Reborn in the Millennium: Building a Fortune from Fishing

Chapter 523 White Balance Waterproofing
Underwater cameras are essential for bait companies.

It turns out that it all comes down to experience. Corn, earthworms, dough balls with a drizzle of sesame oil—whatever you catch a fish, you add a little of it to create different wild fishing recipes.

Almost all bait recipes originated from this method.

Subsequently, fishing tackle companies began to analyze the active ingredients in these formulas and screen them based on their performance in water.

The reason why Hubei's fishing tackle industry is leading is the same: there are many anglers, so there are more people and places to help them test baits.

There are many secret formulas, and many components that can be broken down.

Coupled with the vast fishing consumer market, this has given rise to a large number of fishing tackle brands.

Qin Dahe, relying on his foresight, used a mature formula to produce several types of bait ahead of time, so it's only natural that he made money.

In particular, the development of bait for silver carp and bighead carp is booming, as silver carp and bighead carp consumers are among the strongest consumers, and their demand for fishing tackle is very high.

However, if Dahe Fishing Tackle wants to continue to grow and gain a certain market share in the fishing tackle industry, it needs to keep iterating on its bait.

Underwater cameras are a crucial component. He wasn't sure if fishing gear companies in Hubei had them, but Dahe Fishing Gear definitely needed to be equipped with them.

Based on their own 100-acre mixed-culture farm, they continuously experiment with the effects of various feed ingredients on the fish using underwater cameras.

They even plan to conduct experiments in various provinces and sell different versions in different regions when they have more money in the future.

Moreover, underwater cameras can also make money. Ordinary people certainly can't afford them, but fishermen never lack wealthy people, so they can always sell some.

When you go fishing in the wild, bring several underwater cameras and bait multiple spots. Fish wherever the fish are in the baited area; it's incredibly fun.

Just like guarding the giant green aquarium at Jinniu Lake, having underwater cameras is much more efficient.

After taking Xiao Liu aboard the boat, it was already 2 PM. Qin Dahe started the engine to feed the crabs.

"Hey, you're a top student, come help me with some work. Just scatter the rubbish wherever I drive," he said with a smile.

"Okay, is this for feeding the fish?" Xiao Liu was a little curious. His family was relatively well-off, and he had never lived in the countryside.

"To feed the crabs, just scatter the bait about one meter from the shore."

I don't expect to make money from fish, but crabs are still very profitable. This year, harvesting a thousand catties of crabs will bring in over 100,000 yuan.

We drove along the edge of the lake and when we got to Xucun, we found a fish trap. We cursed and pulled it up.

The lake's water is crystal clear; on a sunny day like this, the visibility is at least two or three meters, so the fish trap can't hide there at all.

Normally, unless he's too busy, he patrols the ponds every day, yet some people still try to steal his goods.

"Damn it, they even brought me crabs in the net!" They were only a little over an ounce, too inedible, so I just threw them back.

"Raising fish is quite interesting," Xiaoliu said with a smile.

"It's alright, as long as I don't have to go offline in winter, I'll feel comfortable."

When Fifth Master was drinking, he also said that the hardest time for fishermen is when they cast their nets at the end of the year, because fish are valuable and can be sold quickly.

In winter, you have to go out to haul in the nets at four or five in the morning. When you come back, your hands are so frozen that you can't straighten them. After hauling in the nets, you have to sell them on the street. Killing fish is no easy task.

The fish trap only yielded some small, miscellaneous fish, including catfish and whitebait. I threw them all into the cabin to feed my two kittens when I got back.

We found three fish traps on one side of the dike. I don't know which bastard was thinking of catching some small fish to eat. We put together a plate of miscellaneous fish, which will be a good extra meal for dinner.

He accepted the fish trap without hesitation; each one cost over ten yuan.

After finishing feeding the crabs, the two began testing the underwater camera.

They moored the boat at the deepest part, where the bottom was artificially modified. He and Erhu took turns operating the excavator and dug for a long time; they could find it even with their eyes closed.

"This is bait for silver carp and bighead carp. After you scatter it, fish will gather from the high water level to the bottom."

This isn't fishing; it's just gathering fish to check the camera's performance, so there's no need to worry about preparing the bait.

After mixing it with water, throw it directly off the side of the boat, then use the braided line of the fishing rod to tie the camera down and send it down. The data cable is definitely long enough; Xiaoliu left more than ten meters for it when she made it.

"Won't this thread break? It took a lot of effort to make one." Xiaoliu looked at the thin thread with some concern.

"Phew, we've caught a 200-pound fish, what's there to be afraid of with a mere camera?"

"Let me tell you, the whole process of catching the grass carp was recorded on video, and it even made it onto a lot of TV news and newspapers."

When talking about the big grass carp he caught, Qin Dahe became animated again, even showing people the photo in his wallet.

"Impressive."

