333: Bighead carp washing its cheeks

When the few Anglers heard Yang Qi's indifferent voice, their eyelids twitched.

Yang Qi didn't care about them; as long as he was fishing to his heart's content, that was all that mattered. Besides, it was competition time, and they were all opponents, even if the few of them weren't up to par.

"My only opponent is myself! All other Anglers are just passing clouds to me!"

Of this school of thirteen or fourteen Sea Bass, Yang Qi had caught ten of them. Seeing the remaining three or four Sea Bass, they hurriedly fled into the distance.

Yang Qi couldn't help it; he couldn't catch them all in one go! Even the dumbest fish would run away after being startled.

It didn't matter that the school of Sea Bass had fled; by this time, more Gold Drum Fish and Sea Bream had gathered near the fish keepnet.

Even though these fish were on the smaller side, mostly under one catty, there were simply too many of them.

Yang Qi looked down and saw a dark, dense mass of fish. Once the fish reached a certain density, the bait would basically be snatched up as soon as it hit the water.

"It's a piece of cake!"

That was Yang Qi's first impression. If it weren't for the Competition Committee's rule against using gang hooks, that would have been the best time to use them.

However, since the fish were small, the rate of catching them was much faster. He could pull up a small fish weighing about half a catty every minute or two.

The entire morning was spent catching fish without a break, and Yang Qi couldn't even keep track of how many he had caught.

Fortunately, he had been using two keepnets from the very beginning. Later on, he asked the Competition Committee for another one.

He definitely couldn't touch the first keepnet; he used the new one as a bait cage.

By eleven o'clock at noon, the first half ended, and it was time for the halftime break.

All the catches were weighed and registered. Yang Qi saw his score: a total of 86 catties. The second place was only 37 catties, putting him far ahead of all other Anglers.

To his surprise, Bai Xue and Zhang Jun had also made it into the top ten list.

Zhang Jun ranked seventh with 28 catties, and Bai Xue ranked ninth with 26 catties. She was also the only female contestant in the top twenty.

It could be said that anyone in the top ten had a chance to compete for second or third place.

Under normal circumstances, the first-place position was hard to shake, unless someone had a huge stroke of luck in the afternoon and hooked a few big ones.

All contestants could choose to sell their morning's catch to Boss Wang at the Oyster Raft.

Although their purchase price was about ten percent lower than Chen Tianming's, Yang Qi still sold all these fish to him; he had to clear out his keepnet somehow.

He definitely wouldn't sell the Coconut Shell Snail; he planned to take it home and open it like a blind box along with the other Coconut Shell Snails from last time. What if he found another melo pearl?

Of course, these fish that weren't for sale couldn't be left at the competition venue after being weighed. So, when Yang Qi weighed his catch, he took these Coconut Shell Snails out separately.

Lunch was a boxed meal provided by the Competition Committee. Yang Qi ate three portions, which left him half-full; he was too embarrassed to eat more.

The halftime break was one hour, which was basically just enough time for weighing the fish and eating. Therefore, everyone stayed at their fishing spots, and no one walked around.

After lunch, when fishing resumed, Yang Qi grabbed the keepnet and swung it vigorously in all directions. It was clearly visible that the thawed antarctic shrimp were being flung out through the holes in the keepnet.

Although many of the antarctic shrimp were snatched up by the school of fish after being flung out, many still sank to the seabed.

With the sound of a whistle, the second half began.

"Let's get into it!"

Yang Qi lowered his bait down next to the keepnet again.

At this moment, the school of fish underwater was frantically snatching up the antarctic shrimp, and the fish from the spots of the few Anglers nearby had all been lured over by him.

He caught over a dozen fish in a row on his side, and the few Anglers next to him were completely shut out.

With no fish in their spots, how could they not be shut out?

Those few Anglers were so bored they were scratching their hands, while Yang Qi kept hooking fish one after another.

The fish hooks were snatched up by fish while still at the mid-water level, making it extremely difficult to let them sink to the seabed.

Occasionally, when they did sink to the bottom, he would catch a Grouper.

This situation was just like wild fishing during the day when small white fish swarm the spot, making it impossible to reach the bottom.

On this cast, a four or five-tael Balang Fish happened to bite the hook. Just as Yang Qi raised the rod and reeled in, a huge black shadow suddenly darted out, opened its big mouth, and swallowed both the fish and the hook in one gulp.

Then, with a flick of its large tail, it fled into the distance.

Yang Qi took a closer look; it was a Giant Tarpon about 1.6 or 1.7 meters long. It looked like a cross between a Topmouth Culter and a Pale Chub among freshwater fish.

Yang Qi knew that this fish tasted terrible; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it had the worst taste among all sea fish.

The market price was only four or five yuan per catty, and sometimes no one even wanted it. Most of it was bought to be used as feed.

However, this Giant Tarpon was a carnivorous fish with a very ferocious feeding style. Moreover, it was incredibly strong, making it a species that Anglers dreamed of catching, if only to enjoy its immense pulling power.

Even though Yang Qi had locked the reel, the Giant Tarpon's immense pulling power still dragged more than fifty meters of fishing line out with a "zzzz" sound.

The fishing rod was instantly bent into a large arc.

Suddenly, a huge fish leaped out of the sea in the distance, thrashed in the air a few times, and then slammed back into the sea with a "slap."

It was the Giant Tarpon that Yang Qi had hooked, gill-washing in an attempt to break free from the hook.

Fortunately, Yang Qi was experienced. The moment the Giant Tarpon leaped into the air, he pulled the rod with all his might while reeling in rapidly, keeping the line taut the entire time.

He forcefully dragged the fish down from mid-air, disrupting its rhythm.

As the Giant Tarpon leaped, the surrounding Anglers exclaimed in shock. They all stood up, wanting to see which bastard had caught such a huge fish.

After a while, the Giant Tarpon leaped and flipped in the air again. Yang Qi used the same trick, continuing to disrupt its rhythm, and the Giant Tarpon was dragged back down from mid-air before it could even finish its move.

After repeating this a few times, it finally became limp and lifeless, and Yang Qi dragged it to his side like a dead dog.

At 1.6 or 1.7 meters long, even Yang Qi's large Landing Net could only fit half of its body.

He could be seen pulling and dragging this Giant Tarpon up, then landing two "bam, bam" punches on its head, knocking it unconscious immediately.

Yang Qi picked up the fifty-plus catty Giant Tarpon and asked the staff member nearby to take a photo for him as a souvenir.

"Um... Boss, could I take a picture with it too?"

The staff member asked a bit sheepishly.

"No problem! Go ahead! Feel free to take it!"

Yang Qi had never actually caught a Giant Tarpon before, so this time he had unlocked a new species.

If he had caught it while fishing out at sea, he most likely would have chopped it up for chum. But since this competition was about total weight, this fish had made a great contribution.

The two of them carefully put the Giant Tarpon into the keepnet. If it were to jump out now, it would be a laughingstock.