144: Fishing for bluefin trevally

Black carp stone, also known as black huán stone, fish fright stone, fish pillow stone, and so on, is a horny growth located in the pharyngeal region below the occipital bone of the black carp.

In folklore, it is widely believed to possess magical properties such as warding off evil, preventing children from being startled, and bringing good fortune and prosperity.

Therefore, it is often made into items like bracelets and pendants, worn by the elderly or children to seek peace and protection.

Black carp stone also holds a place in the world of cultural artifacts. Due to its unique texture and color, it is highly favored by collectors.

After careful grinding and polishing, black carp stone can display a luster and color similar to agate, amber, and polygonatum, possessing high ornamental and collection value.

Black carp stone itself also has certain medicinal value; traditional Chinese medicine believes that black carp stone has a calming and tranquilizing effect and can treat some nervous system-related diseases.

The larger the individual black carp, the larger the black carp stone. Based on the size of the black carp stone, they can be categorized into entry-level, regular-level, collector-level, and rare-level.

Prices also vary greatly; entry-level (under 3 grams) is the cheapest, only a few yuan per gram.

The rarest level (over 50 grams) costs 50-150 yuan per gram. For example, a 126-gram wild Yangtze River black carp stone once set a record of 499 yuan per gram.

The three arrived at the reservoir and each went their separate ways to find suitable spots for fishing.

Liu Yao seemed to frequently fish in freshwater lakes; he used a 9.1-meter hand rod with an 11-meter fishing line. He also brought hand rods for Zhang Jun and Yang Qi.

Yang Qi began to take out his fishing rod and line set to assemble it, directly using a No. 7 main line and a single hook. He was truly aggressive; it was either a broken rod or a caught fish!

When fishing for black carp, there's no need to adjust the float; just hook a snail and let it lie on the bottom. With a 9.1-meter rod and an 11-meter line, a normal cast definitely wouldn't reach far enough.

All three used the 'big whip' casting method to cast their hooks and lines.

This involved holding the fishing rod with both hands, raising it over their heads, gently swinging the line behind them, and then, with a single powerful motion, forcefully swinging it over their heads. This way, the line, with the hook attached, would be cast a great distance.

Once the hook with the snail sank to the bottom, as long as the float was visible above the water, they could start fishing.

Then, they would chum the area around the float, with the bait, of course, primarily consisting of river snails.

For bait, they used field snails, hooking the snail meat onto a large fish hook through its opening, just barely exposing the hook tip.

After that, it was a waiting game for the big black carp to bite. It was fortunate that Zhang Jun had brought him a fishing box, allowing Yang Qi to rest his safety rope on it.

After Yang Qi finished all preparations, he stood up and offered cigarettes to Zhang Jun and Liu Yao. The three smoked and chatted for a while, but there was no movement from the floats.

This was actually quite normal because they were using field snails as bait, so other fish wouldn't come to eat.

Yang Qi had also checked with his ability; no big black carp had arrived at the three chumming spots yet. There was nothing to do but wait.

At this moment, Uncle came over with a box of mineral water, also carrying a fishing rod and a bag. After distributing several bottles of mineral water to everyone, he found a spot for himself and started fishing.

After a good while, at about 10 o'clock, Yang Qi's float suddenly moved. He instantly perked up, staring intently at the float.

The float first gently bobbed a few times, then swayed a few times, and then plunged sharply downwards. It was a black float!

Yang Qi shouted, “It’s here! It’s on the hook!” He quickly grabbed the fishing rod and pulled up hard to set the hook, but he felt the rod being pulled down by an immense force. He couldn’t lift it at all.

He gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands, leaned back, pushed his feet against the ground, and retreated as much as possible towards the shore, creating enough space to contend with the fish in the water.

At this point, he needed to raise the fishing rod as much as possible; if he couldn't, it would become a tug-of-war, which would usually result in a broken line and the fish getting away.

Zhang Jun and Liu Yao also quickly put down their fishing rods and came over to help. Uncle also stopped what he was doing and ran over, nervously watching.

The fishing line cut through the water, making a “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh” sound, and the fishing rod continuously trembled.

It dragged Yang Qi forward two steps.

Using a hand rod to catch big black carp was somewhat different from how they fished for big fish in the sea.

Sea fishing boats use rods with reels; no matter how strong the fish is, you can loosen the reel and let it run a few hundred or even a thousand meters, giving yourself a chance to adjust.

A hand rod is different; with only 11 meters of fishing line, the space available to you is limited. You can only exert force and hold on tight.

If you really can't hold on, that's when the safety rope comes into play.

Seeing that the fishing rod couldn't be straightened and the rod tip was slowly being pulled into the water, Yang Qi decisively released the fishing rod, and the big fish instantly darted into the water, pulling the rod with it.

Yang Qi held the safety rope, maintaining a certain tension. It couldn't be too loose, because if it was too loose, the hook wouldn't have enough pulling force, and the fish could easily dislodge the hook at the bottom of the water.

At this point, the role of the safety rope became evident; it was indeed made of a few dozen meters of elastic band. The elasticity of the band effectively absorbed the big fish's momentum.

Of course, some people fish without a safety rope, preferring to pull it in forcefully. That's not impossible, as long as your fishing line and hook are strong enough, your fishing rod is of good quality, and your own physical strength is sufficient, you can still land the fish.

Aren't there reports of some fishing vloggers catching a big black carp, being pulled into the water by the fish, and spending hours fighting it?

The big fish pulled the rod up and down in the water, and Yang Qi, holding the safety rope, continuously tried to reel it in. He consistently maintained the tension between the safety rope and the fishing rod.

After about twenty minutes, Yang Qi finally managed to grab the fishing rod again. Zhang Jun then decisively handed the phone he was using to record the video to Yang Qi’s Uncle, and went up to help Yang Qi straighten the fishing rod.

How could his figure be absent from the footage of catching such a big fish?

“Here, Yang Qi, I’ll take over for a bit, you rest,” Zhang Jun said.

“Uh! Alright! Brother Jun, you take it for a while,” Yang Qi handed the fishing rod to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun took the fishing rod, squatted down to lower his center of gravity, gripped the rod tightly with both hands, and leaned back as much as possible.

In fact, all of Zhang Jun's actions were correct. When fishing for big fish with a hand rod, it's crucial to lower your center of gravity. This saves a lot of effort.

After about twenty minutes, the big fish began to pull again. Visibly, the fishing rod slowly started to bend towards the water surface again.

Zhang Jun's veins bulged on his arms and neck, his face was red, and he was on the verge of giving up and preparing to use the safety rope.

“Brother Jun, let me take over. You rest for a bit.”

Liu Yao, who was standing nearby, had long been itching to try, and he smoothly took the fishing rod.

He held the fishing rod with both hands and began to sway it from side to side. After swaying it four or five times like this, he surprisingly managed to slowly straighten the rod and then, seizing the opportunity, retreated a few steps towards the shore.

“Oh wow! A Yao’s got some skills!” Zhang Jun and the others were a bit surprised.

“Hehehe, I’ve fished a lot, these are all practical tips, secret techniques. Purely a technical talent.”