Chapter 649: Chapter 407: Fishing by the Seaside
"Do you feel like the sea breeze is stronger today?"
"About the same."
Uesugi Sakura sat on a small stool next to the fishing spot and, while answering the question, saw the float not far away start to move.
"Got one."
"The first one of the day, huh."
With a flick of the fishing rod, a dark red grunt fish emerged from the water along with the fishing line.
Todaka Keichiro watched his neat technique and couldn’t help saying, "How do you learn everything so fast? Just a few days ago, you were a newbie who couldn’t even cast a fishing hook."
While removing the hook from the fish’s mouth, Uesugi Sakura replied, "Isn’t casting a hook pretty easy?"
"That’s not for sure. Haven’t you seen that group of girls? They haven’t caught a single fish so far! And they insist on using fly fishing."
"What’s fly fishing?"
"It’s a method where the hook is made to mimic the appearance of an insect, tricking the fish into thinking it’s a bug that fell into the water, so they come up and bite it," Todaka Keichiro explained. "The girls think these hooks look really pretty, so they’re all using this method."
"A bit like Jiang Taigong, huh."
"Jiang Taigong’s was just fishing without bait, offering the hook willingly."
Uesugi Sakura nodded and turned to ask, "Speaking of Jiang Shang’s method, can it really catch fish?"
"It can! Fish aren’t that smart and they’re nearsighted, so they might just mistake the hook for a shrimp and bite it," Todaka Keichiro said as he looked at the motionless bait on the water’s surface and sighed, "Why hasn’t anything bitten today?"
Uesugi Sakura laughed, "Didn’t you say fish are dumb? Maybe they hold a grudge against you."
"Didn’t catch any fish, didn’t nab a girlfriend, this group outing is a real failure."
"Why don’t you use your fishing skills to teach them? You can’t talk girlfriends just by fishing out here. Isn’t Umezu Nana really familiar with them? Have her introduce you."
"No, nope. It’d be too awkward for a guy like me to mix in with a bunch of girls, I wouldn’t even know what to talk about."
"Oh right, did that idea I gave you the other day work out?" Todaka Keichiro leaned over and asked quietly.
"Just now remembering to ask?" Uesugi Sakura rolled his eyes at him, "It worked, but it doesn’t change that it was a lousy idea."
"If it worked, then it wasn’t a lousy idea."
...
"How about you teach me fly fishing?" Uesugi Sakura asked.
"You sure you want to learn? Fly fishing requires specialized lines and rods, which can be quite pricey... and it’s hard to catch fish with it."
"Learn, of course, why not."
"Alright then."
Todaka Keichiro got up from the small stool and packed up one of the fishing rods in front of him.
Watching him reel in, Uesugi Sakura said, "No wonder you use two rods for fishing."
"What’s most captivating about fly fishing is the way the line dances through the air when casting," Todaka Keichiro said as he reeled in the line, "The hook swings with the rod, flying forward and lightly landing on the sea’s surface. It seems like you can catch fish casually, but actually, fly fishing is the hardest."
Having reeled in the line, Todaka Keichiro began the lesson.
"First, let out twice the length of the rod in the main line. With one hand holding the rod, cast it out, making the hook move slowly forward and back, forward and back, allowing the line to unfurl through the shakes..."
As he talked, he swung the rod back and forth, the line swinging in circles in the air.
As time went on, the swings became larger until, in one perfect moment, it leapt out toward the vast sea.
Because the fly bait was so light, there wasn’t even a sound when the hook hit the water.
Uesugi Sakura thought it looked pretty cool.
Holding the rod, Todaka Keichiro turned around and asked, "Want to learn?"
"Of course, why not."
...
"Why’d it land so close?"
"Don’t use too much strength, the fly bait is light to begin with. If you pull too hard, not only will the hook come back, you’ll scare the fish away. Uesugi, fly fishing isn’t easy to learn."
"Like this?" Uesugi Sakura tried changing the casting angle.
"Almost there."
Second try.
"Like this?"
Todaka Keichiro raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? That’s more like it."
Third attempt.
"Like this?"
Todaka Keichiro: "..."
...
"Thanks, huh."
Saying this, Uesugi Sakura picked up the bucket and stood up, walking back.
Todaka Keichiro turned his head and shouted to him, "Save me some fish! I didn’t have breakfast this morning."
Uesugi Sakura raised a hand behind him.
...
Arriving at a small seaside pavilion not far away.
The pavilion was well-equipped with utensils, a barbecue grill, tongs, steak knives... with a big bag of charcoal piled next to it.
But none of these had been used yet, they were just set aside for now.
—Simply put, there were no catches yet, so no ingredients to cook.
Uesugi Sakura noticed everyone was not there, so he picked up the bucket and turned to head back to the fishing spot to find someone.
Walking down the stairs below the pavilion and turning the corner, he saw a bunch of people fishing.
One fishing spot couldn’t gather too many people, which meant everyone was spread out.
—This was learned from the first day of fishing, when everyone was clumped together and only a few people caught a few fish.
The few grilled fish Todaka Keichiro caught in the past few days were real treats.
Uesugi Sakura walked down the rocky beach to where the girls were fishing.
There was a breeze by the sea, and the air was quite cold.
Hanamaru Hanabi had her hands cupped in front of her, rubbing them slightly, with half of her rosy cheeks buried in her scarf.
The fishing rod was in front of her, with a bucket beside her.
Kitagawa Sakisa and Kyujuu Rika were chatting not far from her.