My September Fishing Adventure in Suzhou’s Countryside
Let me set the scene: I’m a guy from northern China, working my way through days in Suzhou, and honestly? This place only has two seasons—blistering summer and freezing winter. But back in May, my work hours got shorter, and suddenly I had all this free time on my hands. My cousins are obsessed with fishing, so I figured, why not give it a shot? That’s how I fell down the fishing rabbit hole, and ever since, every free minute I have, I’m daydreaming about casting a line.
Counting Down to Saturday: The Day I Finally Got to Fish
When you’re stuck working most of the week, the only thing that gets you through is the thought of your day off. For me, that day was Saturday, September 17th. I pulled a night shift, and as soon as it ended, I didn’t even bother going home to crash first. At 7:10 AM, I grabbed my gear and hit the road, dead set on reaching my first spot: Jiangwan Village, Chefang, Suzhou. I rolled up at 7:30, and let me tell you—this place is straight-up postcard material.
Southern China’s countryside isn’t just pretty on the surface; it wraps around you like a warm blanket. The quiet, the greenery, the way the light hits the water? It’s impossible not to feel relaxed. I found a wide stretch of river, and got to setting up: fishing tackle box, sun umbrella, rod holder, my trusty rod—everything had to be perfect. I was ready to make my mark.
Morning Session: No Airplane Mode Today (Thank Goodness)
My Gear & Bait Setup
- Rod: Mermaid 10-Year Love (15ft / 4.5m)
- Line Combo: 1.5 Mermaid main line, 1.2 leader line, 5# Gold Sleeve hook, float with 1.5g weight (I need the bolded two eyes—can’t see those thin tails to save my life)
- Bait: 20% Mermaid fishy-scent bait + 80% milk-scent bait, plus a new grain bait from Western Wind
I set my float to 4 eyes up, 2 eyes under the water—classic setup, right? I waited… and waited… and waited. Finally, a bite! I jerked the rod up, and landed… a tiny whitebait. Useless to me, so I tossed it back. Then nothing. Nada. Zilch. I sat there for hours, staring at that float like it owed me money. I started to panic—was I gonna get skunked on my first real day out in weeks?
Then, at 11 AM, the float dipped. I didn’t even hesitate—jerked that rod, and felt the familiar tug of a crucian carp! It was only a small one, maybe a couple ounces, but I practically cheered. That single fish meant I wasn’t going home empty-handed. Over the next little while, I caught two more small crucian carp, then wrapped up the morning with a tiny common carp that weighed less than 2 ounces. Straight back into the river it went—no thanks, I don’t keep tiny fish.
By then, my stomach was growling loud enough to scare the fish away, but first, I had to snap some pics of my tiny but hard-earned catch:
With that, I packed up the morning gear and went to grab some lunch—can’t fish on an empty stomach, after all.
Afternoon Session: Chasing Big Fish (And Dealing with Floating Weeds)
After a quick meal, I headed to the spot where I’d caught my first “big” fish (okay, it was still small by some standards, but it felt huge to me). I switched up my gear entirely for this round—time to step up my game for bigger targets.
Afternoon Gear & Bait Setup
- Rod: Skyworth Ling Tian II (20.7ft / 6.3m)
- Line Combo: 3.0 Lianqiu main line, 2.0 leader line, 5# Iseama hook (hand-tied by the shop owner—shoutout to that guy), float with 2.2g weight (again, bolded eyes for my bad vision)
- Bait: Western Wind’s new grain bait, fished on corn with a running lead setup (heavy lead straight on the bottom)
I chummed the water, and within 10 minutes, my float started bobbing up and down—then a big dip! I struck, and… another crucian carp. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to catch something, but I was here for bigger game. Still, I snapped a pic to document it:
Then, nothing. I waited an entire hour, and just when I was starting to think I’d get skunked in the afternoon, floating weeds started drifting down from upstream. They wrapped around my line and float, pulling it all over the place. I tried to fix it, but after 10 minutes of fighting the weeds instead of fishing, I threw in the towel. No patience left.
As I was packing up, I noticed something hilarious about my lead sinker—look at this thing:
I mean, how does that even happen? Guess that’s what you get when you drag it across the river bottom all day. I packed up, washed my car, and headed home—hungry, a little tired, but overall pretty stoked.
Final Thoughts: It’s Not About the Catch (Mostly)
Did I catch a ton of fish? No. Were any of them big enough to keep? Nope. But here’s the thing—this day wasn’t about the numbers. It was about escaping the grind of work, sitting in a beautiful place, and doing something that makes me happy. As a new fisherman, every small win feels like a huge victory. Not going home empty-handed? That’s a win. Feeling the tug of a fish on my line after hours of waiting? That’s a win. Even dealing with those annoying floating weeds was part of the adventure.
For anyone else just getting into fishing, don’t get discouraged if your first few trips are slow. It’s all about the process: learning what gear works for you, figuring out when the fish bite, and just enjoying the time outdoors. And hey, if you’re in Suzhou, do yourself a favor and check out Jiangwan Village—even if you don’t catch a thing, the view alone is worth the trip. Now, I’m already counting down to my next day off… let’s hope the fish are a little more cooperative next time!