The photos of the giant bluefish are quite impressive; they lie side by side and are taller than a person.

"Haha, the seven of us waited a whole week to catch this fish," Qin Dahe said smugly, and started casting his line.

Normally, unless they are foraging, big fish will definitely gather in the deepest part of the pond.

This is why some private fishing ponds limit rod length; they create ponds within ponds where anglers with insufficient rod length can only watch the fish swim by.

Even if you release the actual number of fish, you don't have to worry about catching nothing.

The camera could see clearly from a distance of two meters, but at this point, the bait for silver carp and bighead carp only attracted small, unwanted fish; we had to wait.

Qin Dahe simply started sprinkling water on both sides, and the surrounding water began to turn into a white mist. The two stared intently at the computer screen, where they could clearly see several small white carp approaching.

Next came the bighead carp. Presumably due to the hot weather, the bighead carp were in a significantly lower water level than the silver carp.

The fish weren't very big; judging from the laptop, they weighed at most four or five pounds.

"How about it?"

"Not bad." The bait continued to be scattered, attracting more fish.

The density of silver carp and bighead carp in the lake is quite good, with about 6,000 fish. When the brothers go out and catch some small fry, they usually bring them over.

When he fished with other anglers, he would spend money to buy small fish from the four major freshwater fish species after the fishing session.

"Why not just keep going down?" Xiao Liu asked, puzzled as she saw Qin Dahe start scattering corn again.

"Wait a minute, the fish at the bottom haven't gathered yet."

Suddenly, a silver carp weighing seven or eight pounds darted in, and in the footage, it even started attacking other fish.

"Damn, I still have such big silver carp in my pond."

"This is not a good thing."

"Silver carp are fierce and like to eat small fish in spring and autumn. Luckily, there was only one." He had even caught silver carp while fishing for loach. These things have a very unique diet.

Predatory fish cannot exceed the size of the main group, otherwise they will become giants.

It must be a silver carp with exceptional talent. The largest silver carp I released was only a little over three pounds, so it's quite impressive that it has grown four or five pounds in such a short time.

"It's quite clear." Xiaoliu was satisfied with the picture.

"That's really impressive, go even further down." While a nest for silver carp and bighead carp may not be very effective at attracting them, it's excellent at attracting common carp and crucian carp.

As the fishing rod continued to let out line, the scene began to darken, and after reaching the bottom, only a blurry image could be seen.

Water plants, silt, and river mussels—it's quite large, and you can actually make out its outline.

"The picture quality isn't very good?" he frowned.

"I'll adjust the parameters; I should be able to fix it." Xiao Liu immediately got to work.

The light kept changing, and soon it became clear. Just then, a grass carp weighing about ten pounds passed by.

You can see the outline of a fish; the herring is feeding on corn, which he probably got back from Scarface.

"Just adjust it according to these parameters?"

"Can it automatically adjust according to different water depths and lighting conditions?"

He also used underwater cameras from later generations; those costing thousands of dollars were already quite clear.

"Cameras equipped with automatic white balance can only be imported, and even the core components for domestic production are bought from abroad," he said helplessly. "The price would probably be over ten thousand yuan."

"Then let's think of a way to add some buttons to the monitor so that we can set five or six different settings, okay?"

"Yes, but it would require adding some other components and reprogramming, which would be troublesome and time-consuming."

"The price is raised to 3,500 yuan per unit. This time, I'll give you an extra 10,000 yuan as a service fee. Just make a qualified product."

"OK!" The boss added money, so everything was fine.

With an order quantity of fifty, he could easily earn sixty or seventy thousand yuan per order, which would take several months for his own small workshop.

"Let's try other places first; I also need to collect parameters."

"No rush." ​​Qin Dahe took out a cigarette and handed one out, then lit one for himself.

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he said, "Eight meters is about the limit for platform fishing. Let's wait a while and see how the waterproofing works."

After finishing his cigarette, he continued waiting; there were quite a few fish in this deep pit.

They were all grass carp, and they were in large groups; even the mandarin fish were avoiding them.

Half an hour later, the camera was pulled up, and sure enough, there was no standing water or water vapor inside.

"I've applied three layers of waterproofing. I just need to go to the injection molding plant to make the outer shell according to the requirements," Xiao Liu said proudly.

Although it looks a bit ugly now, it's super waterproof.

“That’s good.” He nodded. “I happen to have a partnership with an injection molding factory in Shanghai. I’ll go to the factory and discuss the design with the foreman to make it look nicer.”

The ship began to move closer to the shore and collected parameters from 123 meters down to 7 meters.

The standard is based on your own fishpond; the main purpose of this thing is to iterate the bait in your own fishpond.

Selling is just a side effect; those anglers rarely use the equipment more than four meters deep.

Moreover, the price starts at least at five thousand, which is unaffordable for the average angler.

　I'm starting to speed up the pace; two updates today. I'll adjust the content a bit.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)