Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 852 - 572: Heroes Contend for Supremacy

At Old Ma’s level, ordinary gifts wouldn’t impress him, but for a veteran angler like him, no matter your status, you can’t resist the temptation of top-notch fishing equipment.

Sure enough, Zhang Yang took Old Ma to the newly stocked ’arsenal’ of equipment. As he briefly introduced a few custom rods with different specifications and performance, Old Ma couldn’t take his eyes off them.

In pursuit of ultimate rod performance and feel, Zhang Yang ordered custom rods from a fishing gear company that were naked carbon rods without paint. They may look plain at first, but once in hand, the sensation is simply amazing.

After Old Ma expertly extended the rods and conducted a basic test by pressing them against the indoor ceiling to gauge their backbone strength, he couldn’t put them down.

"Wow, this rod is great! It feels so light, yet the backbone is quite strong! Have you tested the data on the equipment? What size line group can it handle?" Old Ma asked, his eyes sparkling.

Zhang Yang grinned proudly as he replied, "18 feet long, no problem stabilizing a 1.5 size leader! The max test value, conservatively, is about 2.4 kilograms! The key parts use T1000 carbon fabric from Japan, basically maxing out the performance!"

"T1000? Isn’t that only used in those high-end imported rods? How did domestic fishing rod manufacturers get it?"

Talking with someone knowledgeable is easy; if it were a regular angler, they might have no understanding of this carbon fabric specification, no matter how much you brag.

But Old Ma is different. As a seasoned fishing enthusiast, he knows enough about domestic and foreign top brand products, and he’s particularly knowledgeable about the material parameters and performance aspects.

"Haha, it’s definitely a challenge. This was done by Old Zhao, who requested a favor from Baofeilong to help with samples!

These high-end carbon rods are great, but during production, the losses and defects are severe.

The resin content in the carbon fabric is too low, requiring very high precision, as minor differences during rolling and shaping can cause issues with the rod’s performance.

To produce about ten sets of finished rods, we wasted more than double that amount. The ones now in stock have been fully tested and selected as excellent items with very stable performance!"

Baofeilong fishing rods are considered a premier manufacturer of fishing rods in the domestic industry, so getting the sought-after T1000 carbon fabric makes sense.

Though Zhang Yang spoke as if it were easy, the difficulty of custom production is known only to those directly involved.

To put it in perspective, considering the upfront costs of developing molds, tuning, and waste rates in all aspects, the total expense of stocking these rods easily reaches nearly twenty thousand.

This cost is despite Old Zhao incurring a favor. Comparing the cost per meter of finished fishing rods, it’s significantly higher than fully imported Japanese rods.

At Zhang Yang’s professional competitive team level, even minute performance differences in equipment can give anglers a competitive edge in high-level competitions. He believes spending such amounts on custom rods is absolutely worth it.

"Wow, they’re really good!" Old Ma felt the rod in his hand was even more potent after hearing Zhang Yang’s introduction.

"If you like it, don’t hold back. Choose a suitable size to take! Now that the molds are developed, we can ask the company to replenish them anytime!" Zhang Yang gestured with a flourish, openly offering him a choice.

"Then I won’t hold back! I’ll take one of each: three meters six, four meters five, five meters four, and size four rods!"

"Done! Here’s the best handle wrap currently available domestically, I’ll wrap it for you!"

"Haha, great!"

...

The two started picking out rods in the equipment warehouse. Soon enough, they’d adjusted the rods, and Zhang Yang found the team’s high-end handle wrap on another shelf and skillfully wrapped them for Old Ma.

The gourd-shaped handle wrap greatly enhanced the grip, maximizing the details.

After selecting and collecting the rods, Old Ma also grabbed some of Zhang Yang’s team’s competition accessories from the warehouse. The two circled the modest-sized warehouse for a good hour before leaving satisfied with their inventory records.

Old Ma originally arrived around ten, and while they lingered in the warehouse, it was meal time when they headed downstairs.

A welcome banquet was already planned. Once downstairs, Zhang Yang called everyone to head out from the club together, straight to a regularly visited hotel to meet up with Old Zhao.

The following time was spent drinking and dining, exchanging cheers and drinks. After half a month of interaction, both sides were well-acquainted with each other’s temperaments, making lunch exceptionally enjoyable. They might not have drunk excessively, but the mood was in high spirits, and the table had a great atmosphere.

After eating and drinking, it was already past 1:30 p.m. Zhang Yang and Old Ma had both drunk, so they couldn’t drive and had Liu Zi act as the driver to take everyone home.

Other team members returned to the club, rested briefly, and continued training in the afternoon, while Liu Zi took Zhang Yang and Old Ma back to the reservoir base.

Old Ma’s visit was clearly because he didn’t stay long enough during his previous half-month visit. After handling things at home, he’s now aiming to stay for at least a month.