55: Manual Fish Trap

He would put the matter of the giant creature aside for now and deal with it after he was prepared.

He grabbed his rod and continued fishing for Ornamental Fish.

Chen Wen and the others were editing the video they had just filmed.

Under his strict requirements, the video was quickly edited.

It was actually very simple; they just cut out all the scenes with Chen Xiangbei, which didn't require much technical skill.

After the video was edited, they all posted it on short video platforms and shared it in their respective groups to show off.

Zhao Hu's video caption was the most irritating; he wrote below the video: Who hasn't dealt with a “Water Monster”!

After posting the video, everyone returned to their positions and continued watching Chen Xiangbei fish.

That night, they hadn't caught many fish themselves; almost all the catch belonged to Chen Xiangbei.

They could prioritize choosing their preferred purchases, and the rest would be available to others.

Chen Xiangbei had already announced in the group that he would be going out to get stock today and would be selling it at the Ornamental Fish club tomorrow morning.

He had already notified Xia Weicheng in advance that the sale would start promptly at 10 AM tomorrow.

Wild Ornamental Fish are very rare, especially those from Baiyun Lake, which are known for their resilience and ease of keeping.

Therefore, many people in the group were looking forward to tomorrow.

However, the group chat at this time wasn't discussing tomorrow's events, but the matter of the Baiyun Lake “Water Monster”.

The reason was that Chen Wen had posted the video in the group, which surprised everyone and led to continuous discussions about the matter.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiangbei was pulling up a rare Halfmoon fighting fish.

The Halfmoon fighting fish is a type of fighting fish, named for its shape resembling a half-moon. Its colors are rich and vibrant, making it a dream fish for many Ornamental Fish enthusiasts.

However, fighting fish are too common in the market, and even with their stunning beauty, they don't sell for much. So, the one he caught was for himself.

He had already caught several Halfmoon fighting fish, and they were all different varieties, all with excellent appearances.

He planned to create a low-cost Ornamental Fish ecological base; it wouldn't hurt if they died, as the loss would only be a hundred yuan or so.

Chen Xiangbei signaled for everyone to return to the cockpit and sit down; he was going to change fishing spots.

The fish here had been disturbed by that giant creature, and the rate of catching fish had slowed down.

After everyone was in position, he started the boat and continued heading towards the protected area.

After driving for a while, he stopped to observe and found that there were too many雜魚 here, making it unsuitable for fishing.

So, he continued to drive forward.

Finally, not far from the protected area, he stopped. He was forced to stop because the area ahead was shallow water, unsuitable for further navigation.

Chen Xiangbei turned off the engine, ran to the gunwale, and observed, discovering that there were many schools of Ornamental Fish here.

He immediately returned to the cockpit and told everyone to grab their fishing rods and go out to fish together.

This time, he changed his position and went to the stern to fish. The gunwale had a railing blocking him, making it uncomfortable to fish.

The stern had no railing, similar to the stern of a tugboat, with an open deck.

This area was larger, making it more convenient for him to maneuver.

The lights at the back of the boat were much brighter. When he arrived at the stern, many fish had already gathered there.

Chen Xiangbei observed for a while and found that the water quality here was excellent, with very high visibility.

It was even clearer than the underground water in the karst cave; he could clearly see the aquatic plants three to four meters underwater.

Wild Ornamental Fish are relatively timid and like to hide in rock crevices or aquatic plants to avoid being preyed upon by predators.

Chen Xiangbei wanted to attract the fish hidden in the aquatic plants, so he came up with a plan.

He firmly squeezed the enhanced chum into a ball, forcing the air out and increasing its density so it would sink to the bottom.

He squeezed three balls of enhanced chum and threw them under the three lights. These chum slowly sank to the bottom, and the scent they emitted awakened the fish sleeping in the aquatic plants.

Fish from all around swam over and began to compete for the chum.

Chen Xiangbei stared intently at the movement in the water. After the three balls of chum were mostly eaten, he took out three more. This time, he didn't squeeze them tightly, allowing them to float on the shallow surface.

After the chum at the bottom was eaten, the fish scattered in search. Discovering new food on the surface, they all swam upwards.

Chen Xiangbei's goal was achieved. He grabbed a landing net, placed a compressed ball of Secret Bait inside, and then extended it into the water. The bait remained in contact with the bottom of the net and didn't float up.

The foraging fish, smelling the bait, came over. There were various types.

Chen Xiangbei carefully controlled the landing net, sifting through the fish. He didn't let the杂魚 in, but collected all the Ornamental Fish.

Before long, only the杂魚 were left swimming around; he had scooped up most of the Ornamental Fish.

He lifted the landing net, poured the fish into the fish box, and moved to another light source to repeat the process.

Soon, dozens of Ornamental Fish under the three lights were scooped up.

He started fishing with a rod. The fish caught this way were mostly less intelligent ones; the rare fish were clever and wouldn't be easily fooled.

Switching to a fishing rod, he controlled the position of the lure's entry into the water to be around the illuminated areas.

Clever fish observe for danger in the dark areas, so casting the rod at the boundary between light and dark was the easiest way to catch fish.

Before casting, he had used the landing net to stir the water everywhere, scaring away the杂魚.

Therefore, there was no movement for a while after he cast the rod, but the less movement there was, the calmer he became.

Often, catching a large fish requires a long period of waiting.

Indeed, after waiting for a while, he felt something stirring the current underwater.

Since the light was not good here, making it difficult to observe, he lifted the lure slightly, and the creature underwater also darted upwards.

As it approached the lure, Chen Xiangbei also saw its true appearance clearly.

It looked like a Black Fish, but it wasn't black; it was iridescent, and its fins were much larger than a Black Fish's. He had never seen this kind of fish before.

This fish swam around the lure but didn't bite immediately.

Chen Xiangbei cautiously moved the lure towards this fish. It seemed to feel provoked, and with a burst of speed, it struck the lure.

Seeing that the fish was only hitting the lure and not biting, he continued to control the lure to approach it, angering it and forcing it to bite.

After provoking it back and forth three or four times, this fish finally couldn't stand it anymore and opened its large mouth to bite the lure.

Chen Xiangbei was overjoyed at the sight and muttered to himself.

"Hahaha, stupid fish, you fell for it, didn't you? I can handle you even if you dart around like that, la la la~"

He pulled the fish up, removed the hook, and carefully admired this peculiar fish.

The tip of its dorsal fin was bright red, its tail fin was reddish-brown and interspersed, and its body color was primarily light blue with four other colors for contrast. Its eyes were reddish-brown.

Its body length was about 50 centimeters, and it weighed about 4 taels, which was very light.