Chapter 188: Joy Turns to Sorrow

After catching three soft squids in a row, a devil ray came up next. It wasn't very big, but Ye Yaodong unscrupulously pinched its nose, roughly yanked it up, and threw it onto the boat for his father to clean.

It's so ugly and so small; don't expect him to treat it gently.

After five consecutive catches, the hook came up empty again, with the baited fish meat still hanging there; perhaps no fish were biting.

This time out at sea, he used various baits: some with shrimp, others with chunks of different fish species. Since all the small fish were cut from traps pulled up, they served as bait for whatever wanted to bite.

Ye Yaodong continued reeling in blind boxes; one pull told him it was another big fish. The feeling of a catch was wonderful, making him cheerful.

"Oh ho~ a mackerel, five jin!"

This longline fishing is more interesting than trawling or traps, with catches coming up branch by branch, and no small fish. Trawls and traps haul up a pile at once, which is satisfying, but lacks a certain feeling.

Ye Father, sorting and bleeding the catch at the back, was overjoyed. He hadn't expected longlines to work so well; every fish was decent-sized. He placed high-quality fish in one basket and lower-quality ones in another.

Ye Yaodong also enjoyed the catches. Offshore fish were of higher quality than coastal ones, with more big fish, possibly because their bait was relatively larger.

In this era, the oceans weren't overfished. Except for a few species that were naturally scarce, most resources were abundant. Decades later, what are now second-class and first-class protected animals are plentiful now.

Ye Yaodong reeled in and baited simultaneously; finishing the thousand hooks took two hours. If he didn't mind the fatigue, he could turn around and go through them all again.

However, this time he lacked experience and brought too little bait. A thousand hooks needed a thousand baits. The few dozen jin of small fish caught yesterday were used to make up the numbers, yet still fell short. After the second round of baiting, the basins and buckets were empty.

After finishing the sorting, Ye Father saw there was no bait left and murmured, "This bait is being used up quite fast? This morning when we cut it, there was a whole large basin, plus several jin of shrimp."

"Exactly. Before, we only tried putting out three or five hundred hooks. I specifically kept the small fish and shrimp yesterday instead of drying them, yet it's still not enough."

"Tonight, tell your eldest and second brothers to keep all the small fish and shrimp. You can pay a little to buy them from them; otherwise, if the bait isn't enough, what do we do?"

"We came out late today. If we go out at night tomorrow, even doubling the bait won't be enough. Buying fish and shrimp specifically at the dock would cost a lot. Small fish and shrimp don't sell for much; most people prefer to keep them to eat rather than sell."

Thinking about it, Ye Father felt heartache. He had originally thought longlines were so efficient, allowing consecutive catches, targeting only big fish, not small ones. It was too strong.

Looking at it now, just the bait would cost a lot to buy, plus diesel costs and labor wages. If a couple went out to sea, they could save one labor wage.

Looking at it this way, unless the catch is both abundant and high-quality, it might not even compare to trawling.

Trawling catches everything.

Ye Yaodong also felt the bait consumption was high. The cheap small fish and shrimp from traps weren't enough to support his longlines, and fish that could fetch a good price certainly couldn't be used as bait.

【To be honest, I've been reading and chasing updates on Wild Fruit Reading lately. Switching sources, multiple narration voices, available on Android and iOS at. yeguoyuedu.】

"I'll tell my eldest and second brothers tonight. I'll buy all the fish and shrimp from them that don't fetch a good price."

The bait was all hung. After the second wave was reeled in, they would have to pull up the lines and return. This time, they weren't in a hurry; time was plentiful, so they planned to leave the lines out longer. It was only 2 PM.

Ye Father planned to lie down and nap, while Ye Yaodong went to check the recent catch.

The bucket for soft squids was full, packed tight, looking like over ten jin.

As for the fish, the twenty-plus jin yellowtail was the largest. There were many other big fish too. The most numerous were mackerels, with two weighing just over ten jin, plus two flounders over three jin, sea bass, black porgy, red sea bream, wahoo, and many other species, varying in weight and size.

Much of the bait remained untouched, and many fish escaped from empty hooks, but the catch on a single line was still impressive. Ye Yaodong estimated these alone were worth several dozen.

This was only one haul. If they went out at night and hauled several times, the daily total would be substantial. If the bait ran short, buying some would be worth it.

Around 3 PM, Ye Yaodong woke his sleeping, snoring father, planning to continue reeling in. Once finished, they would head home for a meal.

This sea area was far offshore, not coastal. Ye Yaodong planned to retrieve the lines while harvesting, as it wasn't suitable to leave them overnight.

After catching three mackerels in a row, a cuttlefish came up. Ye Yaodong, fearing its ink would spray all over his face, extended his arm to remove the hook and turned his face aside, only to see a trawler slowly heading toward their direction.

He didn't think much of it; encountering a working trawler was common. You do your work, I do mine, without interfering.

However, the sea surface around the nearby trawler shimmered, instantly catching his attention. Immediately after, a huge fish charged recklessly through the waters ahead, moving from far to near, its speed varying, sometimes left, sometimes right.

He momentarily forgot to reel in and looked at the iron-hulled trawler. The fishing boat reacted quickly, turning to chase the big fish, attempting to drag it into the net.

