Chapter 16: Lure Fly Fishing

Another morning dawned, and Lin Yu'an went out on an empty stomach.

He took out his fishing tackle bag from his equipment pack, containing various sizes of fishing line, hooks, and a small amount of lead sinkers. He also took out some secret weapons he had brought!

These were several custom hooks made from high-carbon steel, sharpened to exceptional sharpness with tiny barbs, along with a small roll of almost transparent but extremely tough special nylon fishing line.

He didn't choose common earthworms or insects as bait, because in the low-temperature environment after the rain had just cleared, these live baits were hard to find and had low activity levels.

Here Lin Yu'an was actually somewhat careless, he hadn't thought to bring lures! So he could only use some feathers left from processing the grouse, then use fine fishing line to cleverly bind the feathers and bark to the custom hooks, creating several lifelike small lures.

He waved a completed lure in front of the camera, "Look at this. In clear lake water, this kind of lure easily attracts the attention of aggressive predatory fish."

"To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools! Today, let's try to see if we can catch our dinner from this stream!"

Without a suitable fishing rod, he planned to try hand-line fly fishing. He carefully cut about seven to eight meters from that roll of special nylon line. This length could ensure a certain casting distance while not being too difficult to control without a reel's assistance. He tied the feather lure and hook to the end of the line with a secure fisherman's knot.

With everything ready, Lin Yu'an stood up, his sharp gaze sweeping across the water surface. He loosely coiled most of the line in his gloved left hand, his right hand grasping about a meter from the line's end, with the feather lure gently swaying below.

He began attempting to cast, first gently swinging to let the lure trace small arcs in front of him, feeling the weight of the line and the lure's dynamics.

Then he increased the swing's amplitude and force, his right arm accelerating the line and lure in circles through the air. Timing it perfectly, he flicked his wrist while releasing part of the coiled line from his left hand.

"Whoosh," a slight sound of cutting air. The feather lure, carrying the almost transparent line, traced an arc through the air that wasn't too far but was sufficiently accurate, landing gracefully at the edge of the backwater near the large bluestone. The landing point barely disturbed the water surface, creating only the slightest ripples.

After the lure entered the water, it began drifting slowly with the weak current. Lin Yu'an focused intently, his right index finger and thumb lightly pinching the line, feeling any subtle movement from underwater.

He occasionally used his finger to lightly twitch the line, making the underwater feather lure perform irregular jumps, like a struggling insect or startled small fish. The bright feathers appeared and disappeared in the water.

He patiently changed casting points, from the backwater's center to the aquatic plant edges, then near rock crevices, while constantly being careful to avoid snagging the hook on underwater vegetation. Each cast, each lure movement, required precise control of the line in his hands.

After about half an hour, just as he cast the lure toward the side of an underwater reef, let it drift naturally with the current, then used his finger to gently hook upward, making the lure perform a small lifting motion underwater.

"Tap!"

A clear and brief sinking sensation, like an electric current shooting straight from the line into his finger!

Lin Yu'an's heart tightened. Almost by instinct, his right hand jerked upward while his left hand quickly tightened the coiled line!

"Got one!"

A powerful force instantly erupted from underwater! The line was suddenly yanked toward deep water! Lin Yu'an's right hand was pulled painfully. But he gripped the line tightly, not daring to relax even slightly! He quickly pulled hard with his gloved left hand. Without a rod's buffer, he could only rely on both hands to battle the underwater prey.

"What a fighter, such strength!" Lin Yu'an growled low, his left hand rapidly releasing and retrieving line, trying to control the fish's charging momentum.

The underwater creature obviously wasn't willing to surrender. It thrashed wildly underwater, left and right, creating trails of water with the line.

Lin Yu'an kept his eyes fixed on the line's direction, constantly adjusting his standing position and the angle of pulling the line. Sometimes quickly retrieving line to pull the fish closer to shore, sometimes having to rapidly release line, letting that tremendous force drag the line back toward deep water to avoid breaking the line.

