331: Oyster Raft Fishing Competition

"Yang Qi, over here!"

Brother Jun and a few others stood in the distance, waving at him.

"Let's go! Brother Jun and the others are over there!"

The three walked closer, and Yang Qi found that a group of old friends were all there. Zhang Jun and the others boarded their boats at the City Wharf, while Yang Qi and his companions boarded theirs at Qingshan Town.

"Brother Jun, where's your fishing spot?"

"I'm number 46. What about you?"

"I'm number 77."

The fishing spots were determined by lots they drew when they received their fishing rods. Yang Qi was number 77, Bai Xue was 32, and Yao Shanshan was 59. They were really spread out.

At 7:30, everyone sat at their fishing spots and began assembling their rods. At 8:00, the competition officially began.

Yang Qi sat at his fishing spot, looking at the Anglers to his left and right, none of whom he recognized. Because his spot was relatively remote, there weren't many fish at the bottom of the water.

A small school of Gold Drum Fish and a few Yellow Sea Bream were circling nearby.

With a whistle, the Anglers began baiting their hooks and casting their rods. There were no restrictions on bait or chum for this competition.

However, most people used Shrimp or sea centipedes as bait. Yang Qi and his two companions also used Shrimp and antarctic shrimp.

Yang Qi was the first to bait a Shrimp and cast it towards the small school of Gold Drum Fish. He casually took out a box, scooped some water, broke open half an antarctic shrimp brick, and soaked it in the box.

As soon as the bait sank near the school of fish, the Gold Drum Fish detected it. Because Gold Drum Fish have relatively small mouths, the first fish to arrive couldn't swallow it at all.

It could only tug at the shrimp tail, gnawing and biting. The information transmitted to the fishing rod at this time indicated that a fish was biting the hook.

If he were to lift the rod now, it would definitely be an empty retrieve, which was exactly what happened to several Anglers near Yang Qi.

But who was Yang Qi? He knew that the fish hadn't actually swallowed the bait yet, so he didn't lift the rod.

Finally, the second Gold Drum Fish, much larger in size, swam over and swallowed the Shrimp in one gulp. Yang Qi flicked his wrist, and the hook deeply pierced the fish's lip.

At a depth of seven or eight meters, within a few seconds, this Gold Drum Fish, weighing about two catties, was pulled out of the water by Yang Qi.

He didn't even need a landing net; he directly

He removed the hook and threw it into the fish keep net, all in one smooth motion.

He re-baited and cast into the water.

After Yang Qi continuously caught five large Gold Drum Fish, only a dozen small Gold Drum Fish remained.

It was a bit unsuitable to use Shrimp for fishing now. Not to say he couldn't catch anything, but the speed of catching fish would definitely be much slower.

The antarctic shrimp that had been soaking in the water had just thawed. Small shrimp, three centimeters long, were perfect for catching small fish.

Anyway, this competition was ultimately judged by total weight; any fish counted.

Indeed, with the introduction of antarctic shrimp, even these small fish, weighing less than half a catty, were caught with precise accuracy.

"Oh no! It got off the hook again!"

The Angler on the left sighed again.

Soon, Yang Qi had caught almost all the fish near his fishing spot.

"Bad spot, few fish, not enough for fishing!"

Yang Qi looked at the dwindling number of fish in his spot and began to worry.

Since chumming was explicitly prohibited in the competition, he couldn't directly chum. Just as he was scratching his head, at a loss.

He suddenly looked down at his fish keep net and had a flash of inspiration. Wasn't this a ready-made bait cage?

He took out a whole pack of antarctic shrimp brick, pretending to prepare it as bait, and then "accidentally" let it slide into the fish keep net.

He had originally intended to feign a few words to cover it up.

Unexpectedly, the two Anglers to his left and right didn't even look over, completely absorbed in their own worlds.

Moreover, the event staff were standing not far away, with their backs to him, lighting cigarettes out of the wind!

A whole antarctic shrimp brick, weighing five or six catties, sank to the bottom of the fish keep net, slowly seeping out a fishy scent, attracting surrounding fish schools to feed.

It was as if a courtesan was waving her embroidered handkerchief, beckoning for business: "Come and play, sir!"

Yang Qi saw two Groupers foraging on the seabed about twenty meters ahead.

He switched to Shrimp and cast it towards them. With his current skill, he could hit any target within dozens of meters.

It was another precise cast, and the bait quickly landed near the Groupers.

As he reeled in gently, one of the Groupers spotted the Shrimp, which was performing a strange dance.

It swam over and swallowed it in one gulp. Yang Qi fiercely lifted his rod to set the hook, and a Green Grouper weighing four or five catties was pulled in by him.

"Wow, that's a big fish!"

The Angler next to him said enviously.

"Brother, your technique is really good!"

"Luck, pure luck!"

Yang Qi said with a smile. He used one hand to scoop with the landing net, and the fish was in.

He re-baited and cast again. The other Grouper was still bewildered; where had its companion gone?

Suddenly, it saw a small creature with a very ugly dance appear before it. It was incredibly eye-blinding.

With a burst of speed, this Grouper swallowed the Shrimp in one bite.

"Ouch! That hurts a bit, not tasty!"

Unfortunately, before it could spit out the hook, Yang Qi had already lifted the rod, and the hook deeply pierced the corner of its mouth. It couldn't spit it out now!

About twenty seconds later, this Green Grouper, weighing around five catties, was again scooped into the fish keep net by Yang Qi.

"Damn, I fished too fast!"

Yang Qi realized that apart from a few Gold Drum Fish weighing two or three liang, there were no other fish left in front of his fishing spot.

The bait cage had just been placed, and besides a few Balang Fish less than a span long, no other fish had been lured over yet.

"What the hell is this? If there are no fish, I can't just pretend to be fishing, can I?"

Yang Qi complained inwardly.

Looking at the Anglers nearby, there were still some fish in their spots, but he couldn't just cast into their spots, could he?

Just as he was at his wit's end, he noticed several Coconut Shell Snails underwater, quite large ones.

"Forget it! I'm idle anyway, I'll just go for them."

After casting his rod, Yang Qi slowly reeled in, finding the right angle to deliver the antarctic shrimp to the side of the Coconut Shell Snail.

Indeed, the Coconut Shell Snail, smelling the scent, enveloped the antarctic shrimp with its foot and began to feed.

Yang Qi lifted his rod, and this Coconut Shell Snail, weighing about five catties, was pulled up by him.

"How does this count?"

Looking at the Coconut Shell Snail in the landing net, the event staff were bewildered. The fishing line and hook were still inside the Coconut Shell Snail!

"Excuse me, I need to ask our leader first."

Several people from the event organizing committee arrived and confirmed that this Coconut Shell Snail was indeed caught with a fishing rod.

"It counts towards the score! Any seafood caught with a fishing rod counts!"

Thus, this decision was quickly communicated to the hundred or so contestants!

Amidst the congratulations of the two Anglers beside him, Yang Qi cut the leader and replaced it with a new one.

Then he cast towards the other two Coconut Shell Snails, and sure enough, he quickly caught another Coconut Shell Snail weighing about four catties.