Chapter 72: Chapter 24: Can’t Fish with Lures
"Chen Wen, you really don’t know how to lure fish?"
Over here, Lu Heng walked behind Chen Wen, unable to hold back his curiosity.
Chen Wen nodded, being honest about it: "I’ve never tried it on the boat, might as well give it a shot."
Saying this, Chen Wen couldn’t help but glance over at the entry list, where a term flashed with a purple glow.
[Lure Angler (Purple): You are more adept at lure fishing, with a moderate boost to luck when fishing with this method]
Currently, Chen Wen actually had some knowledge of lure fishing.
Lure fishing is a method of fishing.
To put it simply, it’s about mimicking small creatures to provoke predatory fish into attacking.
This fishing method emphasizes skill, requiring the joint operation of rod, bait, and reel.
When a beginner tries lure fishing, they might end up empty-handed for an entire afternoon.
The entry-level difficulty is higher than float fishing.
Therefore, even with the backing of the entry, Chen Wen didn’t dare claim proficiency in lure fishing.
After all, he had never practiced it before.
What it would be like to actually get hands-on, he had no idea.
...
After briefly explaining lure fishing techniques to Lu Heng.
Chen Wen looked at the fishing rod and shook his head slightly.
Battle-scarred!
Seasoned veteran!
These two terms were most suitable to describe this fishing rod.
"Aren’t you out of artificial bait? Can you still call this lure fishing?"
Lu Heng couldn’t help but ask.
"Sure, in fishing, we play by the heart!"
Chen Wen said, "Even with float fishing, as long as you have a heart for lure fishing, who can say you’re not doing it?"
Hearing this, Lu Heng rolled his eyes.
Zhang Hu, on the other hand, was dumbfounded: "Really? You’re not fooling me, right?"
"Heh heh, just saying it casually."
Chen Wen didn’t have the heart to deceive Zhang Hu, such an earnest person.
"If we don’t have artificial bait, we can use real bait. Artificial bait is supposed to mimic real bait anyway, like how hard baits mimic swimming patterns, spinners mimic shimmer, and soft worms mimic scents."
"We could find some worms or something, it might work even better."
Zhang Hu nodded and said, "Then how do we find worms?"
Chen Wen thought for a bit and shook his head: "Don’t look."
The two were taken aback.
Chen Wen continued to explain: "It hasn’t rained, digging for worms is quite laborious; it’s better to go straight for oysters."
"Additionally..."
Chen Wen and the others were walking along the beach now.
On this moist beach, some holes caught Chen Wen’s attention.
[Star Lord of the Pleiades] triggered, bringing Chen Wen some awareness.
"It seems there’s something in here."
Chen Wen frowned and stepped into the sea.
Lu Heng and the two behind him exchanged glances and followed along.
"What is it?"
Zhang Hu asked.
"I don’t know either, but there’s a small hole over here."
As he spoke, Chen Wen squatted down.
When the tide washed over the surface, a tiny, unassuming hole appeared in his view.
"There’s definitely something inside!"
Chen Wen was completely certain.
He removed his shirt, wrapped it around his hand, and placed it next to the hole.
As the cloth approached, something faintly bit onto it.
Locked in!
Chen Wen widened his eyes, and the thing beneath instantly lost all ability to move.
He pulled the thing out.
"Sandworm!"
Chen Wen quickly identified this creature that resembled a centipede.
"Sandworm? Why does it look like a centipede?"
Lu Heng shivered involuntarily; he feared two types of things most.
One was the legless kind, and the other was the many-legged kind.
"Yeah, it also goes by the name sea centipede."
Chen Wen had no time to bother with anything else, hastily asking Zhang Hu to put down the bucket in his hand.
Then, Chen Wen tossed the sandworm into it.
Zhang Hu asked with some disgust: "Is this edible?"
Chen Wen first nodded, then shook his head: "It is edible, but I don’t plan to eat it."
