33: Giant grouper

"Creak~"

A sound suddenly came from the fishing rod, followed immediately by a deep bend, and the fishing line "whooshed" as it cut through the water.

"It's here! It's a giant!"

Yang Qi was secretly delighted. He immediately bent down, grabbed the fishing rod with both hands, and pulled hard, setting the hook.

As soon as the big fish felt the sting, it knew something was wrong, that it had been tricked! It exerted force and drilled towards the seabed.

Just a common trick! It had escaped safely several times before.

He watched as the tip of the fishing rod, inserted into the sleeve, was about to dip into the water.

Yang Qi used all his might to pull up the fishing rod, but it didn't budge an inch; he couldn't move it at all!

He could only lock the drag, grab the fishing rod with both hands, and not reel in the line, just hold it in a deadlocked stalemate.

He now understood the pattern after hooking a large fish: "The first burst of power from a large fish is the strongest. Unless absolutely necessary, don't reel in. Just hold your ground!"

At this moment, Yang Qi maintained a horse stance, squatting down, leaning his body backward, in a sitting posture. He used the weight of his body to stabilize the fishing rod.

The fishing rod was still inserted in the sleeve and had not been pulled out.

At this point, the electric reel also hooked a fish, but Yang Qi had no energy to manage it. Fortunately, he had already locked the drag and set the automatic reeling function earlier.

He saw the electric reel's fishing rod powerfully spring down once, then began to "buzz" as it reeled in automatically.

Yang Qi looked at the arc of the fishing rod from the electric reel and knew it was only a fish of about ten-plus jin.

It's important to remember that when the equipment was set up, it was configured for a weight of over two hundred jin. So, the fishing rod and line were under no pressure at all.

After a few minutes, the fish caught on the electric reel was pulled up, dragged and yanked, weighing about twelve or thirteen jin.

Yang Qi occasionally gave his fishing rod a couple of tugs, but it still wouldn't move, as if it were hammered into the ground.

"Ship worker, Ship worker, help me net the fish!" Yang Qi shouted.

The Ship worker heard the call and quickly ran over with a landing net.

"Oh my~ Boss, you've caught a giant." A young Ship worker ran over with a landing net and said.

"I was talking about the electric reel, I'm still a long way off here!" Yang Qi replied.

"Oh, oh, oh! Not bad! This Red Seabream is not bad either! It's over ten jin."

The Ship worker casually netted the Red Seabream, secured it with a zip tie, and sent it to the live fish tank.

The Red Seabream's scientific name is "Spindle Mackerel." Many anglers also call it "Sweet Potato."

Its back is blue-black, its belly is silvery-white with a hint of light blue, and its sides have two parallel light blue longitudinal lines, making it very attractive.

It is very similar to Red Seabream, and the market price for both is roughly 50-100 yuan per jin.

Both are high-grade sashimi fish species.

Yang Qi felt the big fish at the bottom seemed to loosen a little, knowing that the first burst of power was about to end.

He immediately took down the fishing rod, rested it against his belly, and began to exert force to fight the fish.

He set his horse stance, exerted force with both hands, his arms bulging with veins, and with a shout of "Hah~," he began to reel in, one turn, two turns, slowly retrieving the line.

His body also moved rhythmically, arching and leaning back, the fishing rod swaying up and down with his body, up and down. The fishing line also slowly tightened, turn by turn.

At this moment, Yang Qi gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands, the veins on his arms bulging, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Zhang Jun also noticed the situation with Yang Qi. He hurried over to ask,

"How is it? Yang Qi, do you want me to take over for a bit so you can rest?"

Yang Qi took a deep breath: "Okay! Brother Jun, please take over for me! Get ready, I'll count to three for you!"

After three counts, Yang Qi took advantage of leaning back to hand the fishing rod to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun also took the fishing rod immediately, using both hands to lift the rod and reel in the line, but the force of the big fish in the water was a bit beyond his imagination.

He knew the fish was big, but he didn't expect it to be this big.

He stumbled for a moment.

Fortunately, he quickly adopted a horse stance and leaned back, finally stabilizing himself.

He said with a hint of embarrassment: "Yang Qi, I didn't expect it to be this big?"

"It's okay, no rush, we'll wear it down slowly!" Yang Qi said, rubbing his somewhat stiff and sore arms while drinking some water.

After persisting for about five minutes, Zhang Jun was already sweating profusely, and his hands were trembling slightly.

Wang Jinxi, who had just arrived, saw this and quickly said, "Boss, let me take over."

Zhang Jun turned to look at Wang Jinxi and said, "Okay! Little Wang, I'll count to three, and you take over immediately!"

Wang Jinxi's physical strength and experience were clearly much better than Zhang Jun's.

As he took the fishing rod, he occasionally swayed it left and right, then powerfully fought the fish.

Great effort yields miracles!

Under Wang Jinxi's burst of violent output, about 10 meters were reeled in, then he slowed down and paused for a moment, saying,

"Judging by the fish's power, it should be a large Grouper. Let's take it slow! Don't let it die, after all, live fish are more valuable!"

After a while, Yang Qi took over the fishing rod and slowly pulled the fish up.

"It's about to surface, get the landing net ready!"

The Ship worker followed the fishing line, looking at the slowly swimming big fish in the water, and couldn't help but gasp, "Wow, this fish is not small! It looks like a huge Giant Grouper!"

After a few more minutes of stalemate, the big fish seemed to be somewhat exhausted, and the fishing line was no longer so taut. Yang Qi seized the opportunity and began to slowly reel in the line.

As the fish gradually approached the surface, a huge dark shadow emerged; it was indeed a giant Giant Grouper!

The Ship worker's eyes widened, and he shouted excitedly, "This fish must be over a hundred jin!"

Just as the Grouper was about to be pulled onto the boat, it suddenly struggled again, powerfully slapping its tail and splashing a huge amount of water.

Yang Qi gripped the fishing rod tightly, his body swaying with the fish's movements. The Ship worker seized the opportunity, swiftly extended the landing net, and scooped up the big fish in one go.

Together, the group finally pulled the landing net onto the boat.

"Success!"

Yang Qi and everyone cheered. This Giant Grouper weighed nearly two hundred jin.

"Oh, oh, oh! I've also caught a Giant Grouper weighing several hundred jin on my boat!"

The captain, who had heard the commotion and rushed over, had been filming a video and excitedly shouted.

"Come, come, come! Yang Qi, I'll take a commemorative photo for you!" Zhang Jun called out to Yang Qi for a photo.

Yang Qi was also very excited and cooperated for several photos. Then he took several photos for Zhang Jun.

Then, several other anglers, the captain, and crewmen who had heard the commotion and came to watch the excitement, all wanted to share in the good fortune.

Yang Qi watched Wang Jinxi and another Ship worker secure the fish with zip ties and send it to the live fish tank, his heart filled with joy.

Zhang Jun said, "Wild Giant Grouper this big are sold by the fish, it should be twenty to thirty thousand yuan."

Both of them were leaning back in their chairs, smoking. They were too tired to move for now.

"Catching a giant is really too tiring!"

"Tiring but exhilarating!"

"Here, Brother Jun, have some chocolate to regain some energy." Yang Qi pulled out the chocolate he had in his pocket.

"Mmm, okay! I also brought some, they're in the rest cabin. I'll get you some later."

"No need, I have some."

"I bought them for you!"

The two chatted idly, smoking.