Chapter 448

However, domestically, pond shrimp mainly refers to 'knife-forehead new pair shrimp', also called flower tiger shrimp, hemp shrimp, etc. The body surface is earthy yellow to light brown, covered with dense gray-green or dark brown spots; the forehead (shrimp spear) has teeth only on the upper edge, looking like a knife, hence the name 'knife-forehead'.

Pond shrimp are about 10-15 cm long; when cooked, the texture is clear and the bite is firm.

Most importantly, this shrimp can adapt to low-salinity brackish water, is vigorous, and easy to transport live, which is also why it later became widely available on tables.

For native sea shrimp like the banded shrimp, although catching them is not difficult, they have high transport requirements, so fresh ones are relatively hard to come by.

In later times, pond shrimp could sell for over ten catties even when farmed, but this batch Ye Cheng has is wild, with firmer, more elastic meat and a richer shrimp flavor, so I believe it can fetch a good price.

Collecting 50 Fish Traps still takes a lot of time; Ye Cheng didn't even know how long he had worked before getting all the traps up, mainly losing time in sorting.

Finally, looking at the haul, there were twenty to thirty catties of banded shrimp, over a hundred catties of White Shrimp, over a hundred catties of Pond Shrimp, and two large buckets of East Wind snails and Fragrant Snails.

As for fish, Stone Nine Elder got two baskets, one basket of octopus, plus some miscellaneous fish weighing several dozen catties, and twenty-odd sea cucumbers; the haul was also plentiful.

After finishing with the Fish Traps, Ye Cheng replenished their dedicated bait, then changed location and lowered the traps again.

Next came the Longline fishing, done the same way: pulling up a section of the line with a line hauler.

The first time Ye Cheng tried Longline fishing, he was a bit excited, but when he pulled up a dozen hooks they were all empty, leaving him a bit disappointed.

"Uncle, is this bait any good? Why isn't there any catch?" Ye Cheng complained.

Duan Chunsheng wore a calm expression,

"Empty hooks are normal, aren't they? You're not expecting all 100 hooks to have fish, are you? That would be striking it rich."

"Whether we strike it rich or not aside, I'm afraid of coming up empty and losing face."

As soon as Ye Cheng finished speaking, he saw the water surface splash, and immediately a fish was pulled up.

It wasn't big, with a hint of yellow.

"Could it be a big yellow fish?" Xiao Hu obviously got excited and jerked the fish free.

But upon holding it, it was immediately clear: not a big yellow fish, not a small yellow fish, but a yellow croaker.

The yellow croaker, also called Huang San, Tongluo fish, or Chunzhi, resembles the small yellow fish in appearance, with a gray-orange dorsal side and silvery white ventral side; its size is similar to that of the small yellow fish, usually over 20 cm long, weighing about half a catty to one catty.

However, its flesh is much inferior; although also in clove-like slices, it is coarser and looser, the texture slightly dry, the freshness with a hint of sourness, suitable for braising or pan-frying after curing. Naturally, the price is also considerably lower.

"Just stop getting excited; where would you get so many big yellow fish?" After looking, Ye Cheng casually tossed it into the basket—this cheap fish gets only this treatment.

After the first catch, things improved; soon another Yellowfoot came up—that is, a yellowfin seabream—and this Yellowfoot was relatively large, over 30 cm long.

Duan Chunsheng took it over and examined it carefully; it felt heavy in hand,

"Well, this means we're starting to catch fish; I'll get you a grouper later, and you won't be so anxious."

Besides, after Duan Chunsheng said that, he chuckled.

Not at all!

This Longline with 100 hooks yielded a total of 30 fish, half of which were yellow croakers, and several dozen were seabream.

"Uncle, you said there would be groupers—where are they?" Ye Cheng eyed the pile of cheap yellow croakers, feeling a bit annoyed, as a heap of them still couldn't match a single large grouper.

"Oh dear, A Cheng, young people shouldn't get worked up; it'll be here soon."

As he spoke, Duan Chunsheng had Xiao Hu start pulling the second set of lines; as soon as they were tugged, Ye Cheng felt the difference—the lines were thrashing everywhere, the pull indicating a big catch.

Sure enough, a dark silhouette was hauled up—a Black Seabream.

"Holy cow, this black seabream is huge—about 40 cm!" Duan Chunsheng exclaimed in surprise.

Although black seabream are common, they usually are only 20-30 cm in size; 40 cm is truly rare, and Duan Chunsheng had never seen one this large in all his years.

Just as Xiao Hu had pulled the fish loose, the black seabream thrashed violently; Xiao Hu tried to hold it down, but it slapped him in the face with a tail flick, making Ye Cheng laugh loudly.

But laughing aside, the fish was still needed; the two of them together pressed it down, then lifted it and tossed it into the Water Tank—the force was real, and both were somewhat strained.

"Uncle, this fish probably weighs seven or eight catties—damn, hauling in a big catch feels great!" Ye Cheng said happily.

Before he finished speaking, the fishing line began to sway again, even more violently.

"No way, could another black seabream this big be coming up?"

But this time, as soon as it surfaced there was a flash of red—obviously not a black seabream.

"Red-spotted fish, a grouper, bro!" Xiao Hu shouted excitedly; groupers are good cargo, high-end goods, and red-spotted groupers are the top tier among them.

This red-spotted grouper is about 35 cm long, roughly three catties, and can fetch a high price.

"No way, a grouper doesn't have the pull of a black seabream—why is the line moving so fiercely?" Duan Chunsheng wondered.

Soon his doubt cleared: behind this red-spotted fish came another red-spotted fish up, two large red-spotted groupers had bitten adjacent hooks, hence the big commotion.

Watching the two groupers come up, Ye Cheng grinned so wide he could hardly close his mouth.

"Uncle Duan, groupers—hahaha, there really are groupers!"

"Stop laughing, hurry and put them in the water tank, or they'll die and cause trouble."

This time out at sea, following Duan Chunsheng's request, we added a heap of ice blocks to keep the fish as fresh as possible; naturally, these two groupers got the best treatment.

After the two red-spotted groupers, this Longline yielded no more good catches—just a few more yellow croakers.

When retrieving the third set of lines, we had pulled up a few Yellowfoots earlier, but then the rope began to swing wildly—big catch incoming.

The three of them stood at the rail watching, Xiao Hu a bit excited,

"Bro, if we got a ten-catty spotted grouper, wouldn't that be awesome?"

"Awesome my ass—spotted groupers aren't better the bigger they are; too big and they're cheap. I'd rather get another large red-spotted grouper or a true seabream."

A clear silhouette appeared beneath the water, very long; when pulled out it was a grayish-white fish.

"Damn, not a grouper." Xiao Hu said disappointedly.

Having said that, he pointed curiously at the fish and said,

"Bro, look, this fish has two whiskers—what kind of fish is it?"