As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Testing the Waters with an Iron Rod

“Tsk, what’s money between us? If you ever want to go fishing at sea, just tell me, and I’ll take you,” Brother Zhao Jun immediately refused, feeling too embarrassed to take money for such a short trip.

However, he failed to notice that his wife’s expression seemed a bit off.

Chu Mingcheng, of course, took note of this. Even if the bridge was close by, fuel was still needed, and he would have to leave his work to go, which could cause delays.

But if money was offered, the nature of the event changed, turning Zhao Jun’s boating into a paying job, so his wife wouldn’t have any reason to complain about the delay in household chores.

And it would also set a precedent for future occasions, making things easier for everyone.

If no money was taken, Chu Mingcheng would feel too embarrassed to ask him for another favor in the future.

“Brother Zhao Jun, you must take the money. I definitely plan to go fishing more than once or twice, and if you don’t take it, next time I’ll have to find someone else. Any other person would take the money anyway, so it wouldn’t be fair to you,” Chu Mingcheng insisted.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Jun broke into an embarrassed smile, “Alright, we’ll do it your way, but what about dinner? Are you going to eat on the boat, or come back to shore?”

“If we decide to cook on the boat, I’ll bring the stove. We can make porridge or noodles there.”

“Sure thing, then I’ll trouble you with that, Brother Zhao Jun. Tonight we’ll eat the fish we catch ourselves, and I’ll have a friend bring some cooked food over,” Chu Mingcheng replied.

There was still some time left before 2 p.m., but he needed to make some preparations.

Today’s fishing target was sea bass which he intended to catch with a jigging rod, but he still needed to prepare some alternative baits just in case.

Sea bass can normally be caught with Sand Worm, loaches, or even pig liver. Of course, shrimp could also be used, which work well but cost a bit more.

The store owner had prepared some Sand Worm and small loaches since many people come to Yanmen Island to catch sea bream, stone fish, and sea bass, so Chu Mingcheng didn’t need to go anywhere else to buy them.

Small loaches cost ten yuan for a bottle of about a hundred, which was more than enough.

Although there’s no explicit legal prohibition against using live loaches for fishing in many places, one could still face administrative penalties if caught.

Fishing with live loaches is highly efficient and falls under the category of commercial fishing.

This was why Chu Mingcheng bought the loaches only after hiring Zhao Jun’s boat, as he had a valid fishing license. Using live loaches onboard could be considered taking advantage of a loophole.

Furthermore, local regulations weren’t stringent at the moment, and there were no penalties for selling fish caught using live loaches or shrimp.

If he were to go fishing elsewhere in the future, he would have to be more cautious.

The tackle shop owner only dared to sell them because of this specific context, and Chu Mingcheng felt confident buying them.

However, Chu Mingcheng might not even need to use the live loaches. @@novelbin@@

Because fish particularly like to gather around bridge piers, which is a natural fish-gathering area.

After buying everything, Chu Mingcheng moved the fishing rods from his car when he got home, keeping only two tackle boxes in the vehicle.

With an increasing number of rods, he barely had room for them in the car, so he decided to clear out an area in the storage room on the first floor to store his fishing rods.

But when Chu Mingcheng brought all the rods inside, he realized a serious problem: where was the rod rack?

Nevermind, better just put them aside for now. The storage room wasn’t organized yet, and there was nowhere to properly set up the rack.

Today, for the boat fishing trip, Chu Mingcheng decided to bring three rods: the newly purchased jigging rod, a number 30 boat fishing rod, and an MH power spinning rod for lure fishing.

This spinning rod was for Chen Yang to use; whether he would catch any fish was up to his luck.

Once ready, Chu Mingcheng fed his cat, Xiao Mi, before leaving the house.

He had initially wanted to bring it along, but since it was pregnant, it needed to stay quietly at home.

Before setting off to Zhao Jun’s place, Chu Mingcheng put on his head-mounted camera and started filming. He was already going out to sea with multiple fishing rods at home, so it was about time to start releasing videos.

Making and releasing videos was not only a source of website traffic for him but, more importantly, he found that the fishmongers’ purchasing prices were too low. By filming videos, he might accumulate some direct customers, making it easier to sell fish in the future.

He wouldn’t always stay at Yanmen Island, where the fish resources were limited. In the future, he aimed to venture out to the Far Sea.

