362: Sea fishing competition

Don't assume that because those Bluefin Tuna at the last auction sold for over two thousand per catty, twelve hundred is cheap this time.

In fact, it's not. The usual price for Tuna isn't as high as at an auction. For high-quality Bluefin Tuna like these two, Chen Tianming's purchase price would only be around eight or nine hundred per catty, and even lower for those with average meat quality.

Last time, it was mainly because Zhang Jun teamed up with his friends from Magic City to set a trap for the japanese. Otherwise, that price would have been impossible.

In the end, including Chen Tianming and Yu Dafu, they sold for a total of 3.86 million yuan.

Of course, Yang Qi also picked out two boxes of seafood each for Bai Xue's four friends, letting them take them back when they went home.

That evening, he contacted Vice Director Wang of the Municipal Party Committee Office again and sent a lot of colorful live sea fish to Mayor Tan, who loves keeping fish. There were East Star Groupers, Mouse Groupers, White Spotted Groupers, Blue Spotted Groupers, Wrasses, and so on.

For the next three days, Yang Qi did not go out to sea to fish. Bai Xue and the others, however, went fishing in the nearby waters from time to time, selling the fish they caught to the property owners.

Four days later, Wang Yan returned to her hometown with dried fish, dried shrimp, and dried Squid that Bai Xue had prepared for her.

Yang Qi himself went with Zhang Jun and the others every day to wait for the Mullet migration period, but they didn't have any major harvests.

However, it wasn't a total bust either; they basically caught small Mullets weighing around three or four catties every day.

Most of the time, the group just sat there chatting and joking. Although they didn't catch many fish, their fishing spots got better day by day.

The reason was simple: they went home a bit later every day. If someone in front packed up their gear and left, they would move their positions forward.

Moreover, they didn't pack up their fishing platforms, leaving them there to occupy the spots. Even if someone stole them, losing seven or eight hundred yuan wouldn't be too heartbreaking.

So, the five shameless guys got better and better fishing spots. The other Anglers had no choice; after all, this was a public area, and whoever arrived early and occupied it owned it.

Consequently, more people started night fishing or staying all night. Or they would come out to fish in the middle of the night just to secure a good spot.

The fishing atmosphere of the entire river was ruined by them, and all the Anglers began to get competitive.

Finally, on the fifth day, they hit the Mullet migration period, and the group had a great time fishing. Everyone caught over a hundred catties.

They fished for three consecutive days until they finally had their fill, then packed up their platforms and retreated. All the Anglers were overjoyed: these 'Involution Kings' have finally left.

Another week passed just like that, and the National Sea Fishing Competition was finally about to begin.

Tang Long arrived two days early and spent those two days going out to sea with Yang Qi and Zhang Jun to practice.

During these few days, banners and colorful flags were hung everywhere throughout the city and the wharf, all promoting this National Sea Fishing Competition.

On the day of the competition, City Wharf was a sea of red flags and colorful banners, with the sound of gongs, drums, and firecrackers filling the air amidst a massive crowd.

At the opening ceremony, after some long-winded speeches from several relevant leaders, Yang Qi and the others, who were buying snacks in a corner of the assembly, received a call from Zhang Jun.

So he watched his father, Yang Limin, as well as Yao Shanshan and the others, join the flow of people to draw lots and determine their fishing spots.

Starting today, there would be three days of individual preliminary rounds. Since Yang Qi, Bai Xue, and Zhang Jun had all placed in the top ten during the previous Oyster Raft competition, they had already secured spots in the finals of this Grand Prix.

Therefore, the preliminaries over these few days had nothing to do with them, and they could peacefully remain as spectators.

Because the promotional work for this Grand Prix was very well done, there were over 1,200 contestants registered online for the individual competition.

During the three-day preliminary round, one hundred contestants would be selected for the finals. The two-day finals would then determine the final rankings.

This was the entire process of the individual competition.

The venue for the individual competition was the coastline from City Wharf to Qingshan Town. There were no restrictions on fishing methods or rods, and the final results would be based on the total weight of each contestant's catch for the day.

The preliminaries were simple, crude, and cruel; half of the contestants would be eliminated on the first day.

If your luck was bad and you drew a poor fishing spot with no fish underwater, even the best skills would be useless.

This kind of competition is different from a Black Pit competition. In a Black Pit, fish are guaranteed to be in the venue, and the density is extremely high—it's not much of an exaggeration to say it's half fish and half water.

That kind of competition actually has high requirements for bait and fishing techniques. Wild fishing isn't like that; the main thing in wild fishing is getting the fish to enter your spot.

After the first day of the preliminaries, among their group of contestants, Yang Dad and Lu Hua were unfortunately eliminated.

"I actually did it on purpose because I have a few more guests waiting for me to take them out fishing."

According to Yang Limin, he and the contestants near him all fished very poorly, catching only about a catty of small fish all day—not even as heavy as the nesting bait they threw in. There was nothing they could do; no fish gathered near them.

On the contrary, Tang Long unexpectedly advanced to the next round with a score of seven catties.

By the end of the second day, only Yao Shanshan and Liu Yao were left. By the time the third day of preliminaries ended, everyone except Liu Yao had returned in defeat.

"It's up to you, Xiao Xue."

Yao Shanshan patted Bai Xue to cheer her on.

"Keep it up, comrades!"

On the fourth day, Yang Qi led Bai Xue, Zhang Jun, and Liu Yao, who were participating in the finals, into the final venue.

Yang Qi's luck was average; he drew fishing spot number 62. This position was actually very mediocre; he had already checked it—the water was shallow and the seabed was very flat with no reefs. It wasn't a good hiding spot for fish.

Yang Qi hooked a Shrimp and cast it into the distance, where he saw two Sea Bass, each weighing about two catties.

As the bait entered the sea, the larger Sea Bass swam over and spotted the spinning Shrimp. It swallowed the bait in one gulp.

In less than three minutes, he pulled the Sea Bass to his side. He casually unhooked the Sea Bass and threw it into the fish guard.

"Great skill, buddy!"

The Angler to Yang Qi's left, who had just set up his gear, marveled inwardly:

"This brother just got here and already caught a fish! Congratulations!"

"Luck, pure luck!"

Yang Qi said modestly.

"Luck is also part of one's strength."

The Angler on the left also smiled and spoke to him.

Yang Qi looked around; the other Sea Bass had already swum out of his ability's range.

"There seem to be a few Mangrove Jacks ahead. It's fate that we met, so come on!"

Normally, if he encountered Mangrove Jacks, he definitely wouldn't bother casting a line. But it was different now because it was a competition, and they were competing on total weight.

These Mangrove Jacks only weighed two or three taels each. Although small, they could still help tip the scales.

He remembered a wild fishing competition held in a certain city on a wild river. One female angler caught a Hemiculter at the start.

She was so angry she threw the Hemiculter onto the shore to dry into a fish jerky.