Reborn in the Millennium: Building a Fortune from Fishing

Chapter 586 Night Fishing for Tuna

It was already 7 p.m. when we arrived at Nanwei. The fishing boat was not a yacht, and its speed was at most ten knots.

At this time, the second fishing boat had already started fishing.

Everyone was ready on the way, so let's cast our lines now.

Qin Dahe didn't try to be brave; he used an electric winch because he knew that going by hand would be too much for a person to handle.

The two boats were about a hundred meters apart and couldn't speak, but they could communicate via walkie-talkie.

After inquiring, Boss Li announced that two large fish had just been caught on the other side.

"From now on, regardless of their value, keep all the fish. Let's all work together!"

After we finish fishing tomorrow and the day after, we'll have to call a boat to take everyone back the day after that. Even ordinary fish, as long as they're fresh, can be valuable if we bring them back.

Just like the golden threadfin bream used as bait on the first day, after being chilled for three days, it can still be sold for around twenty yuan.

The price of deep-sea fish is fixed; it won't be much cheaper.

Fish can be found at depths of around 180 to 230 meters, which is the limit of a fish finder's ability to detect them. Any deeper and they won't be visible even if you pass by.

As night fell, Qin Dahe finally caught his first fish.

The 30-kilogram pressure relief valve creaked and groaned, indicating that the cargo below weighed at least 70 or 80 kilograms.

Because the fishing line is 1000 meters long, the drag was not set to the maximum of 100 kilograms to prevent the line from breaking.

There are many factors that affect the tangent line; it's not that a thicker line won't break.

When the leakage slowed down, he began to reduce the leakage. Although he had never used an electric winch before, the principle should be the same as that of a manual one.

When the fish can no longer be pulled, start reeling in the line at the lowest setting.

At this point, the drag force is 10 kilograms, and even if the fish struggles, it can still pull some line out.

Keep it like that, and when you see the struggling force getting weaker and weaker, just turn off the drag and start reeling in the fishing line.

He stood by with a hook, ready to catch fish at any moment.

Comparatively speaking, electric is much more comfortable than manual.

"So fat." Qin Dahe's eyes flashed with joy as he looked at the tuna that weighed over 70 pounds that had been caught.

Tuna meat is graded, with the fattier the fish, the higher the grade and the tastier it is.

Although this one weighs only about 70 pounds, its fatness is comparable to that of a 100-pound animal.

"Yes, this school of fish is really plump," Uncle Qing said happily.

He just caught a carp weighing over 100 pounds; it was incredibly fat.

Boss Li glanced at the still trembling fish and nodded.

It's not uncommon for entire schools of fish to be plump, such as in Canadian fishing grounds where the tuna quality surpasses that of other regions due to abundant resources.

The guy quickly bled the fish to cool it down; he had to work the night shift today.

Both boats have their lights on, but who knows how long we can fish? The fish might only bite for two or three hours.

Another cast, but the 30-kilogram drag couldn't pull it up, so I had to reel it in at the highest setting.

Fishing for small fish is really time-saving. Flying fish are a daily occurrence. Fish weighing ten or twenty pounds are pulled up directly by the electric winch, their internal organs bursting.

Within three minutes, the pressure increased dramatically from a depth of 200 meters to above the surface.

Tuna are alright; their bellies usually don't burst open. They just make a dull "poof" sound, and their eyes bulge out.

Deep-sea ribbonfish are in trouble; their bellies are thin, and when they come up to the surface, they burst open like firecrackers.

He was a little frustrated after catching three small fish in a row, but then a big one came along. The 30-kilogram drag was very fast, so he adjusted it to 50 kilograms.

That way we can slip away faster.

"Congratulations to Mr. Zhang on catching a 75-pound deep-sea giant grouper."

"Damn, Andy Lau is on steroids."

"That's right, they just brought up a big yellow croaker."

In an hour and a half, the horn blared four times, twice for Hua Zai's catch, and once for the large yellow croaker and this giant grouper. "Haha, good luck, huh?" he chuckled, helping the staff to hold the fish in place and bleed it.

"Let's all have the big yellow croaker for lunch tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

A large yellow croaker weighing over four pounds is quite valuable, worth at least seven thousand yuan, while a large grouper only costs a little over thirty thousand yuan based on the catch price.

However, even though he was short of money, once he was on the fishing boat, he certainly couldn't be stingy when it came to treating people.

Qin Dahe and his group all operate on the same principle: they eat their fill first, and if they can break even on the rest, great; if not, they just give up. After all, it's just eating.

Even with a 50-kilogram drag, the fish was still being played very quickly. As the line slowed down, he started reeling it in.

He even had time to light a cigarette and watch the electric winch move on its own.

"It just doesn't feel quite right. For those weighing under 200 pounds, manual is definitely more satisfying." He took a deep drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled. He felt that Wenwen and the others were right not to use an electric winch. They weren't making money from it, so the user experience was definitely their priority.

"You haven't had enough rest since last time?" Hua Zai joked. Qin Dahe's fishing boat was ruined for two days after the second day of his trip.

"Taking a couple of days off is fine, as long as I have a good time fishing, I'm happy. I'm not really hoping to make a lot of money."

"That's true." Hua thought for a moment, wondering if they should use a manual fishing method tomorrow, since this electric reel doesn't offer any sense of involvement.

"Congratulations to Brother Long in position number nine for catching a 35-pound grouper."

"Thirty-five jin?" Everyone looked over in surprise.

Grouper is generally sold in wet markets in sizes ranging from one to three pounds. Five pounds is considered a large quantity, and anything larger can only be delivered to restaurants.

Because an average family can't eat that many fish in one meal.

"Are there really grouper this big?"

"Yeah, my restaurant has never accepted it either," Hua Zai said, bewildered.

Just then, the waiter brought over the fish, which was round and plump.

"Damn, this one costs over ten thousand, lol."

"It will cost about 15,000," Uncle Qing said enviously.

The bigger the seafood, the more valuable it is; this fish can fetch over 500 yuan at the purchase price.

"It's definitely worth that much money." Boss Li nodded. He had accumulated quite a few good items over the past six months, from the South China Sea Basin to the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi.

It doesn't work in the South China Sea basin. Currently, we can only control a portion of the sea area because there are too many fishermen from neighboring small countries poaching.

"Crazy Chicken, we need to step up our game too."

"Ah Long, are you bottom fishing?" someone shouted towards the stern of the boat.

"Correct."

Some people, unable to resist the urge, are preparing to bottom fish, which will likely result in a broken line.

This has happened several times already, and some people are running out of cables.

Each cut involves cutting two to three hundred meters of wire, leaving too few wire sets unusable, which then have to be discarded.

Qin Dahe calmly fished for tuna, deciding to finish this round first before starting bottom fishing.

Bottom-dwelling fish don't move around.

Here comes another 110-pound tuna. It's so easy to catch; it only took a few tens of minutes.

He has already caught five fish, two large and three small, weighing a total of about 300 jin, which is not bad.

It's only been an hour and a half, and with good fat content, it'll definitely taste better.

Others caught three or four hundred catties, while others caught two or three.

"What's the situation on the other side?" As he cast his line again, Qin Dahe lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and asked Boss Li curiously.

"We got two tons of fish, but I just checked the fish finder and the fish have started to head towards the South China Sea basin. It looks like it's almost over."

(End of this chapter)