As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 52: Chapter 52 One More 3888 [Additional Updates Requested for More Reading]

Fishing is really a physical activity.

If a Fishing Man wants a wife, he doesn’t just need money but also a strong back.

In the daytime, he struggles with fish, and at night, he has to continue to be an “electric motor” at home, otherwise, neighbors with the surname Wang will pop up excessively.

Chu Mingcheng was bent over due to the strong pull of the big fish; he grabbed the fishing rod with both hands and lifted it, which was the only way he could reel in a few coils of line.

Seeing Zhang Wei and the others still standing behind him, he quickly said, “Get away from me. I’m worried the line might snap and hit you.”

If the line really did snap, the backlash would be no joke.

Hearing this, Zhang Wei and the others immediately moved to the front deck and then peered out together from behind the cockpit to watch the situation.

Reassured by their departure, Chu Mingcheng fished comfortably. With a bellyband for support, he could rely on his waist to exert force, which was much easier than before.

The fish was the strongest he had ever encountered, but he was still able to handle it.

Now, he was trying to lift the rod as much as possible, eager to pull the fish to the surface soon.

The fish was fierce, once more exerting its strength and bending the rod even more. Chu Mingcheng grew somewhat worried that the rod might break, so he adjusted the height slightly, allowing the rod tip to dip into the water, which eased the bending.

Each time he lifted the rod, he could reel in quite a few coils of line.

After at least half an hour, waters splashed violently. Finally, Chu Mingcheng brought the fish to the surface.

Using a No. 30 fishing rod, getting the fish up took more time and carried a significant risk of snapping the rod or the line.

If he had switched to his No. 80 fishing rod with a high-powered line, assuming he had enough strength, he might have brought it up in twenty minutes or even less.

Zhang Wei, shining his flashlight, suddenly bent down and cursed, “Shit, grandpa.”

“Shit, it’s a huge sea bass!”

“Shit, it definitely measures in meters!”

“Shit, I never knew there were such big sea bass around here. I’ve never seen one!”

“Stop cursing. Come and help!” Chen Yang tugged at the corner of his mouth, quickly picked up the landing net, and returned to Chu Mingcheng’s side.

Zhang Wei, realizing what was needed, also went to grab the fish controller to help.

Using a net to catch big fish often leads to failure, which is frequent on the internet; one must be doubly prepared, or else a lost fish could cause a cardiac arrest.

When the sea bass was pulled to the surface, its fate was already sealed.

Chu Mingcheng wiped the sweat that was about to drip from his forehead, then cranked the handle to pull the upside-down sea bass closer.

Chen Yang was a bit nervous, missing the fish’s head several times and getting drenched by the struggling fish.

Fortunately, the bait was swallowed properly, the hook was lodged deep, and Chu Mingcheng’s maneuvering of the rod helped him scoop more effectively.

This time, Chen Yang finally managed to scoop the fish’s head, but the sea bass was too big, and the net could only cover half of its body.

He didn’t try to lift it but swished the net back and forth in the water, pulling it towards the side of the boat.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei quickly used the fish controller and clamped it onto the fish’s lower lip through the net.

Chu Mingcheng put down the rod and grabbed the fish’s tail, “Come on, one, two, three, lift!”

With the combined effort of the three men, the sea bass, over a meter long, was finally lifted into the cabin.

Seeing such a big fish, Brother Zhao Jun could not remain seated. He searched in his sleeping area in the cockpit and pulled out a tape measure.

“Come on, let me see how big this fish is! I’ve seen a few meter-long cod in my fishing career, but never a sea bass this big.”

The other three stepped aside, each taking out their phones to take pictures.

“If I don’t snap a photo and show it off, am I even a qualified Fishing Man?”

Zhang Wei joked, “Ah Cheng, why don’t we take it to the town and then put it on the back of my bike? We could show it off around the town for a bit.”

Chu Mingcheng couldn’t help laughing and crying, “Stop kidding, instead of showing off, we might as well fish some more here.”

