As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 172: Chapter 159: Never Been So Wealthy_2

Then he bid her farewell, left the neighborhood, and drove off to purchase shrimp cages and crab cages.

Fish needed to be caught, but shrimps and crabs couldn’t be overlooked either.

Especially wild spot shrimps, black tiger shrimps, and other valuable varieties—if he could catch some, he reckoned they’d fetch a tidy sum, since such wild shrimps commanded exorbitant prices.

He also conveniently bought ten foam floats and some cheap mackerel live bait, which would be used later on.

Having bought all the bait and crushed ice, Chu Mingcheng arrived at the dock.

He moved all his gear onto the boat and set sail.

Despite the fact that Chu Mingcheng had been busy buying groceries and cooking lunch, he had actually gotten up very early today; it was not even eight o’clock when he headed out to sea.

He steered the boat directly to the solitary island where he had previously hunted the dragon gizzard grouper, an area rich in resources.

Last time, he had spent over three hours getting there due to the need to search for fishing spots.

But by setting the coordinates and heading straight there, the journey should be much shorter, likely taking only about two and a half hours.

During the trip, Chu Mingcheng was far from idle.

He sat at the helm, tying Dali Ma Line to a foam float, and then attached a fish hook.

Later, attaching a live mackerel to the hook would naturally attract the predators below the surface. All he needed to do was reel in the line according to the float’s movement.

He had considered using long lines or droplines, but using either on a fishing boat would be quite troublesome for one person and would require cooperation from another.

It would be more convenient to simply find a good area for fishing instead.

Upon reaching the destination, Chu Mingcheng positioned the boat at the previously productive fishing spot, where there were plenty of deep-water boulders under the water.

He pierced the live mackerel’s back with a fish hook and, along with the foam float, threw it into the water, quickly casting all ten foam floats.

After that, he didn’t concern himself with these lines and continued to a further spot to set the shrimp cages and crab cages.

These cages were also equipped with small floats, making them easy to find.

Just as he finished setting down the shrimp and crab cages, Chu Mingcheng spotted a flock of sea birds passing by.

They did not go far and instead lingered over the distant sea surface.

Chu Mingcheng’s eyes lit up—isn’t this where the fishing hot spot was?

He had planned to fish near the island, but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary at the moment.

Hurrying back to the wheelhouse, he steered the boat towards the birds, grabbing his binoculars on the way to observe from the bow.

He could see occasional splashes on the water, but due to the distance, he couldn’t make out what type of fish they were.

But no matter, having fish around was good enough.

And by the commotion, he could roughly tell how fierce the fish were, so today he opted to bring out his 80-class rod for big fish.

After preparing the line, he set the fishing rod firmly into the holder. Chu Mingcheng then took out the frozen mackerel bait from his fridge.

This bait was left over from Brother Haiwang and the others; they barely used much last time, and the afternoon was nearly a bust.

However, upon looking at the sea conditions, Chu Mingcheng was startled and promptly put the frozen mackerel back into the fridge.

Because there was a large school of sardines on the surface, and the fish causing the splashes were bomb fish, also known as sailfish.

Sailfish are perhaps the easiest fish to catch when boat fishing, perhaps unrivaled in that regard.

They have a habit of rushing to the side of the boat to snatch bait, and catching them is hardly more difficult than retrieving fish from the fridge.

In some videos, in countries where life is good like Japan, there are boats dedicated to sailfishing.

A line of anglers stands by the rail, each with a long rod; they catch a fish with every cast, and those with strength and speed can land nearly one every two seconds.

Unfortunately, Chu Mingcheng didn’t have this kind of fishing rod, nor did he know the specific technique for fishing.

He took out his dip net and scooped it directly into the water, and immediately caught a cluster of sardines, which showed the density of the fish shoal.

Some sea birds were also resting on the gunwale at this moment, but Chu Mingcheng was too lazy to deal with them.

After tossing the sardines into the fish box and mixing them with the remaining ten live mackerel, he scooped two more times with his net before stopping.

He baited the hook with a sardine and cast it into the water. Under the added weight of the lead sinker, the bait quickly sank toward the middle.

Once he felt he had let out enough line, he locked the line cup to keep the bait at a mid to upper water level.

The sailfish shoal was impressively large in number, with smaller ones swimming near the surface and the larger ones relatively deeper down.

Chu Mingcheng wanted a big one, so naturally, he had to sink his bait deeper.

Suddenly, the fishing line tensed up, and the tip of the rod jerked downward sharply.

Had he got a bite already?

Chu Mingcheng hardly had time to be surprised before he quickly grasped the rod and lifted it to set the hook on the fish.

He observed the direction of the fish; it was swimming straight ahead, which meant there was no need to remove the rod from the holder, as he could fight the fish more easily with the support of the boat’s structure.

The sailfish was incredibly fast and strong.

Chu Mingcheng, gripping the rod, tried to lift it, only to find he could barely move it.

The fish he had hooked seemed to be not small at all!

The locked line cup was of little use; the line continued to be steadily pulled out.

But since he was using a heavy-duty Dali Ma Line, Chu Mingcheng made an effort to tire out the fish quickly and tried his best to pull and play the fish, looking to reel it in swiftly.

The sailfish, constantly being tugged—or rather yanked—back, started to zigzag irregularly to the left and right.

“Splash!”

A huge splash erupted as the fish at the end of Chu Mingcheng’s vigorous pulling finally breached the surface of the water.

The sailfish thrashed and slapped its body on the surface, then dived back down again.

But by then, reaching the deep water had become impossible, and it could only dart around at the surface, scattering the sardines in panic, which Chu Mingcheng could clearly see from the boat.

However, it was soon pulled right up to the side of the boat. Its strength was not entirely depleted, it continued to beat its tail next to the gunwale.

Chu Mingcheng knew he couldn’t miss this opportunity, so he let go of the rod and quickly grabbed his gaff.

The fish was about seventy to eighty centimeters long, weighing probably more than forty pounds. There was no way he could lift it on board with a dip net, so the gaff was the best choice.

However, as he took the gaff, he didn’t hold the reel handle, which let the fish pull out a bit more line and get further away.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng had to put down the gaff again and reel it back.

This time, timing it right, he let go of the reel handle when the fish got close, and with precision, he hooked the gaff into the back area of the fish.

The point of the hook stabbed into the fish’s body, and in pain, the sailfish struggled fiercely once more.

But it was already hooked by the gaff and stood no chance of escaping.

After it quieted down, Chu Mingcheng exerted his strength, lifted the fish out of the water, and threw it onto the deck.

Like the Golden Spearfish, sailfish need to keep swimming in water to breathe.

Once hooked, it was not possible to keep them alive, and it needed to be bled out and processed.

At that moment, Chu Mingcheng did not pay attention to the sailfish but went back into the cockpit to fetch his electric winch and another heavy-duty fishing rod.

With such promising fishing conditions, it would be a shame not to use the electric winch.

Source: Webn𝘰vel.com, updated on Novg𝘰.co