"Back when I was on the fishing boat, I heard people say sandworms are an all-purpose bait for sea fishing; every fish eats them."
"There must be plenty of sandworms on this beach. Let’s split up and use clothes to fish them out."
"If you find any sea snails, you can pry out the meat and wrap it in clothes. This increases the success rate."
When it came to sandworms, Chen Wen was quite knowledgeable.
There were a few fishing-loving crew members on the boat.
Every time they docked, they would gather some sandworms to use as bait.
How to catch sandworms, how to find sandworms.
These topics were frequently discussed by the crew.
Over time, Chen Wen learned quite a bit about it.
In particular, catching sandworms. He had even tried his hand at it.
After all, sometimes, when idle, it’s better to join others in playing around at the shore.
Thus, under Chen Wen’s lead.
The three-person outdoor team bent over to catch sandworms on the beach.
...
This catching went on for half an hour.
Chen Wen, being the main force, caught the most.
Almost sixty-five percent of the sandworms were caught by him.
After Zhang Hu learned the tips from Chen Wen, he sped up and caught about twenty-five percent.
Lu Heng, who was more laid-back, caught around ten percent.
After gathering all the caught sandworms into the bucket, the three only then proceeded.
On the road, Chen Wen roughly assigned tasks.
Him fishing was a given.
Zhang Hu took another bucket to pry open oysters and gather cat-eye snails.
Lu Heng took the bag to look for other edible things.
Because they were passing through a trash-littered beach.
Chen Wen specifically reminded Lu Heng to pick some useful rubbish.
...
The three quickly arrived near the coral reef.
Chen Wen felt a bit nostalgic looking at the familiar coral reef.
He thought of how he once feared neither heaven nor earth and dared to venture alone to catch fish at the coral reef.
Truly courageous!
Of course, now Chen Wen still had thoughts of going down to catch fish.
But seeing the gauze wrapped around his left arm, he shook his head.
I’ll wait another two or three days.
Then wrap waterproof fabric around my arm and go down.
Without the boost of [Tenacious Life], his wound healing speed had slowed considerably.
Five days of recovery now weren’t even as good as a day’s recovery with the entry before.
The entry is truly perverse!
Chen Wen couldn’t help but think.
Putting aside distracting thoughts, Chen Wen came to the rocky area near the coral reef.
The tide hadn’t receded yet, and the water level was relatively high.
It was the perfect time to fish!
Chen Wen picked up a sandworm and sliced it in half with a knife.
The first step in fishing is baiting.
This step looks simple but actually involves a lot of nuances.
As the saying goes: Bait it wrong, and all your effort is in vain.
Improper baiting is the start of being empty-handed.
Chen Wen used a lure rod, and the hook wasn’t very large.
If he put the whole sandworm on, it would easily escape, and it wasn’t good for catching fish.
Therefore, Chen Wen cut it into suitably small segments.
He hooked the sandworm by threading it through its body, attaching the entire worm onto the hook.
He also left a part of the sandworm’s body exposed to wiggle in the water.
This was to use its movement to lure fish.
With the bait set, it was time for the second step—casting the line.
Casting can be subdivided into selecting a spot and the cast itself.
Selecting a spot refers to choosing a suitable fishing location.
The cast is throwing the hook into the chosen spot.
Chen Wen targeted benthic predators and ambush fish.
Such as stonefish and groupers.
Therefore, the spot Chen Wen chose was the deep-water areas among the rocks.
After choosing the spot, Chen Wen started his cast.
He used the pendulum cast technique common among beginners.
This method, as the name suggests, involves casting the hook like a pendulum.
Of course, a little hand coordination is necessary.
Chen Wen wasn’t very familiar before, but with the boost from [Lure Angler], he managed a fairly standard casting motion.
Ordinary people learn lure fishing by understanding first, then practicing, and finally getting hands-on experience.
The system, however, was direct, making you get hands-on while learning and practicing during the process.
Quite perverse.