PCJ – Chapter 467 What Use is Bait in Fishing?

Zhang Jiaohua picked up the fishing rod and directly cast the hook into the river.

“Hey, how come you’re not using any bait?” Wei Jun laughed as he looked at Zhang Jiaohua, naturally assuming that he must be a beginner. He didn’t even know to put bait on the hook, and he claimed to be able to fish? Isn’t that a joke?

Zhang Jiaohua scratched his head. “Ah, I forgot. Oh well, like the old saying goes, ‘Zhang Taigong fishes, whoever is willing will bite.’ Fish, fish, little fish, don’t come bothering, big fish, come bite the hook…”

Zhang Jiaohua chanted a little rhyme, and suddenly the fishing line twitched. Without hesitation, he yanked the rod.

“Don’t rush! Wait a moment. The fish is still testing,” Wei Jun said quickly, seeing Zhang Jiaohua’s line tense up.

“But there’s no bait on my hook, how could the fish be testing?” Zhang Jiaohua laughed, and with a forceful twist of his wrist, the fishing line tightened, and the rod bent.

“Slow down, slow down, let it tire itself out first, then pull it in. It’s not a small fish,” Wei Jun quickly reminded him, still thinking that Zhang Jiaohua was just lucky. He didn’t suspect anything else.

Zhang Jiaohua grinned but didn’t heed Wei Jun’s advice. Instead of letting the fish tire out, he used a sudden burst of strength and jerked the rod upward.

Sighing, Wei Jun thought the rod might break or the fishing line snap. He frowned, seeing that Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t following his advice.

Zhang Jiaohua yanked with force, and to Wei Jun’s surprise, neither the rod nor the line broke. A fish weighing about two or three kilograms flew out of the water. Zhang Jiaohua caught it with one hand, and the fish, only slightly twitching its tail, didn’t struggle at all.

Wei Jun and Zhao Jue were stunned. What luck! To catch such a big fish without using any bait?

“Is one enough?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“One? That’s not enough! There are seven of us. We need at least three or four more,” Zhao Jue said casually.

Zhang Jiaohua tossed the hook back in. “Then I’ll catch a few more.”

“Hey, you really think you can catch fish without bait? Just now, that was just luck…” Before Wei Jun could finish, he choked on his words because he saw Zhang Jiaohua’s fishing line tense up again. Another fish was on the hook!

“Catch, catch, little fish, don’t come bother, big fish, come bite the hook…” Zhang Jiaohua chanted again, and another fish, weighing about five or six kilograms, flew out of the river. Once again, Zhang Jiaohua caught it with one hand.

Zhao Jue finally saw a pattern. A fish of that size, especially a wild fish, would normally struggle fiercely after biting the hook. It would take a while to reel it in. But Zhang Jiaohua casually pulled it out with no trouble.

Moreover, even seasoned fishermen wouldn’t be able to catch the fish as easily as Zhang Jiaohua did. The fish didn’t resist at all in his hands. If Zhao Jue hadn’t seen Zhang Jiaohua put the fish into the fish bag, still alive and wriggling, he would’ve thought it was a dead fish.

Once was luck, but twice? Zhao Jue suddenly realized that this kid was no ordinary person.

Wei Jun, meanwhile, still didn’t notice that his own fishing rod had a fish on the hook. The fish ate all the bait, then escaped.

“You, you, you’re too lucky. You’ve caught two big fish without any bait,” Wei Jun stammered.

“Is this enough?” Zhang Jiaohua asked again.

“One more that big, and that should be enough,” Zhao Jue said.

Zhang Jiaohua immediately cast the hook again and chanted, “Catch, catch, little fish and shrimp, don’t come bother, big fish, hurry up and bite the hook…”

This time, Wei Jun didn’t say anything. He wanted to see if Zhang Jiaohua’s luck could hold.

After waiting for a while, there was no movement on Zhang Jiaohua’s fishing rod.

“Kid, why hasn’t any fish bitten yet?” Wei Jun laughed.

“Maybe it’s too far. The fish haven’t reached yet. They’re too shy to come bother,” Zhang Jiaohua laughed.

Wei Jun couldn’t help but chuckle. “What kind of fish do you think will come?”

“That’s hard to say. It mainly depends on luck. If you’re lucky, a big one will bite. If you’re not, you could fish for hours and not catch even a carp,” Zhang Jiaohua said, clearly mocking Wei Jun’s luck.

Zhao Jue chuckled. Wei Jun scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed to argue with a kid.

At that moment, Zhang Jiaohua’s rod suddenly dipped.

“It’s here, it’s here! A huge fish!” Zhang Jiaohua grinned, still showing no skill and about to use the same technique again.

“Don’t, that rod will break!” Wei Jun ran toward him, seeing that Zhang Jiaohua had hooked a big fish this time.

“Don’t!” Zhao Jue tried to stop Wei Jun, realizing that despite Zhang Jiaohua’s youth, he wasn’t an ordinary person.

Zhang Jiaohua ignored both of them, casually jerking the rod upward. A huge catfish flew out of the water. It didn’t look like Zhang Jiaohua had pulled it out with the rod; it seemed like the catfish had jumped out on its own.

The catfish was so massive that when Zhang Jiaohua grabbed its mouth, its tail was already touching the ground. Zhang Jiaohua weighed it. “At least ten or so kilograms. Is this enough?”

“Enough, enough,” Zhao Jue hurriedly said. One of these was enough to feed everyone.

Wei Jun’s mouth dropped open. He had seen skilled fishermen before, but never someone who made fishing look so easy. Catching a ten-kilogram fish as easily as catching a little eel—he’d never seen anything like it. Of course, he’d never seen anyone fish without bait before either.

Zhao Jue picked up the fish bag, which weighed over twenty kilograms and was a bit heavy. At this point, the fish wasn’t as docile as before and kept thrashing around.

“I’ll leave the rod here,” Zhang Jiaohua said as he casually placed the rod on the ground and walked away.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” Wei Jun said, no longer interested in fishing. He quickly packed up the rods and followed after Zhang Jiaohua.

“It’s a pity we can’t cook it properly here. If we had the right conditions, the flavor would be amazing,” Zhao Jue said regretfully.

“That’s easy. Let me borrow your knife.”

Zhang Jiaohua borrowed a small knife from Zhao Jue, went to the riverbank, cut some small bamboo sticks, and skillfully made a few long skewers. He then cut the fish into pieces, skewered them, and built a fire on the riverbank. He roasted the fish over the fire, and soon, the sizzling sound of the fish cooking filled the air. The aroma of the fish mixed with the seasonings, stimulating everyone’s taste buds.

Liu Jiaying and Wang Xiaobin, who had already changed clothes and were pretending to be unwell in the tent, immediately got up when they smelled the delicious fragrance.

Liu Jiaying sniffed the air. “What smells so good?”

Fu Cha Hao Yue sniffed as well. “It smells like roasted fish. It really does smell delicious!”

“Let’s go, let’s hurry before Wei Jun eats it all by himself,” Liu Jiaying said quickly.

He Dongsheng, worried that Liu Jiaying might still be feeling unwell after her scare, said, “Why don’t you wait here? I’ll go bring it to you.”

But Liu Jiaying, as if transformed into a sprinter, dashed to the riverbank at full speed and immediately grabbed a skewer of fish from Zhang Jiaohua’s hands, devouring it eagerly.

This passage illustrates Zhang Jiaohua’s impressive fishing skills, his luck, and his ability to catch fish without bait, much to the surprise and awe of the others.