107: Leisure night fishing

Yang Qi set up the automatic fishing mode and then turned around to sit at the table to drink tea.

It was already past 6 PM, and Yang Qi glanced at the horizon; the sunset glow was rising, and a red sun hung over the sea, as if being gently pulled by the waves.

The two sat in their chairs, quietly admiring the beautiful sunset.

They didn't watch for long; although the sun was no longer scorching hot, after watching for a while, their eyes couldn't take it anymore.

A pot of tea was finished, and there was still no movement from the electric reel. Yang Qi wasn't in a hurry; after all, he had already caught so many valuable fish today.

Now, if no fish bite, it doesn't matter!

At this point, Bai Xue had already been persuaded by Yang Qi to go back to sleep.

Yang Qi leaned back in his chair, looking up at the starry sky, where countless stars twinkled and vied for brilliance, without a speck of dust, extremely clean.

He couldn't look for too long, otherwise he would have the illusion of being integrated into the starry sky.

Yang Qi retracted his gaze and looked around; a complete darkness surrounded him, making him feel so small.

Yang Qi got up and turned on the fishing boat's lights, and the fishing boat instantly lit up.

Everywhere the light reached was bright, but beyond ten meters or so, the light was swallowed by the darkness.

If one looked down from a high altitude, it would be like a firefly flying in the dark, looking somewhat eerie.

Yang Qi walked to the side of the boat and saw clusters of faint yellow light under the seawater.

He looked closely and realized they were groups of seahorses, suspended one or two meters deep in the water, almost motionless, their bellies emitting a warm yellow glow.

“These things are great tonics!”

“At least they are worth dozens of yuan each! There are at least several thousand here. Tsk tsk tsk.”

“Unfortunately, seahorses are protected animals. Touching one means a minimum of three years and free time on a sewing machine! It's too uneconomical.”

Yang Qi shook his head and sighed.

However, by this time, several small groups of fish had gathered in the sea. The middle layer included some Red Seabream, Yellow Chicken Fish, Black Sea Bream, and some La Lun fish.

There were also many Groupers at the bottom of the sea, coming out to forage.

Yang Qi put one of the boat fishing rods to the bottom and two rods to the middle layer.

He also lowered a fish trap filled with antarctic shrimp.

Before long, the electric reel got a bite, and the “zzzz” sound of the three fishing rods reeling in line rose and fell, creating a lively scene!

Yang Qi continuously used the landing net to scoop up fish and cast his hook. Some of the caught fish needed to be deflated, and those that couldn't be kept alive were thrown into the fish basket to be sent to the freezing compartment later.

The number of fish caught was certainly much higher with the two rods fishing the middle layer, but in terms of value, the Groupers caught at the bottom were definitely more valuable.

However, there were exceptions, like just now, one of the rods fishing the middle layer caught an Red Snapper weighing eighty to ninety catties. A fish of this species and weight would certainly be worth a lot.

Suddenly, Yang Qi discovered a school of golden-yellow fish. Could it be…?

He didn't dare to think too much, as there were indeed many golden-yellow fish among sea fish.

Yang Qi reeled in one rod, re-baited it, and cast it forcefully, preparing to catch one to see if it was a Large Yellow Croaker.

Finally, a fish from the school bit the hook. With an excited heart and trembling hands, Yang Qi reeled it onto the deck for a closer look.

He had thought too much; this was not a Large Yellow Croaker, but its cousin, the Yellowfin Croaker.

Their colors and body shapes were indeed very similar. However, in terms of meat quality, taste, nutrition, and price, the two were worlds apart.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Yang Qi immediately lost interest in the Yellowfin Croaker.

Forget it! Let's fish the bottom instead!

The seabed structure in this area was quite rich, with rock piles, sparse coral reefs, seaweed, and various marine organisms, forming a biological community.

There were many small fish, less than three or two catties, which were the fry of larger fish, hiding here to avoid predation.

However, even in a small community, there are bullies, and big, boss-level fish occupy their own territory. He had just used his ability to sense a large fish patrolling and foraging in the rock piles.

“Hehehe, you're the one!”

Yang Qi slowly shook the fishing reel, guiding the bait in front of that big fellow.

Unexpectedly, this big fish took the bait with such ferocity that even Yang Qi himself was startled.

He instinctively lifted the rod to set the hook, and the “woo woo woo” sound of the fishing line cutting through the air was very piercing.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~, the fishing rod trembled violently.

“Hehehe~! A big Grouper is on the hook!”

“Take your time, try to get it ashore alive!”

Yang Qi turned off the automatic reeling switch, loosened the brake a bit, and let the fish run for dozens of meters.

When the big fish was about to dart back to the seabed, Yang Qi tightened the brake, held the boat rod with his right hand, and gripped the handle of the electric reel with his left hand.

He didn't let the fishing line go out any further. The big Grouper was pulled to a halt for a moment, and while it was stunned, Yang Qi shook the fishing reel with his left hand and began to reel in the line.

As a fisherman who had caught several hundred-pound Tuna multiple times, losing a fish was impossible!

A fisherman, right~! Never Empty Army!

“If I can't catch carp, I'll catch grass carp. If I can't catch grass carp, I'll catch crucian carp. If I can't catch crucian carp, I'll catch whitebait.”

“If I don't catch any fish at all, I'll look around for a vegetable patch and take some eggplants, beans, or corn. If there's really nothing, then I'll have to lie by the bank and drink a few sips of river water before leaving…”

Yang Qi had enough experience and patience to live-catch the big fellow underwater.

He would reel in ten meters and then pause, reel in ten meters and then pause.

Don't ask how he knew it was ten meters; that's because the fishing line had a different color every ten meters, making it easy to distinguish.

Finally, the large Grouper was slowly pulled to the surface of the sea.

Yang Qi picked up the large landing net and steadily scooped the big Green Grouper into the large net bag. He then pulled the fish onto the deck with force.

“At least forty catties. Although among Groupers, you're the most unpromising and least valuable, you're still big!”

The Green Grouper, belonging to the order Perciformes, has several orange-red spots on its lower body and six dark brown vertical stripes on its sides. It is a warm-water, mid-to-lower-level fish.

It has an elongated body, a relatively large head (larger than its body height), and a brightly colored, glossy body surface with dark horizontal stripes.

Because it has been widely farmed, it is a relatively common Grouper in the market and is also one of the lower-priced Groupers.

Yang Qi removed the hook and checked the fish's mouth. Fortunately, he didn't find any squeezed-out swim bladder.

He carefully picked up the big Green Grouper and placed it in the live fish hold.

Just as Yang Qi re-baited and put his rod back in the water, another boat fishing rod on the other side started to shake.

“Got one! Hahahaha!”

Yang Qi couldn't help but look at the seabed. It was a large Red Seabream, at least 90 catties.

He quickly grabbed the fishing rod on the rod holder and fiercely lifted it upwards to set the hook.

Then he slightly loosened the brake switch, letting the fish run for a while to reduce the force of the big Red Seabream.

The corner of the Red Seabream's mouth was painfully pierced by the hook, and it darted outwards with the fishing line, making a “whoosh whoosh” sound.

………………

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