As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 98: Chapter 98 Sea Wolf Attacks

No fish were being caught, and Chu Mingcheng noticed no Groupers, so he thought maybe it was because of the bait; switching to live Squid or Mackerel might be a lot better.

Secondly, the water layer may also play a significant role, as some anglers target midwater fish.

Therefore, even for deep sea fish, it wouldn’t be strange for them to leave the bottom layer in search of abundant food—perhaps they had moved to the midwater areas?

Chu Mingcheng decided to try changing the water layer first, and if that didn’t work, he’d switch the bait.

He wasn’t sure if changing the water layer would result in catching fish, so he didn’t tell Jiang Yuqi for the time being; he’d let her know after he’d given it a try.

Chu Mingcheng reeled in his line and tried fishing for midwater fish.

...

Just as the bait reached the middle layer and he had pressed the pause button for a second, the tip of the rod trembled, and to his surprise, he indeed hooked a fish.

He guessed that the ascending Antarctic Shrimp Bait had attracted a fish to chase it, and at the moment he stopped, the fish bit it.

So Chu Mingcheng pressed the electric button once more, reeling in the fish, and said to Jiang Yuqi, “Ah Qi, reel in half of your line; there probably aren’t any fish left at the bottom.”

“No more fish at the bottom? Okay, got it!”

Jiang Yuqi didn’t hesitate, immediately reeling in her line by half, but she wasn’t as lucky—she didn’t have a fish bite as soon as she stopped.

On Chu Mingcheng’s side, he quickly pulled up a fish, but he was somewhat surprised when he saw it—it was a Stone Fish.

However, this Stone Fish was different from the ones usually caught along the coast.

The Stone Fish’s scientific name is brown scorpion fish, but the one he caught was called a White Spot Rockfish, commonly referred to as the Whitebait Stone Fish.

Both species of these rockfish can grow to about the same large size, but thanks to the rich aquatic resources and favorable environment of Xisha, his Stone Fish had grown to over a pound—he was only one more away from having enough for a whole dish.

Unfortunately, to catch larger rockfish in domestic waters, one has to go to the East Sea, where there’s a type of tri-colored scorpion fish that can grow to three or four pounds.

This fish is not cheap, selling for over 100 per pound.

But near the coast, they’re mostly only two to three taels, and these sizes sell for about forty yuan!

However, one thing puzzled him: Stone Fish aren’t strong swimmers and usually prefer hiding in rocky crevices. He was fishing in midwater areas, so how did he catch a Stone Fish?

This didn’t make sense!

Perhaps the fish bit the bait while he was reeling in, so he hadn’t noticed?

Then, when he stopped in the middle of reeling, he noticed the struggling fish and mistook it for a bite?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and Chu Mingcheng glanced over to Jiang Yuqi’s rod, still without any movement…

“Ah, there’s a big fish!”

“…”

Just as he was thinking there were no fish on her side, she caught one, and judging by how much her rod was bending, it wasn’t a small fish, definitely not a Stone Fish.

This confirmed for Chu Mingcheng that the fish he had caught must have bitten the hook at the bottom already, and it was only because he was reeling in, coupled with the weight of the sinker and the small size of the fish, that he didn’t realize it had bitten.

Jiang Yuqi’s bait was in the midwater layer, and the speed of pulling up the fish was much faster than before.

When he saw the Sea Wolf emerging from the water, he was confused again.

How could the ferocious Sea Wolf be attracted by Antarctic Shrimp? That still didn’t make sense!

After he helped to scoop up the six to seven-pound Sea Wolf into the net, seeing the small Squid in its mouth, he immediately understood.

It turned out the small Squid was tempted by the shrimp, and the Sea Wolf by the small Squid; a fortunate coincidence for it to be caught.

“Brother Ming, what kind of fish is this?” asked Jiang Yuqi as she squatted down to look at the Sea Wolf’s sharp teeth.

“This is the Sea Wolf, also called Sawbelly, a species in the Golden Needlefish family, also referred to as the Big Scorpion. It’s very aggressive and usually appears in groups,” Chu Mingcheng explained while using a hook remover to take out the fishhook.

