102: Undersea Ninja

The three people on the harvest worked for more than two hours to sort and size all the crabs and sea shrimp and put them into the fresh-keeping hold.

"Are you tired, Old Yang?" Bai Dahai handed Yang Dad a cigarette.

"My legs are numb, but this is the good kind of tired from picking up money. It's worth it."

"Hahaha! Old Yang is right, we're basically just picking up money."

"We'll head back now to collect the longline and gillnets, then put them back in place. It'll be almost time to return to port, sell the catch, and resupply. Tomorrow morning, we'll come back to collect them one more time and also pull up the traps."

Without further ado, the three of them got themselves ready and started to collect the longline and gillnets.

As the winch started, the longline was slowly pulled up, laden with many fish: Grouper, Barramundi, Striped Beakfish, Black Seabream, Sea Bass, and so on.

Bai Dahai excitedly shouted, "Look at this haul, today is truly a great harvest!"

Yang Dad also couldn't stop smiling, quickly removing the fish from the hooks and putting them into the live fish tank.

The fish caught on the longline were relatively larger in size. The five baskets of 200-meter longline also yielded several hundred catties of various fish.

Afterward, they re-baited the longline and put it back in its original spot.

The gillnets also yielded a bountiful harvest, with various sea fish firmly entangled in the net. The fish in the gillnets were more diverse, with all sizes, and it took the three of them quite some time to remove all the fish before returning the nets to the sea.

On the way back to port, they trawled one more net. One person steered the boat, and two people sorted the catch. When they reached the pier, there were still some fish that hadn't been sorted.

Chen Lanying and the others waiting at the pier swarmed forward to help tie up the crabs.

Chen Tianming also received a call and had already brought people to wait for a long time. After weighing, all the fish combined surprisingly reached 486,000.

This was also because seafood prices had dropped since the fishing season opened, and Chen Tianming didn't buy nearly 70 catties of small fish caught in the gillnets.

This was not an issue; the two women had already discussed it. They would take some home for Chen Zhongwei to eat, and the rest they would take to the pier to set up a stall for retail.

A slightly cheaper price was fine, as long as everything sold, it was profit.

After paying, Chen Tianming smiled at Yang Dad and the others, saying, "Uncle Yang, you guys are truly amazing. The haul on this first day should absolutely surpass most fishing boats."

Yang Dad waved his hand and politely said, "Just good luck, mainly we ran into a school of fish."

Everyone exchanged pleasantries for a while, then parted ways.

Bai Dahai first took these small fish to the pier, letting Chen Lanying and the others sell them.

Yang Dad and his crew began to resupply. They purchased fresh bait, fuel, ice, and some daily necessities.

The group agreed to depart at 5 AM the next morning.

Early the next morning, the harvest once again sailed towards that sea area. The three of them, full of anticipation, pulled up the traps, which indeed contained many crabs and shrimp, as well as some octopuses and shellfish.

After resetting the traps, they went to check the longline and gillnets. This trip's harvest was still considerable, and the three of them were happily busy.

Next, it was time to find a place to trawl.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi and Bai Xue were looking for a place to fish.

Yang Qi was driving the fishing boat past a rocky beach. Strangely, there were some structures on the seabed, clearly a place for fish to hide, but there weren't many large schools of fish. There were some small fish and shrimp, though.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a stone move.

"Hmm... what's going on?"

Yang Qi stared at the "stone" for a while. But then the "stone" became motionless again.

While he was wondering, a few more "stones" nearby moved.

He looked closely and realized it was a fish!

"So it's Stonefish!"

Yang Qi remembered. Stonefish are known for their stone-like appearance, also called 'Rose Scorpionfish' or 'Seabed Ninja'.

They belong to the genus Synanceia in the family Scorpaenidae. Their dorsal fins have 12 to 14 needle-like venomous spines. If stung, the neurotoxin quickly enters the victim's body, causing severe swelling and pain in mild cases, and convulsions, even fainting or death in severe cases.

Therefore, Stonefish are also known as the most venomous fish in nature.

However, because their flesh is very delicious, has no fine bones, and is very nutritious,

Their market price is also very attractive, with fish weighing around one catty reaching 300 yuan per catty. The larger the individual, the higher the price.

Yang Qi immediately stopped the fishing boat and called Bai Xue to start fishing.

No bait, but chum first!

No chumming, no big catch!

Two whole antarctic shrimp bricks were thrown into the water with a "thump, thump, thump" on one side. The Stonefish on the seabed smelled the food and slowly swam towards the antarctic shrimp bricks.

Stonefish usually stay motionless, disguised as rocks, waiting for small fish and shrimp to swim by before suddenly attacking. Hence, they are also called 'Seabed Ninjas'.

Yang Qi baited his hook with Shrimp and started fishing. Stonefish were usually accustomed to being aggressive and didn't bother with testing the bait, swallowing it whole right away.

Yang Qi immediately raised his rod to set the hook, rapidly reeling in the line. He paused for a moment in between to allow the Stonefish to adapt to the water pressure.

This Stonefish, weighing about 5 catties, was slowly pulled to the surface.

Even with gloves, he dared not handle this type of fish directly. He took a fish gripper, carefully removed the fish, and checked that its swim bladder hadn't been expelled.

"It should be fine! It can probably be kept alive!" Yang Qi thought, then put the fish into the live fish tank.

"Stonefish? Yang Qi Ge, this is Stonefish! You're so lucky! I wonder what kind of fish I've hooked!"

Bai Xue also saw the Stonefish that Yang Qi had caught and was a little envious.

"Hehehe, you'll catch Stonefish too. Be careful when you remove the fish!"

Yang Qi, of course, also saw the Stonefish on Bai Xue's hook.

While they were talking, Yang Qi's fishing rod got another bite, again a Stonefish.

Just like that, one after another, they continuously caught fish, one after the other.

Yang Qi instructed Bai Xue to throw any fish under one catty back into the sea.

"Go back! Little ones, go call your dads, moms, grandpas, and grandmas over, I'll treat them to a hot spring bath."

Most of the larger Stonefish nearby had been caught. Yang Qi drove the boat a bit further, continued to chum and attract fish, and then the two of them continued to catch fish one after another.

Finally, they had caught most of the Stonefish in this area that weighed over one catty.

"Alright! Let's leave the rest! Grow up quickly." Yang Qi thought to himself.

He continued to drive the boat, looking for valuable schools of fish.

Yang Qi made a quick count; he and Bai Xue had caught about one hundred seventy or eighty Stonefish.

"A bountiful harvest! Hehehe!"

Yang Qi was driving the fishing boat forward when he suddenly saw a very large school of fish slowly approaching him, dense and numerous, but the individual fish seemed very small.