they don't win the championship, as long as they can enter the finals, they will receive a lot of attention.
As the time approached nine o'clock, Bai Yu took his fishing gear and arrived at his designated fishing spot, ready to begin his fishing trip for the day.
In fishing, regardless of the competition, as long as it involves freshwater fishing, the rules are basically the same: only hand rods are allowed, and no auxiliary equipment is permitted.
Furthermore, the fishing method involves using a single rod, line, and hook. As for bait, live bait and artificial bait cannot be used; there are few other requirements.
For this competition, Bai Yu's choice of bait was not as limited as before. In addition to two bags of corn kernels, he also took two bags of powdered bait.
Bai Yu wasn't really familiar with using these two packets of bait. It was mainly because Wang Qiang had suggested it to him when he met Wang Qiang, who said it was quite good for fishing.
They also told Baiyu the water-to-bait ratio, how to prepare the bait, and so on. Then Baiyu took two bags of powdered bait.
To be fair, Bai Yu is quite satisfied with the fact that the event organizers provided the bait, as it saved him the trouble of going to a fishing tackle shop.
While some anglers may use their own bait, for someone like Baiyu, who lacks experience in freshwater fishing, having free bait is still quite convenient.
This saves them the trouble of choosing; they can just use whatever the organizers provide.
Bai Yu's fishing spot this time is number 236, located in the northwest corner of this fishpond. He wants to snatch a spot in the next round from among more than 260 other fish.
As Bai Yu settled into his fishing spot with his gear—he only brought a small stool, a windbreaker, a mask, and sunglasses—he was ready to start fishing.
During the pandemic, it's still important to take extra precautions; better safe than sorry.
Bai Yu then took out an 8.1-meter fishing rod from his tackle bag. After a simple setup, he tied the fishing line, float, hook, and sinker to it, baited the hook, and prepared to start fishing.
For his first fishing rod today, Bai Yu used corn kernels as bait, which he was most familiar with.
Although Wang Qiang said those two types of powdered bait were quite effective for fishing, they were still too unfamiliar to Bai Yu. He decided to try fishing with corn kernels for a while first and see how his luck was.
Furthermore, according to the organizers, there are quite a few fish species in this pond, both carnivorous and herbivorous, and they are all within the range where corn can be caught.
Because among freshwater fish, there are very few that are purely carnivorous. Even large fish such as the more ferocious mandarin fish, catfish, and grass carp are actually omnivorous, eating whatever is available, regardless of whether it is meat or vegetables.
Of course, it's not that there aren't any purely carnivorous freshwater fish; they do exist. However, purely carnivorous freshwater fish won't appear in fishponds. As long as they can be farmed, they'll eat almost anything.
Using corn as bait shouldn't be too much of a problem for white fishermen; they should be able to have a good catch.
After testing the depth of the fishing area, Bai Yu adjusted the float to the designated height and cast the line.
As Bai Yu cast the fishhook along with the corn, all that was left was to wait for the first fish to bite.
This was a piece of cake for Bai Yu. As a seasoned angler, Bai Yu had no shortage of patience.
This is a common trait among all anglers; they all possess exceptional patience.
Even if Bai Yu wanted to wait patiently, reality didn't give him that chance.
Less than two minutes after he cast his line, he saw the float, which had been floating motionless on the surface, suddenly start nodding.
At first, I tapped it slowly two or three times, and then in an instant, the float disappeared. It was as if some enormous force had dragged it away!
Bai Yu noticed this situation immediately, and then he suddenly lifted his fishing rod upwards, delivering a hookset to the fish that had taken the bait.
However, when Bai Yu lifted the fishing rod, the feeling of the hook hitting a heavy object, which he had imagined, did not appear. The entire fishing rod felt light and airy, which was not like the reaction of catching a fish at all.
Bai Yu sighed inwardly at this reaction but didn't say anything more.
The reaction from the fishing rod clearly indicated that Bai Yu's first cast had missed; the fish that had taken the bait had escaped. What else could Bai Yu say but reel in the hook, check it, and replenish the bait?
As Bai Yu pulled the fishhook out of the water, only one of the three corn kernels that had been on it remained; the fish that had escaped earlier had eaten two.
It's a pity, Bai Yu was just a little short of keeping this guy.
Without thinking twice, Bai Yu added two more kernels of corn to the hook, then cast it out again to fish in the same spot.
After casting the hook this time, Bai Yu emptied a small handful of corn from the corn bag and threw it at his fishing spot, making a small feeding area in the hope of attracting more fish.
Whether it was the corn kernels he threw in that made a difference, or there were just a lot of fish in the pond, his float started moving again not long after he cast his line for the second time.
This time, Bai Yu did not act rashly. Even though the float had disappeared completely, he did not lift the fishing rod immediately. Instead, he waited for a little while before suddenly lifting the rod upwards.
He only realized after his first cast missed that he was fishing for freshwater fish, not saltwater fish in the open sea; there are some differences between the two.
Many techniques for fishing for saltwater fish cannot be applied to fishing for freshwater fish, otherwise the fish that have taken the bait will easily get away.
As Bai Hao lifted the rod to set the hook, this time he clearly felt the weight on the rod, and his cast was successful.
"Here it comes! The good start to the year has finally arrived, and it looks like it could be quite a big one. I hope you can give me a surprise!"
Bai Yu felt the weight on the fishing rod and thought it was quite good, around ten pounds.
Although this fish isn't the biggest in the pond, it's still quite good, weighing at least ten pounds. This competition is based on the total weight of the catch.
The next steps are quite simple: Bai Yu just needs to use his fishing rod to pull it back.
For Bai Yu's current fishing rod, a ten-pound fish is just a small carambola. He doesn't need to exert much force; he can simply rely on the rod's own spring force to catch it.
So when Bai Yu was fishing for this guy, he sat on a stool the whole time. He just had to keep lifting the fishing rod up, and then the guy was forced to get closer and closer to the shore.
The final result, naturally, was a landing net waiting for it on the shore.
Bai Yu used a fishing rod in one hand and a landing net in the other to scoop the fish up, then held it by its gills and showed it off to the camera at his collar.
This is a large mandarin fish. Overall, it is very big and has a decent body shape. It is a little bit fat, and its fur is slightly yellowish under the sunlight.
However, this is normal. After all, this mandarin fish grew up in the fishpond. Even if the pond owner doesn't usually feed the fish, as long as there are anglers fishing here, the fish in this pond will never lack food.
Then, this one with the upturned lips is a bit chubby and its figure is a little out of shape, which seems to be normal, right?
............
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com