Luckily, he had used a steel leader in the hopes of catching a Grouper.

Even so, this leader was severely worn with many bite marks, and he would have to use a special leader line.

He didn’t bring any himself, but fortunately, there were some on the Sky. He asked the crew member to bring two boxes of live squid over, and he also purchased #30 or so alloy steel anti-bite leaders, as well as 10/0 anti-bite steel fish hooks.

Sea Wolves have a protective nature, and when a Sea Wolf is attacked or hooked, other Sea Wolves will join in the attack or bite through the fishing line.

This is also an important reason why fishing lines are easily cut when fishing for Sea Wolves.

This time, not only did Jiang Yuqi catch a Sea Wolf, but several other anglers within their line of sight also caught Sea Wolves. However, many more anglers, because they were not well-prepared, had their lines cut after hooking Sea Wolves.

The crew member went to fetch the items, and Chu Mingcheng went to his room to take out his #80 fishing rod.

Sea Wolves live in the middle to upper layers of the water, and fishing for them with an electric reel is just too lackluster.

As for his electric fishing rod, he had just caught a stone fish, and it seemed there were still more below, so he continued to fish. The neighboring fishing spot was empty, so it wouldn’t hinder his battle with the Sea Wolves.

He hooked the live squid, and as soon as the bait fell into the sea, it caught the attention of the group of Sea Wolves.

The squid hadn’t even descended to the middle water layer when a few of the Sea Wolves chased after it, and the leader immediately took a bite.

Successfully seizing the food, it also fell into the human trap, hooked by the mouth.

Feeling the strange object and pain in its mouth, the hooked Sea Wolf instinctively tried to flee into the distance.

But Chu Mingcheng, on the boat, lifted his fishing rod and stabbed the fish the moment he hooked it, preventing the Sea Wolf, weighing about ten or so pounds, from resisting the force. It had been swimming downwards, but its head suddenly jerked back, changing its direction forcefully.

Its companions, seeing this, immediately went to help, trying to bite through the leader line.

In their experience, biting through the fishing line would allow their companion to escape.

Unfortunately, they were dealing with specialized anti-bite leaders and fish hooks, which were not afraid of their sharp teeth at all.

A fish of ten or so pounds was easy for Chu Mingcheng at that time. Each time he lifted his fishing rod, he retrieved several loops of line, and soon a Sea Wolf was brought to the surface of the water.

Moreover, the fish was lying on its side or even flipped over, showing that it had run out of strength.

He called over a crew member, and the Sea Wolf was directly pulled onto the boat.

Jiang Yuqi saw the whole process of Chu Mingcheng’s fishing, and even someone with no understanding would know that he was an expert.

Her collaborator, Brother Sea King, knew many people who enjoyed sea fishing and even deep-sea fishing, which made her feel that partnering with Chu Mingcheng was a very wise decision.

While Chu Mingcheng was fishing for Sea Wolves, there was also activity on the electric fishing rod side, and the fish were even faster than the Sea Wolves. It was another kilo-class White Spot Stone Nine Public.

It seemed that a group of stone fish had really been attracted to the bottom, looking like another sleepless night lay ahead.

The only disappointment was that fishing for Sea Wolves still lacked a bit of sensation; none of them were very big.

But with the fish shoal around, plans for a midnight snack today were canceled.

Jiang Yuqi couldn’t resist the sleepiness and went back to sleep at two o’clock in the morning, while Chu Mingcheng fished the whole night through.

[Sawbelly (Level 2)]

[Current Experience: 1/30]

[Size +2%]

[Tastiness +2%]

[Catch Rate +2%]

Clearly, Sea Wolves were not premium fish, but he caught thirty-one of them overnight. @@novelbin@@

The cost was replacing five leader lines and bait costing several hundred Big Coins.

But the catch was plentiful; Sea Wolves were mostly between 6 to 15 pounds, amounting to roughly three hundred and something pounds, just shy of four hundred pounds.

He also caught over twenty pounds of White Spot Stone Nine Public, as well as three Deep Sea Groupers weighing around ten or so pounds each.

Exhausted and tired, Chu Mingcheng tidied up his fishing gear, took a bath, and then buried his head in sleep.