Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 360 - 169: Opponent Is Also a Fan [Update 1]

Fishing is a sport that may not seem impressive, but in reality, it draws far more attention than most people realize and holds immense commercial value.

This is actually somewhat counterintuitive.

Many people believe that sports like football and basketball, which are popular and have a broad fan base, tend to generate higher incomes for athletes and related professionals.

Those with this mindset often overlook the demographic of the audience, focusing solely on audience size.

Just like the world’s highest-earning athlete isn’t Jordan, but Tiger Woods.

Although basketball attracts larger audiences, golf’s audience is comprised of high-net-worth individuals.

While fishing audiences are not as large as golf’s, in China, those who enjoy fishing either have ample time or sufficient money and are often not from the lower rungs of society.

Moreover, the majority of fishing enthusiasts tend to be middle-aged or older, who generally have more financial resources than younger people.

Thus, when Li Younan and Liu Yu arrived at the scene, the registration area showcased many luxury cars, predominantly Toyota Land Cruisers, along with some Jeep Wranglers and Land Rover Defenders.

Of course, most of the registrants were ordinary people.

Li Younan and Liu Yu had to stand in quite a long line to complete their registration.

There were as many as three to four hundred participants, bustling around, with a glance showing them all to be fishing enthusiasts.

Though it seemed crowded, Shengzhong Lake is vast, and these three to four hundred people would be spread out and not feel crowded.

Liu Yu calmly analyzed beside him, "Although there are many people today, most of them are just here to try their luck. After the day-one preliminary rounds, many might end up with nothing caught."

Li Younan nodded.

The event is scheduled over two days.

On the first day of the preliminary round, hundreds will compete together, but only the top 50 can advance to the finals tomorrow.

Fishing locations are decided by random draw, making cheating almost impossible.

The competition’s winning condition is simple and straightforward: weighing who catches the heaviest and most valuable fish.

The method of fishing is unrestricted, but bait must be mixed bait, and live bait isn’t allowed. If using Lu Yas, fish snagging, shrimp drifting are prohibited, only artificial lures are allowed.

The principle of victory is based on catching a fish.

Different types of fish score differently, and the score is calculated by multiplying the type score by the weight of the fish.

The first day serves the purpose of screening candidates, so besides weighing fish by value and weight, the quicker the catch, the greater the advantage.

The specific rule is that the first 20 with scores reaching 500 points can directly advance to tomorrow’s finals.

If fewer than 20 reach 500 points, or if time runs out and fewer than 20 participants have 500 points, rankings will be based on accumulated scores, with the top 50 selected.

In general, the rules for the first day are very flexible.

However, the rules on the second day are more restricted, with only three specific fish allowed to be caught, winning by weight, and the top two winners will directly advance to participate in next week’s national fishing master championship.

Then comes the draw. Before the draw, Liu Yu said to Li Younan, "Hope to see you again tomorrow."

Li Younan shrugged, saying, "We’ll see how luck favors us."

Liu Yu smiled faintly, "You finally understand, the essence of fishing boils down to luck."

Li Younan didn’t speak but silently added in his mind that seeing Liu Yu tomorrow depends on luck, but it will depend on Liu Yu’s luck.

Before officially starting fishing, Li Younan naturally remembered to shoot videos, as participating in a fishing contest is quite a topical venture for a traveler.

Liu Yu personally helped him shoot several sets of footage.

Next is the draw.

Although Shengzhong Lake is large, the areas designated for competitors to fish are somewhat limited.

Li Younan drew the number 9 and quickly found his assigned fishing spot.

The first day’s preliminary round didn’t restrict fishing gear; everyone can use their own location, gear, and bait.

As soon as Li Younan sat down, a competitor next to him greeted him, "Hello."

Li Younan turned his head in surprise, as the person was unexpectedly a female angler — anglers are generally predominantly male.

This female angler had darker skin, probably sun-tanned, wore a white baseball cap, with a ponytail poking out from the cap’s back hole, looking very sharp.

She initially greeted him politely, but upon seeing Li Younan’s face clearly, she was briefly stunned and then suddenly exclaimed, "Are you Li Younan? Oh my, you really are Li Younan!"

...

Li Younan hadn’t expected to encounter a fan here; the girl’s name was Lu Ya.

According to her, her name Lu Ya sounds like "Lu Ya," destined to become the Lu Ya queen.

For her somewhat quirky persona, Li Younan had no comment.

This girl had been following him since he started video-making, counting as an avid fan of Li Younan’s.

In terms of fishing, Lu Ya had been angling much longer than Li Younan; back when Li Younan was still a struggling office worker, Lu Ya had begun fishing with her father.

