277: lagoon

In less than ten minutes, Yang Qi, driving the setting sail, turned left and right, passed the reef, and entered the lagoon.

He found a suitable spot, moored the boat, and walked out of the cockpit, somewhat excited.

"Hubby, are you looking for a maid?"

Bai Xue's words made Yang Qi inexplicably confused. He glanced at the blushing Yao Shanshan and decisively avoided the topic.

"Xiao Xue, the water here is shallow, so we'll use lure rods or boat rock fishing rods."

"There are quite a few rare treasures here."

Bai Xue thought for a moment and immediately beamed with joy:

"Right! East Star Grouper, isn't this its original habitat? Let's do it!"

She immediately pulled Yao Shanshan to prepare the fishing rods. She followed Yang Qi's advice and assembled three lure rods.

Since buying the setting sail, the two of them rarely used lure rods for fishing, except for a few times when they fished with live bait.

However, the motion of casting a lure rod had long become muscle memory for both of them.

Especially Yang Qi, when he first started sea fishing, he practiced casting every day until his arms swelled.

Now, after several months, aside from the first and second casts being a bit rusty, he found his rhythm from the third cast onwards and could operate it as if it were an extension of his arm.

Bai Xue, meanwhile, took Yao Shanshan to the other side of the boat and began teaching her hand-in-hand.

In this world, some people just have better practical skills than others. There's nothing that can be done about it; you can't even envy it.

Yao Shanshan was like this; whether it was yesterday's longline fishing or the subsequent fish gutting and bleeding, she could skillfully operate after a few explanations.

It was the same with casting the lure rod now; Bai Xue taught her a few times, and she grasped the essentials, casting with flair.

Although it couldn't be said she could hit whatever she aimed for, it was certainly good enough.

This lagoon was probably controlled by Taiwan, and the amount of seafood in it was outrageous.

All kinds of Sea Bream, various Grouper, porcupinefish, cuttlefish, and Wrasse, parrotfish, etc.

He even saw a few critically endangered turtles: hawksbill sea turtles.

The density and size of marine life were severely excessive. He wondered how many years of fishing bans had allowed them to grow so much.

Normally, the Pratas Island garrison guarded the lagoon entrance, so at least mainland fishing boats definitely couldn't enter.

Since Yang Qi had entered, he certainly wouldn't be polite.

He mentally ranked the value of the fish at the bottom of the sea, and his fishing rod accurately cast towards an East Star Grouper.

In less than a minute, that five to six catty East Star Grouper was pulled out of the water. He removed the hook and immediately put the East Star Grouper into the live fish tank.

He continued to cast accurately and pull in fish.

The second one was still an East Star Grouper, weighing about four or five catties.

The deepest part of the water here is only about 17 meters. Therefore, there's no need to worry about water pressure issues at all.

In fact, even if there were water pressure issues, he wouldn't care about the fish's life or death at this point.

In a dangerous situation, Yang Qi also abandoned all tricks. To save time, he simply cast the lure to snag fish.

If it snagged, he reeled it in directly, wasting no time at all.

In a short time, he had screened all the fish in front of him. There were four East Star Grouper alone, five porcupinefish, and four various Sea Bream.

With so many fish on the seabed, Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan also caught a lot, but the fish they caught were much more diverse.

The expensive ones included East Star Grouper, porcupinefish, etc., while the cheaper ones included Wrasse, various Sea Bream, Mahi-Mahi, and so on.

As soon as the lure was swished in the water, fish would bite within a few seconds, keeping them constantly busy.

Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan had a blast fishing, after all, there were too many fish on the seabed. Perhaps because fishing had been banned here for many years, these fish weren't very afraid of people.

So they kept catching fish one after another right from the start.

Fish species like East Star Grouper, which are rarely seen in the East China Sea, are abundant here.

As long as you enter this lagoon, and your luck isn't too bad, it's practically effortless.

However, the most common fish in this lagoon are Wrasse and porcupinefish. By noon, the three of them had caught over sixty Wrasse, over forty porcupinefish, and over twenty East Star Grouper.

They didn't even remember how many other miscellaneous fish like ruby snapper, Green Grouper, Sea Bream, Mahi-Mahi, etc., they had caught.

This harvest, if it were elsewhere, would be considered a bumper harvest of warehouse-bursting proportions.

However, in this ocean paradise-like atoll lagoon, it could only be considered average.

The lagoon's diameter is about a dozen nautical miles, covering an area of over three hundred square kilometers.

The area they visited was less than one percent of the total area.

Just then, Yao Shanshan caught another porcupinefish, weighing about six or seven catties.

Porcupinefish are also called hedgehog fish.

Normally, it looks like a short stick with a large head and a small tail. However, when startled, its body inflates like a balloon.

Now, after Yao Shanshan caught it, when she went to grab it, its entire body inflated like a balloon, and the hard, venomous spines on its originally smooth body instantly popped open.

The little creature that was just cute and adorable instantly grew twice in size, transforming into a formidable, spiky ball.

Yao Shanshan had seen Bai Xue catch this fellow earlier and had already learned how to handle it.

Wearing gloves, she carefully avoided the venomous spines, easily removed it from the hook, and tossed it into the live fish tank beside her.

Another two thousand yuan in hand, how delightful!

Yang Qi was also constantly keeping an eye on the lagoon's entrance direction from Pratas Island.

If a boat were to come from there, he would have to immediately abandon fishing and drive the setting sail to make a quick escape.

"Hubby, why don't we put down the longline? That way we can catch more fish."

Bai Xue suggested, drinking a red bull.

"You're right! How could I not have thought of that? You're so smart."

Yang Qi suddenly realized and immediately agreed with Bai Xue's suggestion.

He then drove the setting sail, while Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan took out the longline, started baiting it, and put it into the sea.

Then the three continued fishing, and as time passed, beautiful catches were reeled onto the fishing boat by the trio.

After about two hours, the three had to retrieve the longline early, after all, they were essentially "stealing fish."

If the patrol boat from Pratas Island discovered them and charged in.

They would only be able to abandon the longline with over two hundred hooks and make a quick escape.

With the operation of the crane, plump sea fish hanging on the longline were pulled out of the sea.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue worked together, one netting fish, the other unhooking them. Yao Shanshan operated the crane. The three of them were diligent and coordinated very well.

Basically, every hook had a fish weighing over six catties. The hooking rate reached an astonishing ninety percent.

Actually, it's normal when you think about it. Although there aren't schools of fish here, the lagoon is like a large reservoir.

Over the years, with the ebb and flow of tides, countless marine organisms, coveting the coral reefs here, settled down and refused to leave.

Over the years, the marine life in this lagoon has only increased.