Chapter 349: Heading Out to Sea for Squid

First, they use high‑brightness incandescent lamps on the sea to attract squid, then fishermen gradually dim the lamps or turn some off, controlling the squid's position.

At the end, only a red squid lamp is left on, and that's when trawling begins.

At night, squid lamps are the most dazzling sight along the coastal night sky; the area around the boats is bathed in vast red light, like a rolling river of liquid flame burning on the sea surface, truly a splendid view.

"All right, Uncle, if I'm following you, do the boat's lights need to be modified?"

"Yes, add a few rows of lamps; have the dock workers modify them for you—they know how."

"Fine, I'll have Xiao Hu take care of it."

After parting with Duan Chunsheng, Ye Cheng sent Xiao Hu to the dock to install the squid lamps, while he himself went home to sleep.

After all, they'd be working all night.

At past eight in the evening, Ye Cheng took Xiao Hu and followed Duan Chunsheng to the dock.

His boat had already been modified, with three rows of large bulbs added to each side of the hull, meant to attract squid.

Installing these three rows of large bulbs also follows a principle: the rows differ in length, aiming to let squid gradually approach the hull so the school surrounds the boat.

Besides these three rows of incandescent lamps, there is also a red lamp, dimmer in color, which further gathers the school and is switched on during the final haul.

Ye Cheng gave it a try; the incandescent lamp is genuinely bright—blindingly bright.

Compared to the incandescent lamp, the red lamp is dim and gloomy, giving off an ambiguous feel, like the light outside a barbershop.

After the test, Ye Cheng set out to sea with Duan Chunsheng.

This season, quite a few boats go out at night to catch squid; seven or eight vessels leave the dock one after another, and how much they catch depends on each crew's skill.

After leaving the dock, the boats initially headed in the same direction, but after more than twenty minutes they each went their separate ways.

The veteran fishermen each have their own fishing spots, relying purely on experience.

Duan Chunsheng headed for the open sea, driving another forty‑plus minutes with Ye Cheng before reaching an empty stretch of water.

Ye Cheng glanced around; this place is farther than No. 2 Fishing Ground, already nearing the deep‑sea zone.

"Lao Er, I'll go a bit to the left, you go a bit to the right—let's keep some distance. You've got what I told you, right?"

"Don't worry, Uncle Duan, it's just turning on the lights—I understand." After Ye Cheng greeted Duan Chunsheng, they each went their separate ways.

Xiao Hu sat at the bow, staring at the pitch‑black sea surface,

"Brother, you really got it down."

"Damn, I don't know a thing—let's just switch them on and try."

To claim he knows how on this first try would be nonsense.

Ye Cheng drove to the right for ten minutes, until he could no longer see Duan Chunsheng, then he slowly brought the boat to a halt and had Xiao Hu extend the three rows of lamps outward.

The longest row is said to reach ten meters, but Ye Cheng, on his first attempt, dared not extend it that far—he stopped at five meters.

Extending it further would indeed cover a larger area, but it would also entail risk.

The main issue is that if it's too long, the small boat can't withstand wind and waves.

The other two rows were extended to four meters and two meters respectively.

And that final red lamp, Ye Cheng hung it on the left side.

"Xiao Hu, give the lights a test," Ye Cheng said, retreating into the cabin.

Xiao Hu pressed the lamp switch; instantly, dozens of large bulbs lit up together, dispelling the surrounding darkness for tens of meters and illuminating the night sea surface.

"Damn, it's really bright," Ye Cheng remarked.

"Brother, with this light, even a sea monster would have to retreat three feet."

"Get lost, don't jinx it—if a sea monster shows up later, you can go down and feed it yourself."

This guy—nothing good comes out of his mouth; we'd better hope he's not right about it.

With the lights on, the two sat in the cabin and began to wait, not knowing when the big squid would arrive.

After a dozen or so minutes, there finally was movement on the sea surface.

"Brother, look," Xiao Hu pointed at the sea surface.

Only to see, under the strong light, several squid appeared on the sea surface, their bodies shaped like cones, with pointed tips like spearheads.

These are spear squid, the main target of this catch.

Spear squid are small, usually 15–30 centimeters in length, each weighing less than a catty.

Just now a few had gathered; their semi‑transparent bodies, under the strong light, looked even more translucent, and with the sea's reflection they resembled tiny bulbs with black eyes.

Hence fishermen often call them light‑bulb squid, also known as pen holders or tubes.

After these squid gathered, they began to swim around the hull, their elongated tentacles swaying in the water.

Gradually, more squid surged from the darkness, forming layer upon layer around Ye Cheng's boat.

Moreover, a few of them couldn't wait and bumped into the boat.

Ye Cheng took stock: the squid seemed to cover the whole sea surface, but the density was still low, scattered sparsely.

After waiting a while longer, perhaps due to a herd effect, the squid in the water surged forward, and the sea surface became somewhat crowded.

These little bulbs swam around the light in all directions, unwilling to leave.

"Xiao Hu, turn off the first row of lamps," Ye Cheng said.

Xiao Hu obeyed, switching off that longest row; instantly, the squid in the water reacted.

With the strongest light source gone, they each moved toward the hull, wanting to get close to the second row of large bulbs.

The squid density on the sea surface increased further, leaving them little chance to escape.

This phenomenon in these creatures is truly amazing.

When the squid had mostly gathered, Xiao Hu turned off the second row of large bulbs, leaving only the third, shortest row lit.

At this point, all the squid had gathered beside the boat, thick and dense, eager to stay within the light's range.

At this density, Ye Cheng felt like just dropping the net and scooping them up.

Finally, turn on the red light, then turn off the third row of big lights.

The Sea Surface instantly grew dim, leaving only a patch of red light.

The light dimmed, and the squid school became even more unwilling to leave; it was time to fish.

Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu lower the trawl net, increase the floats, fix the trawl net at the long-layer position, then carefully start the fishing boat and begin circling the squid school to fish.

These squid didn't run at all, letting Ye Cheng catch them all in one net.

"Alright, haul the net." Seeing that the squid catch was about enough, Ye Cheng told Xiao Hu to quickly haul the net.

With a sound from the winch, the trawl net was quickly hauled up, leaving the water surface, a net full of squid.

"Brother, what a haul, hahaha." Xiao Hu was overjoyed.

"This is only the first net; quickly put it in the fish hold and keep going! Get going!"

This net likely holds over three hundred catties, which is much better than dragging nets—dragging nets only yield this when they encounter a fish school.