50: Giant catfish

Seeing someone arrive, the Brother who was fishing spoke first, "Brother, here to fish?"

"Yeah, Brother, how is it here? Is the catch good?"

"Just so-so, it's too hot, hard to catch fish," Brother said bitterly.

"What kind of fish do people usually catch more of here?"

"Qing Fish, Bighead Carp, Grass Carp, and Snakehead, there are also quite a few Black Fish, and there are big ones. Some time ago, a fishing friend caught a 40-jin big Qing Fish."

"Really? Then I'll have to give it a good try. I'll go over there, won't steal your spot," Chen Xiangbei said.

"Ah, it's the same everywhere. The water depth here is quite uniform, the fish are all in the deep water area."

"Thanks for telling me. If I catch one later, I'll give you one."

Chen Xiangbei walked further in for a bit. There happened to be a bare spot, which must have been cleared by someone fishing here before.

He put all his things down and started adjusting his gear. Because the path was difficult, he didn't bring a sun umbrella this time, but wore a wide-brimmed sun hat instead.

After adjusting the fishing rod, he took out the Secret Bait and put it in a basin, then added an appropriate amount of water and stirred it evenly. He also prepared some bait with a higher concentration separately to use as groundbait.

This was a hidden use he recently discovered, which is that the amount of water determines the final concentration of the bait.

The higher the concentration, the better the fish-attracting effect, but the duration will also decrease. The lower the concentration, the fish-attracting effect will be reduced, but the duration will be longer.

For this, he even had a heated discussion with Tong Zi Ge, although it didn't have an effect, mainly because he was stubborn.

After preparing the high-concentration groundbait, he threw it into the deep water area in front. The bait slowly sank.

He threw groundbait several times in a row. Because the water was too deep, there wasn't much of a direct reaction.

He waited for a while before casting his rod.

He adjusted the leader line to deep water mode, attached the bait, and cast it towards the groundbait spot. With a splash, the hook entered the water.

Perhaps the groundbait concentration was too high, and the fish were all competing for the groundbait, resulting in the bait he cast not being eaten yet.

After waiting for about ten minutes, no fish had taken the bait. He reeled in the hook and saw that the bait was gone. It was probably due to strong undercurrents at the bottom, which washed the bait away.

He put the bait back on, pressed it firmly with his hand, and cast it out again.

After waiting for more than ten seconds, the hook should have reached the bottom. He waited quietly.

"Swish~"

Suddenly, the fishing line straightened, the rod bent into a crescent shape, and a powerful force struck. Having not caught a big fish in a long time, he almost couldn't hold onto the rod.

Feeling the amount of force transmitted through the rod, he judged that it was a big fish of about 15 kilograms.

This fish was full of wildness and had particularly strong explosive power. It kept fighting back. Chen Xiangbei put his left foot forward and right foot back, holding the rod firmly in a side horse stance.

When the fish exerted force, he released pressure; when the fish released pressure, he exerted force.

After more than a dozen back-and-forth tugs, the big fish finally began to tire, and its struggle became weaker and weaker.

Chen Xiangbei pulled back with the momentum. As if unwilling to give up, the big fish unleashed a strong pull back for the last time, forcing him to relax the reeling force to avoid breaking the rod.

After another two rounds of tugging, the fish finally accepted its fate, allowing Chen Xiangbei to drag it back.

When it reached the shore, he picked up the landing net and carefully netted the fish. Many people fail at this step when catching fish, resulting in the fish getting away.

Once the fish was completely in the landing net, Chen Xiangbei pulled it up.

He held the fish's gills with his hand. Visually, it was about one meter long. Estimating the weight, it was around thirty-something jin.

The feeling of catching a big fish is still exhilarating. Sometimes, fishing doesn't have to be about how precious the fish is; being heavy enough is satisfying!

He put the fish into the catch box and went back to fishing. He cast in the same spot where he had put the groundbait. Fish are relatively foolish; as long as they aren't caught themselves, they generally won't run away.

He cast the rod. After the hook reached the bottom, he didn't wait too long this time before a fish took the bait.

However, it wasn't a big fish, just a Grass Carp of about three jin. This fish wouldn't sell for much, and taking it back would be time-consuming and troublesome, so he threw it back into the river directly.

His target was the giants in the water. Ordinary fish only sell for ten or twenty yuan each. Taking them back wasn't worth it. He simply focused on those giants; catching a few would be satisfying.

Things didn't go as planned. Several consecutive casts resulted in medium-sized fish, ranging from two to five jin. Only a Snakehead of seven or eight jin was kept; the others were thrown back.

Wild Snakehead is quite valuable, with a market price of 50-70 yuan per jin. A seven or eight jin one could sell for several hundred yuan.

Chen Xiangbei didn't catch a giant, but he wasn't discouraged. This kind of thing sometimes depends on luck. When luck is good, he can catch big fish one after another. When luck is bad, it's small fish all day.

He continued casting. This time, he increased the amount of bait. With a larger volume, it wasn't as easy for small fish to take the bait, and the chance for big fish to bite increased.

Not long after casting, there was movement in the water. The fish were testing the bait. He remained motionless, holding one posture.

"Swish~" It's hooked!

This time the reaction was very strong!

Chen Xiangbei pulled back for a bit, then started accommodating the fish's burst of power, slowly releasing the line, letting it pull back little by little. He couldn't let it have it too easy, following it rhythmically and regularly.

While wearing down its energy, he controlled the distance from the shore. Sometimes, people can accidentally be pulled into the water, especially when fighting with a giant.

After a battle lasting 20 minutes, he finally managed to pull this giant up.

Playing the fish was quite tiring. Although his physique was beyond ordinary people, he wasn't Superman.

This giant was a Snakehead weighing about 40 kilograms and measuring about 1.2 meters long.

Snakehead is a large freshwater fish. Adult Snakehead are about 80 centimeters long.

Wild Snakehead can reach a maximum length of 2 meters and a maximum weight of about 67 kilograms. It is one of the giants people often catch.

This giant greatly satisfied Chen Xiangbei's heart. This was the longest and heaviest fish he had ever caught.

He took out his phone, took a few photos of the fish, posted them on his Moments, and captioned it: How did you know I caught a big fish?! (〜^∇^)〜

Not long after this provocative Moments post was sent out, someone commented on it, saying.

"Oh my god! Where did you buy such a big fish? Quickly tell me, I'll go buy one too, and eat it braised tonight!"

"Damn, buddy, when did your family start raising fish? How come I didn't know?"

"This picture is well Photoshopped. Help me Photoshop one someday, I want to show off too!"

"I told you that many people would see the fish I caught, right? Quickly help me carry the fish back to my place, I'll treat you to fish tonight."

Chen Xiangbei gritted his teeth in anger when he saw these comments.

He edited a reply that everyone could see: Unified reply, everyone present is a ***! Coveting my big fish, be careful or I'll tell Old Mo.