With the convenience of modern express delivery, while live fish are hard to ship, fresh, chilled fish can still be sent within a short time frame. Therefore, developing some customers in advance was crucial; he could just add them to a group chat.

Upon arriving at Zhao Jun’s place, he was already prepared.

Chu Mingcheng saw that he was also carrying a fishing rod and was a bit surprised, “Brother Zhao Jun, you know how to fish too!”

Zhao Jun laughed, “I got the itch the day before yesterday after seeing you catch a green spot, so I went and bought a boat fishing rod. Now, I can go fishing even when I don’t cast the net.”

“That’s great, fishing is not only recreational but can also be a profession, adding some income and reducing pressure is good. But Brother Zhao Jun, don’t get too caught up in it. Serious sea fishing involves a lot of expensive equipment, which is not something that everyone can afford.”

Chu Mingcheng felt it was good to find time for fishing, especially since Zhao Jun was a fisherman already, and could earn extra income when the small tide made net fishing impossible.

“I’m aware of that, this whole set cost me just three hundred, and I don’t plan to buy anymore,” Zhao Jun said with a smile. He had two kids, the younger one in kindergarten and the older in primary school, not to mention the annual expenses weren’t small.

Under such pressure, how could he afford to be a hobbyist? Did he still want to take care of his wife and children?

Chu Mingcheng nodded, greeted his sister-in-law, and then the two headed to the pier.

Today, nobody was heading out to sea, and the fishing boats were densely gathered at the pier, with not many people around.

They moved the fishing box, as well as the stove and other equipment needed to cook to the boat, and then set off for the abandoned pier first.

Chu Mingcheng sent a message to Zhang Wei, asking him to buy some ready-made food and drinks after work and come directly to the pier, and to call him when they arrived.

The abandoned pier near the bridge was close, and it took the boat just about fifteen minutes to reach it.

There were no Fishing Men around the pier, and this was the advantage of hiring Zhao Jun’s boat for the trip.

Fishing Men who charter boats for sea fishing wouldn’t come here, and those without boats couldn’t possibly fish near the pier.

The fishermen on Yanmen Island were accustomed to catching fish, and mostly older, so they wouldn’t bother to take a boat out fishing during their downtime.

There were steel bars protruding from the pier, Zhao Jun tied a rope around them, and the boat was secured.

Chu Mingcheng went to the stern, which was to the right of the pier, and left the space on the left for Zhao Jun.

He picked up the iron rod and hung a minnow to test the waters.

When fishing under the pier, there was no need to cast the rod, just lift the rod slightly, and the inertia would swing the minnow near the pier.

The fish were swimming around the few piers nearby, as well as under the large bridge not far away; casting farther out was foolish!

As the minnow sank, Chu Mingcheng silently counted to ten in his head, opening the spool to let out line while he counted.

Sea bass were surface feeders, so the minnow didn’t need to sink too deep.

When the time was right, Chu Mingcheng gently lifted the rod to make the minnow hop a little.

The jerking motion of the rod was slower, lifting it up while the right hand reeled in the line, and stopping reeling when the rod tip was lowered, allowing the rising minnow to halt and start sinking again.Update by n0vgo. co

If the sinking process abruptly stopped, it meant a fish had taken a bite; the fish liked to strike just as it descended.

As long as one found where the fish were, lure fishing wouldn’t always come up empty.

Chu Mingcheng did this repeatedly, not reeling the minnow all the way up but letting it sink again when it was about half a meter from the surface, then beginning the stop-and-go process anew.

On the third attempt, during the instant the minnow descended, a fish finally struck.

The iron rod was thin, bending significantly the moment the fish bit.

Chu Mingcheng set the hook and then lifted the rod to reel in the line; the fish wasn’t big, so it was relatively easy to pull in.

In a short while, a sea bass weighing about two pounds was brought to the surface.

Seeing that the minnow had been completely swallowed, he reached out with his cut-resistant gloves and grabbed the line, pulling the fish aboard.

He lifted the fish directly like this based on the situation; the minnow wasn’t always swallowed whole.

Sometimes it just hooked at the edge of the fish’s mouth, or even just the nose or the back—using a landing net was a better choice under such circumstances, to avoid stimulating the fish into struggling and potentially losing the catch.