114: Red Grouper

The fish situation was fleeting, and just as everyone felt their limbs were as heavy as lead, the bites suddenly stopped.

Yang Qi used his ability to check and sure enough, the fish school had swum away, moving very quickly, getting further and further, disappearing without a trace in less than a minute.

“Alright, the fish school should have left.”

The several people looked at the baskets of large barracuda behind them, and some large barracuda on the deck that hadn't been put into the fish baskets yet.

In about two hours of fishing, even Bai Lang had caught sixteen or seventeen large barracuda. Yang Qi himself, without stopping, caught thirty-five.

The several people began to organize the fish on the deck, throwing them into fish baskets and pulling them all into the freezer compartment to store them.

Yang Qi told them to find a place in the freezer compartment to store them.

Since Zhang Jun and his brother had paid for all the oil and ice for this fishing trip, Yang Qi planned to let them keep the fish they caught.

Zhang Jun and his brother didn't say much, although they had privately agreed to take some fish back when they returned.

But that didn't stop them from wanting to see how many fish they could catch.

As for Bai Lang, this kid was completely ignored.

“You find your own spot.”

“Aye! Brother-in-law, I got it!”

Bai Lang scurried off to find a place to put his fish baskets.

At the entrance of the freezer compartment, Yang Qi took out cigarettes and offered them to Zhang Jun and the other. He glanced at Bai Lang, who was looking at him eagerly, paused, and then pulled out a cigarette and handed it to Bai Lang.

“Want one?”

“Aye! Thank you, Brother-in-law!”

Looking at the fawning Bai Lang, everyone laughed.

They were all men, and who hadn't been young? They all thought back to when they first secretly smoked.

The group chatted happily for the length of a cigarette.

“Brother Jun, A-Fei, I might have to go retrieve the longline and gillnets next. You can rest or troll fish.”

“It's fine, you do whatever you want, don't worry about us. We'll take a rest too.”

Yang Qi piloted the setting sail towards the small island where they had set the longline yesterday.

The other three picked up the water hose and rinsed the deck. After cleaning up, they climbed onto the flybridge to enjoy the scenery.

More than an hour later, the setting sail arrived at the longline spot.

Yang Qi turned off the engine, walked out of the cockpit, picked up the gaff hook, hooked the buoy, and began to reel in the line.

He clearly felt a pull from the longline and turned to tell the others, “Not bad, we’ve caught some fish!”

Yang Qi had tasted the fun of “opening blind boxes” yesterday, so he didn't use his golden finger to check the fish underwater this time.

The few people standing behind him were very excited, each craning their necks to watch the longline and the water below. Soon, they saw a red mass circling in the water.

Bai Lang stood by with a landing net, eager to scoop up the fish at any moment.

“Brother-in-law, it looks like a Red Grouper! We're rich, we're rich!” Bai Lang shouted.

Yang Qi also saw the fish slowly being pulled out. Bai Lang extended his landing net and steadily scooped up the fish.

“It really is a Red Grouper, this fish tastes great!” Zhang Jun and Zhang Fei said from the side.

“Oh! Is it good? Then we'll have it for lunch, I haven't tasted it yet.” Yang Qi said happily.

“Let's see if there are any that are almost dead first. There's no need to take this one that's so lively.”

Zhang Jun reminded him from the side.

“Alright! If there aren't any, then it'll be this one.” Yang Qi shook the five-jin (approx. 2.5 kg) all-red Red Grouper in his hand.

Red Grouper is a deep-sea fish, also known as “Spotted Grouper” or “Stone Dog.” It gets its name from the red spots covering its body.

Red Grouper has a medium-long, flattened body, with many color variations, usually brown or red, with stripes and spots.

Red Grouper has the reputation of “Pufferfish in winter, Red Grouper in summer!”

Its flesh is delicious, its taste excellent, and it is rich in nutrients. It is a standout among Groupers.

This all-red Grouper is a fish with very distinct appearance characteristics.

Due to its extreme difficulty in breeding, Red Grouper fry are usually caught before they can be farmed.

Wild Spotted Grouper fetches a very high market price, even reaching 800 to 1500 yuan per jin.

The specific price also increases with the size of the individual.

“Not bad, a good start!”

Yang Qi vented the air from the Red Grouper and then put it into the live fish tank.

The second hook caught a seven or eight-jin Sea Bass. As Bai Lang scooped it up with the landing net, Yang Qi, with a look of disdain, removed the fish and said:

“It grew so big for nothing; its value isn't even a fraction of others.”

“Hahaha, it's good to have a catch, Bai Lang, you remove the fish, I'll scoop!”

Zhang Jun was getting a bit antsy.

Now it was set: Yang Qi pulled the longline, Zhang Jun scooped the fish, and Bai Lang removed the fish. Zhang Fei was a bit unsure what he should do.

“A-Fei, you can help me drive the boat later, just move forward slowly and steadily.”

“Alright, no problem!”

The third and fourth hooks were empty, but the fifth hook caught a Porgy of about five jin, which was very good, also a valuable catch.

The sixth hook again caught a Red Grouper of four or five jin.

“Hehehe, another Red Grouper, good luck!”

Zhang Jun, who was scooping fish, said loudly.

As Zhang Fei piloted the fishing boat, slowly moving forward, the first 200-meter longline was also reeled in.

A total of 200 meters of longline, with about a hundred hooks. They actually caught 75 fish, achieving an astonishing catch rate of about seventy percent.

Among them were 26 Red Grouper. At Yang Qi's request, Bai Lang released 5 Red Grouper under one jin back into the sea. The remaining ones ranged from one to eight or nine jin.

There were 18 Porgy, 11 Black Sea Bream, with four under half a jin released.

There were 10 Sea Bass, all very large, basically each reaching seven or eight jin to fifteen or sixteen jin.

The remaining 10 were various Groupers, including Green Grouper, Tiger Grouper, and Pearl Grouper. Their individual sizes were not very large, ranging from three to seven or eight jin.

Yang Qi pulled up the buoy of the second longline, and soon the first fish was pulled out of the water, round and bulging.

“Hmm! What the hell is this thing!” Yang Qi cursed silently as he watched Bai Lang and Zhang Jun scoop up the fish.

Bai Lang was also removing the fish while muttering to Yang Qi:

“Holy crap, a pufferfish! Brother-in-law, what should we do? Throw it away?”

Zhang Jun also leaned in to look, “Holy crap, it really is a pufferfish, and quite big, isn't it over three jin?”

“Look, it's bloated, puffed up so big! So interesting, hahaha,”

Bai Lang pointed at the fish on the deck, which was puffed up like a football, with its long spines erect like a hedgehog, and laughed loudly.

“Wait, this looks like a Porcupinefish, not a pufferfish.” Zhang Jun looked closely, picked up a bleeding knife, and poked the long spines on the Porcupinefish's body.