182: Zhang Jun's milestones

There were 15 Tuna on the deck, and besides the Bluefin Tuna caught by Yang Qi and Zhang Jun, that meant 13 other people had caught Dogtooth Tuna.

Adding the two Dogtooth Tuna already in the freezer and the two still on their fishing rods.

This meant that a total of 4 Bluefin Tuna and 15 Dogtooth Tuna were caught at this spot. A grand total of 19 Tuna.

This could definitely be considered an exceptionally good spot.

The Tuna on the deck, which had already been bled, were tied with their respective straps by several crewmen and sent to the freezer.

After another ten minutes or so, Yang Qi finally reeled another Bluefin Tuna to the side of the boat. He watched Ding Kuan slowly hoist this roughly 500-jin Bluefin Tuna onto the deck.

Subsequently, the last one was also slowly hoisted up. Zhang Jun was so excited he was trembling.

This was the first Bluefin Tuna of his fishing career, and also the largest fish he had caught to date.

These four Bluefin Tuna were all roughly the same size, each exceeding 500 jin.

Watching Zhang Jun grin widely, he accepted everyone's congratulations. With one hand, he took the phone from Lu Hua's hand.

“So Lu Hua helped him film all the footage of the fish being brought up later.”

Zhang Jun's hands trembled, either from overexertion or excitement. He shakily pulled out a cigarette and offered it to everyone.

Yang Qi estimated that the corners of his mouth wouldn't flatten out all day today.

In fact, Yang Qi himself was also very excited. These Bluefin Tuna were not only Zhang Jun's record, but also his own record.

He believed he would continue to reach new heights in the future!

Unconsciously, Yang Qi realized it was already completely dark. He checked the time and saw it was almost 9 o'clock.

He had been fighting with the big fish and had completely forgotten the time.

After Ding Kuan and Wang Jinxi finished processing these two Bluefin Tuna, Zhang Jun stood in the middle of the Tuna and had someone take his picture. He then pulled Yang Qi in for a group photo.

He then pulled in Wang Jinxi and Ding Kuan for a four-person group photo. After all, their contribution to catching these Tuna was immense.

The fishing boat finally returned to calm. The fishing enthusiasts also returned to their positions and resumed fishing.

After all, these Bluefin Tuna had nothing to do with them, and each of them hoped they could also catch a Bluefin Tuna.

Later, when they went back to the cabin to sleep, Zhang Jun gave Wang Jinxi and his brother a Huazi cigarette each, and promised to give them a big red envelope when they returned to port, to thank them for their help.

After some polite refusals, the two accepted the Huazi cigarettes. Then they returned to their posts.

Originally, Yang Qi wanted to invite them both to have a late-night snack together. But then he thought, he couldn't do that; they were still working.

No wonder Brother Jun didn't ask them to join him in the lounge for a late-night snack when he offered cigarettes and such.

“He's truly an old hand! I still need to learn a lot.”

Yang Qi followed Zhang Jun, who was swaying as he walked, watching him constantly greet both familiar and unfamiliar fishing enthusiasts.

The display was too obvious, wasn't it?

Forget it!

Today was Brother Jun's highlight, a milestone moment!

Let him show off!

The two arrived at the restaurant. Yang Qi handed a Sesame Grouper, weighing about five jin, to the chef and asked him to prepare it.

Zhang Jun exclaimed with satisfaction; these two days had brought him much glory.

“Brother, when it comes to fishing, you're the best!” He extended his thumb and wiggled it at Yang Qi.

Yang Qi smiled and didn't respond.

The two ate their late-night snack for over an hour, finally recovering.

They returned to their fishing spots and continued fishing. After all, they wouldn't be able to sleep if they went back to the rest cabin now.

Yang Qi looked at the sea; there were no big fish appearing nearby for the time being, so the two switched to paternoster rigs and started fishing with Balang Fish.

The main idea was to be casual; whatever fish bit the hook, they would catch it.

Thus, each had two fishing rods, one with Skipjack Tuna for bottom fishing, and the other with Balang Fish for mid-water fishing.

The two took two chairs and sat in the middle of their fishing spots, smoking and chatting while waiting for fish to bite.

Occasionally, when a fish bit, they would get up to remove the fish and then re-bait.

It must be said that the fishery resources here were still very rich. After being impacted by the Tuna school earlier, there were no fish for a while.

But now, after just over an hour, various schools of fish had gathered again.

Originally, Yang Qi and Zhang Jun were planning to chat and fish leisurely. However, things didn't go as planned; now that there were many fish, they were constantly catching them.

The two often sat down only to have a fish bite again. After going back and forth, they could only move their chairs back to their fishing spots and fish honestly.

The fish they caught were not very big, nor were they very valuable. But they kept catching them!

Quantity to a certain extent can compensate for deficiencies in quality.

Yang Qi observed that the most common fish in the mid-to-upper water column were Yellow Chicken Fish, red seabream, and various types of snapper.

Those Skipjack Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, and scad, for some reason—whether scared away by the Tuna or something else—were not as numerous as before.

The electric reel started to hum as it reeled in the line. Yang Qi looked at the frequency of the rod tip's trembling and knew that three or four small fish had been caught again.

Even three or four small fish of three or four jin each wouldn't bend his Tuna fishing rod.

If only one was caught, the rod tip might not even tremble.

Sure enough, as the electric reel reeled in the line, three Yellow Chicken Fish and one red seabream were hanging on the hooks.

He lifted the paternoster rig onto the fishing boat's deck, picked up scissors, and made a deep cut inside the gill cover of each fish to bleed it.

Then he threw them into the ice water mixed with crushed ice behind him for bleeding and chilling.

Only bled Yellow Chicken Fish and red seabream could fetch a good price, or if they were transported back alive.

Some more discerning restaurants wouldn't even accept these fish if they hadn't been bled. This was out of fear that customers would taste the difference, affecting business and damaging their reputation.

However, one might ask, what kind of sane person, going far out to sea for such a long time, would keep Yellow Chicken Fish and red seabream in a live fish tank?

The live fish tank was a VIP room; fish without a certain status were not qualified to reside there.

Besides, the fish were too small; they wouldn't survive if tied up. If not tied, then whose would they be?

Grouper was an exception, because it has a large head and wide mouth; as long as it didn't spit out its internal organs when caught, it would generally not die. The strap could be threaded through the gills and tied to its mouth.

Even small, valuable fish species were not easy to keep in live fish tanks. If one wanted to bring them back alive, they could only be kept in their own live fish boxes.

This was also a disadvantage of teaming up with others.

“Oh, wow! This rod even caught two true snapper! Both are over five jin, truly excellent! Definitely sashimi-grade!”

Yang Qi happily muttered to himself. Then he removed the fish, used the scissors, and threw them into the ice water.