LureGo

Everyone's Lure Fishing Skills Got 10,000 Times Worse. Mine Didn't. Chapter 1: He Didn't Backlash? I grabbed my gear and headed to my usual spot by the river. The bank was packed. A master angler in sponsor-covered clothes stood on a red carpet. Behind him were two assistants: one holding scissors, the other a spare spool. A sign read: MASTER CHEN ATTEMPTS A FIVE-METER CAST! A NEW NATIONAL RECORD? I knew him. Last month, he'd kicked me out of our fishing chat because my casts were too short. Master Chen took a deep breath and swung his rod. The lure splashed down. About three meters from shore. At the same time, a ball of yarn sprouted inside his reel. The crowd erupted in applause. "It's in the water! Referee! Measure it!" An assistant crouched to take apart the reel, looking like a doctor trying to save a patient. I couldn't help myself. "That counts?" Silence fell. Master Chen turned to me, then looked at my baitcaster. "Young man, how long have you used that kind of reel?" "Three years." "Then you should know a backlash is unavoidable." I glanced at his tangled line. "Can't you just adjust the brakes?" The assistant dropped his scissors. Master Chen sneered and stepped aside. "Your turn." I set the brakes and made an easy cast toward a bridge pier twenty meters away. The minnow lure skimmed over the water. I lightly thumbed the spool, and it landed neatly beside the pier. Not a sound behind me. I turned. Dozens of people were staring at my reel. The assistant with the scissors was quietly taking off his work uniform. "The line... isn't tangled?" Master Chen came closer. "Who taught you?" "Customer service at the reel shop. They sent me a tutorial video." An old man whipped out his phone. "Which shop? Send me the link!" I twitched the rod tip twice, then paused. Suddenly, I felt a tug. I instinctively set the hook. A palm-sized bass broke the surface. The crowd stepped back as one. Master Chen's mouth hung open for a long time. I lifted the fish onto the bank, a little embarrassed. "It's kind of small." The old man grabbed my hand. Even his voice had changed. "Just now... you dared to stop while reeling it in?" "The fish was following. I paused to let it bite." He turned to the camera and spoke slowly, word by word. "Everyone, we always thought reeling in was how you got your lure back." "This young man was actually enticing a fish to attack!" I crouched to remove the hook. Master Chen suddenly planted a hand on my tackle box. "Maybe it was just luck." He took off his gold watch and slapped it onto the lid. "Do you dare catch another?" I stared at the watch and swallowed. Uh-oh.