Lu Ya couldn’t help but glance at Li Younan a few times, secretly thrilled.

I’ve been watching Li Younan’s videos on my phone for a while now. To be honest, I really admire guys like him who are capable and brave.

He quit his job to travel, and gradually became an impressive influencer.

Of course, a key reason is that he’s honestly quite handsome!

I really like travel blogger Li Younan. He perfectly solves my dilemma of wanting to watch Lan Zhanfei’s videos but not wanting to see Lan Zhanfei’s face.

The only regret at the moment is that Li Younan doesn’t update his travel content frequently, and his trips are still confined to domestic areas. I’m really looking forward to seeing him travel around the world like Lan Zhanfei.

Running into Li Younan here today truly surprised me.

Of course, I didn’t expect Li Younan to be any good at fishing.

Fishing seems mostly about luck to outsiders, but it’s actually quite a complicated affair.

I’ve been fishing for many years and still consider myself a beginner. There’s so much more to learn.

Li Younan probably came over to get some experience.

Lu Ya whispered to Li Younan, "If I advance early, I’ll give you all the fish I catch later."

She said this while giving a sly wink.

Li Younan chuckled and said, "If you help me cheat like that, your qualification might get revoked."

Lu Ya giggled.

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

Lu Ya got serious and said, "I’m aiming for the top two. The upcoming national competition will have more flexibility. I heard it’s boat fishing, and I haven’t tried competitive boat fishing yet. It’s bound to be interesting."

At this moment, the event organizers set up all the cameras, with a judge stationed every few fishing locations.

As the time came, the competition was announced to start.

The distance between each fishing spot wasn’t far. There was still some interaction between them.

Although the fishing methods were not limited, because the spots were predetermined, few people would foolishly use only the lure method. Most anglers here used pole fishing methods, with some using traditional techniques.

In pole fishing, you are given a fixed spot to fish. The main feature is that the rods are usually longer, typically over 5 meters or even 7 meters.

The core of pole fishing is the float.

By adjusting the float and understanding the fish school, you can quickly determine the fish’s feeding action and prepare for the next steps. With the float, you don’t rely entirely on the rod to sense when you have a fish.

Additionally, the fishing line is divided into the main line and the sub-line. The main line is for pulling the fish, while the sub-line is thinner, making it less noticeable when a fish bites.

In comparison, the core of lure fishing is simulating the prey’s behavior to induce a big fish to bite, which is a highly interactive fishing method.

This time, Li Younan didn’t intend to show off with lure techniques. Since it’s a competition, settling the score with pole fishing was the way to go.

At this point, you could call Li Younan’s mindset very Zen.

He had already observed that every fishing spot in this area had fish. It was evident that the organizers had ensured fairness in this aspect. Otherwise, it could be embarrassing if some fishing masters drew a spot with no fish at all.

Since there were fish in the area in front of him, the next steps were much simpler.

The weather today wasn’t great. The forecast predicted torrential rain, so Li Younan had brought an umbrella with him.

However, forecasts can be wrong. The weather was stiflingly hot with no sign of rain, which isn’t ideal for fishing.

The first step in pole fishing generally involves adjusting the float, finding the bottom, and choosing the right fishing line combination.

Adjusting the float and finding the bottom basically means setting the float’s sensitivity and determining where the fish are located.

This is crucial for pole fishing and can be considered the most critical step.

Li Younan, with his fishing skills, plus his skills as a zoologist and understanding of river geology from his mountaineering skills, quickly integrated all this information.

By just glancing around and swiping his hand across the water surface, he unconsciously combined all this information to determine the water layer where the fish were likely located, including the probable species of fish.

Meanwhile, Lu Ya was using conventional methods to find the bottom and adjust the float, repeatedly casting and retrieving the line.

While doing this, she looked at Li Younan with a bit of confusion, seeing he hadn’t attempted to find the bottom and was quietly setting up his line.

She paused for a moment.

Thinking Li Younan was indeed a newbie and probably didn’t understand.

That made sense.

Can’t even find the bottom?

She originally wanted to remind Li Younan, but thinking it over, realized he was probably here just to experience things, and she shouldn’t take it too seriously—it might seem pretentious.

After a few attempts, Lu Ya started trial fishing.

While doing so, she looked over at Li Younan, smiling, "By the way, are you filming a video today?"

Upon hearing this, Li Younan blinked, as if remembering something, and nodded, "Thanks for reminding me."

While talking, he took out the camera stand and placed it beside him, just right to capture himself fishing.

Lu Ya secretly found it amusing. As expected, Li Younan was mainly here to shoot a video. But if he caught nothing all day, the video wouldn’t be interesting. Oh well, if she got promoted, she’d make sure to give him a few fish for the video.