While they were talking, Zhao Jun had already measured the fish, “One meter twenty-six, I estimate this sea bass weighs about thirty kilograms.”

However, Zhang Wei shook his head, “That can’t be right. Last year, someone in Taishi caught a sea bass that was over one meter thirty and weighed forty-five kilograms. It sold for five thousand. This one, even if it isn’t forty kilograms, can’t be far off and could be worth four thousand.”

“Whether it’s worth four thousand also depends on if anyone wants it.” Normally, the market price for sea bass here is about forty-one per kilogram, and it doesn’t fluctuate much.

But at over a meter, the price could jump to one hundred and ten per kilogram. The meat might get a little tough when the fish is this big, but some people just like them big.

Unfortunately, there was no scale on the boat, so they had to wait until they got ashore to weigh it.

Chen Yang took a few photos of the fish, squatted down beside it, and had Zhang Wei help him take a few shots, then said to Chu Mingcheng, “Ah Cheng, I’ll send these photos to a few clients and see if they want it. It’s a pity it’s not a Stone Fish; if it was, I’d take it even for ten to twenty thousand.”

Chu Mingcheng initially wanted to post it in the group, but hearing him say this, he nodded and smiled, “Go ahead, you ask them first.”

Clearly, Huaxia people are mostly interested in rare things.

Seeing such a big sea bass, three of his clients were interested in buying, and they asked about the weight and price.

“I have a customer who wants it, how much are you planning to sell it for?”

Chu Mingcheng thought for a moment, then said, “How about this, tell them we haven’t weighed it yet, but it’s definitely over thirty kilograms. The fixed price is 3888, they can come pick it up themselves or have it delivered, but delivery doesn’t include postage; they have to pay for that themselves.”

“Alright.” Chen Yang replied according to his words, and eventually, a boss from Mingzhou bought it. He was coming here tomorrow, so he would pick it up himself.

“Brother Zhao Jun, I have to trouble you to drop me off at home. I need to get the fish home and pump some oxygen into it to keep it alive as long as possible.”

“No need for such trouble, I’ll teach you a technique that can make the fish live longer.”

Zhao Jun brought a long nylon rope, completely opened the fish’s gills, and threaded the nylon rope through them, then out from the other side.

He then tied the tail up, grabbed the excess rope at both ends, and gave it a tough pull, forcibly bending the bass into a bow shape before finally tying the two ends of the rope together.

This action left the other three looking quite perplexed.

Zhang Wei couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Zhao Jun, is there a particular reason for tying it up like this?”

Zhao Jun chuckled and explained, “This is called Bow-fishing Technique, I learned it from a friend. Tying it up like this can make the fish live longer, normally it can last a day or two.”

“But I haven’t tried it with a sea bass before. We’ll pump it with oxygen later, and it should definitely last a day.”

Zhang Wei suddenly understood, then another question popped up, “Then… why don’t fishermen tie their catch like this? Wouldn’t it sell better if it’s alive?”

Zhao Jun shrugged, “Not all fish can be tied like this, and besides, fish can be kept alive in the fishing hold for a while, so it’s not necessary. Plus, ocean fishermen catch so many fish at once, it’s not possible to tie them all up.”

“Bow-fishing Technique was a good method for preserving fish in ancient times, but modern technology has basically rendered it obsolete.”

“I don’t have an oxygen pump on my boat, and the fish hold is too small, otherwise I wouldn’t need to bother with this.”

After hearing this, the three nodded in understanding, indeed, if you have an oxygen pump, what need is there for Bow-fishing Technique!

But they still inquired carefully about the key points of tying with the Bow-fishing Technique.

It’s always good to learn a new skill, just like now, you never know when it might come in handy, right?

Today, Chu Mingcheng had made enough to cover the boat expenses, earning over two thousand from just this sea bass, not to mention the fish caught in the afternoon.

Now that he was planning to buy a boat, though, the pressure was really mounting, and he felt he couldn’t be as laissez-faire as before.

Thus, after catching the bass, he didn’t rest but chose to continue fishing.