Seeing the system's prompt, Yue Feng was immediately discouraged, as this gadget even had a time limit of 720 hours, which was 30 days, a month's time.
With a 15% increase in the fish hit rate, Yue Feng didn't know the specific effects and didn't care much, but the thought of losing this pretty little medal after a month made him somewhat reluctant to let it go.
Ding! The system detected that the host currently wears the badge "Wild River Explorer" and has triggered the random mission "Wild Fishing·Little Trial." Do you accept?
"Wild Fishing·Little Trial": Complete a novice period of wild fishing, unlocking at least two types of fish!
Reward: Random bait recipe, the higher the task completion, the better the reward.
Wow, a random mission was triggered! Yue Feng checked the mission requirements, which seemed pretty simple, unlocking two types of fish by picking any small river or reservoir.
Accept!
Ding! Mission accepted successfully! Countdown to completion 24h!
Damn! There's a time limit too, needs to be completed within 24 hours, this is kind of a rip-off.
Gripes aside, the mission still had to be completed. Yue Feng went around the storage room and took out his "own" shoddy fishing gear.
A worn short-section 6.3-meter fishing rod, a small traditional fishing line box, a bucket for holding fish, and half a bag of Rice Wine in the bucket, already opened and semi-dry from who knows when.
This gear was so shabby it was nearly pitiful, probably only something an old man in the village would use, but Yue Feng was strapped for cash and too reluctant to use the new products in the store, so he had to make do with these flea market goods.
Checking the time, it was already nine in the morning, and late March was the perfect time for springtime crucian carp fishing. Given the small shop's lack of fame and pitiful customer traffic, facing the countdown already started, Yue Feng decided to complete his mission first and see what the rewards were.
After quickly organizing his fishing gear, finding nothing missing, Yue Feng took two boxes of earthworms from the store and grabbed the bucket, ready to head out.
Just as he was about to leave, Yue Feng slapped his forehead, how could he forget the two packs of bait rewarded by the novice gift package? His mind made up to try out their effects.
After locking the door, Yue Feng mounted his motorcycle and headed straight for the nearest reservoir to his fishing gear shop.
Yue Feng was located in W city, a small town under a second-tier northern city, not far from the town there was a small reservoir on a mountain, spanning over a dozen acres.
The reservoir was called Jiulongjian which sounded pretty intimidating, but people nearby knew it was just a fancy name.
In recent years, precipitation had been low, and the springs upstream of the reservoir were showing signs of dwindling; plus, every year, many mountain farming people extracted water for irrigation, so the water level in the reservoir had been quite low.
There were fish in the reservoir, but both in density and quantity, it was far worse compared to the more distant downstream waters of Qinglong Lake. The only advantage was its proximity. Old men from nearby villages would come here to fish for fun.
Yue Feng rode his motorcycle leisurely up the mountain.
Upon arriving at the reservoir, he didn't rush to start fishing but instead walked around the area where people usually fished.
Not bad, there were two other anglers here, not many people.
To Yue Feng's surprise, one of them was a middle-aged angler with quite sophisticated equipment, set up with a Taiwan Fishing and squatting on a Fishing Box. The other old man had much shabbier gear, a small stool, a bucket, and a clumsy old fiberglass fishing pole, similar to Yue Feng's setup.
"Hey, old man, how's the fishing today?" Yue Feng greeted and asked.
"Not many bites! I came in the morning and only caught three!" The elder nearby, who was using traditional fishing methods, smiled kindly and responded to Yue Feng.
Yue Feng glanced at the old man's bucket, which contained a few crucian carp, two weighing about 200 to 300 grams each, and one around half a pound. The crucian carp in early spring were quite lean, looking very beautiful.
"Wow! The sizes aren't bad at all; this big one is almost half a pound!" Yue Feng couldn't help but exclaim.
"Young man, it's a bit late to start fishing at this time, haven't had a bite in a long time!" the old man said, giving Yue Feng an extra look when he heard the compliments about his fish.
"Heh, just playing around! I mixed some bait myself and just casually tried it out nearby!" Yue Feng scratched his head and casually picked a spot to start setting up his fishing gear.
"Just next to me here, the bottom is relatively flat. Further to the right is not very good, there are branches underneath, it's unclean!"
"Alright! Thanks, old man!"
Traditional fishing methods require less specific conditions, usually involving a long rod and short line, using rice wine as bait, and then using sky hooks with live baits such as red worms or earthworms for fishing.
Yue Feng knew these basic pieces of knowledge, and properly took out his bait thrower, attaching it to the rod, and started to prepare his bait.
Usually, rice wine is used for preparing bait, and Yue Feng was no exception; however, this time he used rice wine included in the beginner's gift pack.
After thinking, he added a little bit of the Wild Fishing Companion into it. The rice wine was already slightly moist. After mixing well and stirring lightly, the texture was quite fine.
Since it was free, Yue Feng wasn't worried about using it excessively. He filled the bait thrower twice, with about a total of 100 grams, and threw it all into the bait spot.
"Young man, you don't need so much bait in spring. If you do this, the fish might get full and stop biting the bait!" the old man nearby, who had a good impression of Yue Feng, kindly reminded him.
"Oh, heh, I don't really understand, but since it's done, I'll just try fishing for a bit and pay attention next time!" Yue Feng chuckled, adjusted his line, baited it with an earthworm, and started fishing.
In the first ten minutes or so, the Seven-star float didn't move at all, but Yue Feng, sitting on his small stool, was patient.
However, in just a a little while, the old man's float dipped down, followed by a steady rise.
He lifted the rod, and up came a golden, half-pound crucian carp.
"Hey! Don't let me leave! Spring fish are truly beautiful!" The old man's beard trembled with joy, as he removed the fish and placed it in his bucket.
At this time, the middle-aged angler on the fishing platform nearby turned his head.
"Old man, what bait are you using?"
"My own dug earthworms!" The old man lifted his fishing line, with the earthworm on the hook still slightly wriggling.
"This place looks good, but there aren't many fish. I also have earthworms on, but they aren't biting much!" The middle-aged angler was somewhat dissatisfied with the fish situation in the small reservoir.
"Hehe! There are indeed fewer fish than before, all ruined by those who electrofish! They sneak in to fish with electricity every now and then at night!" The old man seemed to be a local resident, quite familiar with the small reservoir.
While Yue Feng was listening to the two men chatting, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the three Seven-star float beans on the surface of his water appeared to slightly move.