Seeing him staring into the distance, Ye Father looked too, but saw nothing special except a working trawler, though it was moving a bit faster. Normal trawling speed is 3 to 5 nautical miles per hour.

"What are you looking at? Reel in quickly; once done, let's go home."

"I just saw a big fish. That boat seems to be chasing it now."

"What does that have to do with us?"

"That boat is coming toward us."

The boat drew closer and closer to their direction, and Ye Father looked over too.

Whether they had already netted the big fish or not, the boat actually slowed down. It stopped just off their starboard bow, only a few meters away, and they could see them hauling in their gear.

Ye Father patted his shoulder. "What's there to see? Reel in your catch."

"Oh." He was actually just curious, wanting to know if they caught that big fish and what kind it was. Judging by the commotion on the sea surface, the fish seemed quite large, and his heart felt a bit itchy.

Just as he turned his head, he heard a sudden cry of surprise from that boat. The distance was so close; it was hard not to hear.

But he couldn't see anything, so he had to let it go for now, ignoring the commotion over there, and continued reeling in.

Then came a surprise. The line in his hands was hard to pull, and the splashing waves on the surface even sprayed onto his face. He dragged slowly and carefully to avoid losing it, until the fish's body broke the water!

"Bomb fish? No, it's a tuna! Dad, come quick, grab the landing net! It's a tuna!" Ye Yaodong shouted excitedly to his father.

This one definitely looked over a meter long. It was the biggest catch of the day, far more valuable than the yellowtail that got away earlier. This time, they couldn't let it escape.

After pulling the fish to the surface, he dared not drag it hard, waiting for his father to bring the landing net.

He pulled slowly, engaging in a tug-of-war. The splashing was fierce, soaking both him and Ye Father from head to toe. When they reached the gunwale, Ye Father used the landing net to scoop it up.

But the fish was huge. Ye Father, caught off guard, let it flip out. Fortunately, the hook held, preventing it from escaping.

Ye Father aimed again, gripping the landing net handles with both hands, and with one breath of force, scooped it up and flung it onto the deck.

Only then could they see clearly: it was an albacore tuna. Their faces instantly lit up with joy.

"It's an albacore tuna!"

The fish was torpedo-shaped with smooth skin. He recognized the species at a glance because its first dorsal fin was deep yellow, the second pale yellow, the back shimmering with a deep blue metallic luster, and the edges and belly were silvery white.

This albacore tuna is widely distributed in various seas across the country and around the world.

Tuna comes in many varieties: bluefin, albacore, bigeye, blackfin, and others. The absolute premium is the bluefin, but albacore isn't bad either.

This one was about 1.2 meters long. With its size right there, it was definitely top-tier.

After being flung onto the deck, the albacore tuna jumped a few times, wagging its tail. Ye Yaodong planned to bleed it quickly while it was still alive, then have his father reel in the lines.

Such a top-quality tuna—he wanted to handle the knife himself. In this reborn life, this was the first time he had ever come across one.

At that moment, the boat ahead also steered toward them, pulling up alongside their vessel.

"Yo, you caught a tuna too?" A short, thin, swarthy middle-aged man leaned against the gunwale, craning his neck to look at the albacore tuna on their boat.

Ye Yaodong was curious what fish they had just netted, and he replied with a smile, "Uncle, I just saw a big fish on the surface—was it caught by you guys?"

The short, thin, swarthy middle-aged man grinned smugly. "That's right. The one I just netted is bigger than yours, and worth more than your albacore. It's a yellowfin tuna."

Ye Fu said enviously, "Really? What luck. We saw it earlier too."

"It was chasing a school of anchovies, and we just happened to be trawling nearby. We saw part of its body break the surface, so we went after it—and sure enough, we caught it."

"A school of anchovies—no wonder. I was just saying that fish looked like it was hunting." Ye Yaodong felt a twinge of regret; yellowfin tuna was top-quality too.

"Just luck. Our boat had just come over and we spotted it, then caught it right away. You guys are no good—using this longline fishing, of all things. If you'd been trawling in these waters, it would've been in your net long ago."

Ye Yaodong shrugged. "Albacore isn't bad either. Not much difference."

A middle-aged woman on that boat—presumably his wife—spoke up at that moment. "Who says so? It's a lot different, okay? Yellowfin is way better than yours. Show them."

"Let me show you—just finished bleeding it." The short, thin, swarthy middle-aged man was so delighted that he proudly hauled the yellowfin tuna out, cradled it in his hands to show them, puffed up with pride. "See that? The size, these golden-yellow fins—beautiful, right?"

Ye Yaodong saw it too. It really was a bit bigger than theirs.

The woman said proudly as well, "Better than yours, right? Bigger, and this fish rarely shows up in coastal waters…"

Before she could finish, a wave suddenly rolled in. The hull lurched, and the middle-aged man's body swayed with it. The fish slipped from his grasp, and his pupils shrank in shock.

"Aaaah—"

"Ah—the fish… my fish…"

That yellowfin tuna had actually dropped straight into the sea…

The middle-aged man reacted swiftly, immediately leaning half his body over the gunwale, trying to grab the fish. He only managed to touch its tail before the yellowfin sank straight down.

The woman also rushed excitedly to the gunwale, leaning half her body out, stretching her arm as far as it would go—but only came away with a handful of seawater.

"Aaaah—my tuna…"