"Splash!" A tremendous sound, water spraying everywhere! A silvery fish suddenly leaped from the water, vigorously shaking its head in mid-air, trying to break free from the hook's restraint.

Under the sunlight, its unique rainbow-like luster and a bright red stripe running along its side were particularly striking against the water droplets!

"It's a rainbow trout! Beautiful rainbow trout!" Lin Yu'an called out excitedly, and the camera faithfully recorded this thrilling moment!

After the rainbow trout fell back into the water, there was another even more violent struggle!

Lin Yu'an fought the fish with hand-line, every bit of force acting directly on his hands. This primitive confrontation made his adrenaline surge! This feeling was incredible, no wonder there were so many fishing enthusiasts!

He felt the fish's strength gradually weakening, each charge becoming shorter in distance and weaker in force.

The timing was about right!

Lin Yu'an began using his left hand to retrieve the line coil by coil, while his right hand maintained tension on the fish. He slowly backed up, guiding the fish toward the shallow stone beach near shore. Though the rainbow trout still thrashed on the water surface, creating splashes, it was powerless to change direction.

Finally, that beautiful rainbow trout was gradually dragged by him to the shallow water area near shore, lying on its side among the pebbles, weakly opening its mouth, gills opening and closing.

Lin Yu'an quickly set down the line in his hands, stepped forward quickly, and carefully cupped the fish's body behind the gills with both hands, lifting it up.

This rainbow trout had a sleek, beautiful form, estimated to weigh at least three pounds. The fish's body gleamed with captivating metallic luster in the sunlight, and that characteristic red stripe was as brilliant as a rainbow.

He held the fish up to the camera, his face showing uncontainable excitement and satisfaction, "Wow! So beautiful! Guys, look at this rainbow trout! Did you see that? A rainbow trout caught with pure hand-line fly fishing! Now we definitely have enough protein for dinner!"

When the fish were biting, nothing could stop them.

Over the next few hours, Lin Yu'an successively caught eight more slightly smaller trout. Though the process wasn't entirely smooth, with a few fish breaking the line and escaping, he ultimately had a bountiful harvest thanks to his excellent technique and exceptional patience.

This definitely wasn't beginner's luck buff enhancement! He believed when this footage aired, there would certainly be many fishing enthusiasts on screen gnashing their teeth and saying the resources were really good.

After processing the fish by the river and returning to the permanent camp with his abundant catch, he felt incredibly strong now! He had no idea what being skunked meant!

"Guys, look at this. I found a piece of aluminum foil by the lake, probably thrown into the lake by people on a tour boat and washed to shore."

"What others consider trash is the most useful tool for me right now!"

He then wrapped that largest fresh rainbow trout in the foil, added a little salt, and threw it directly into the embers beside the burning fire for braising.

For the remaining fish, he chose to preserve them through smoking.

He built a simple smoking rack beside the camp, strung the cleaned fish on branches, hung them on the rack, then lit a slow fire below mixed with damp pine needles and birch bark, letting the rich smoke slowly cure the fish meat.

He boasted to the camera, "Smoking is a very effective method for preserving meat and fish. It not only extends shelf life but also gives food unique flavor. These many fish are enough for me to eat for several days. I can't waste them and must process them properly for longer preservation."

When the foil-wrapped rainbow trout was removed from the fire and opened, a rich fresh aroma mixed with light charred fragrance hit the nose. The fish meat had become crispy outside and tender inside under high-temperature braising, juicy and succulent.

Lin Yu'an tore off a piece of tender fish meat and heartily devoured it. Soon he had completely finished the entire grilled fish. The hunger in his belly was thoroughly dispelled, replaced by warmth from inside out. That ultimate freshness, mixed with just-right saltiness and fragrance, left his taste buds completely satisfied.

He closed his eyes and sighed with intoxication, "Guys, if you could also taste this flavor, you'd understand why so many people are so fascinated with wilderness survival! This pure, natural deliciousness is incomparable to any high-end restaurant!"

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