Chapter 67: Fishing for Swamp Eels

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he turned to go home, but was pulled back by A-Zheng, "What's the rush! Do you think we don't know the water level has risen and we can't see the holes? It was Xiao Xiao who said he went to the rice fields yesterday to check the drainage and saw many newly made swamp eel holes on the side of the ridges and banks. It's estimated that the rice fields were flooded, and they had to find new holes. He thought that since the typhoon had just passed, everyone at home must be busy cleaning up, so he waited until now when the sun wasn't as strong to come call us."

"That's more like it, did you bring the hooks and earthworms?"

"Brought them, brought them, do I need you to tell me?"

"Then you guys wait for me a moment, I'll go change into rain boots and get a bucket."

He hadn't fished for swamp eels for decades, and he was quite interested; this was about the only hobby he had as a rural person.

After coming out, he curiously looked at Xiao Xiao again, "Were there many fish in your rice fields yesterday?"

"It was okay, crucian carp, common carp, and grass carp all had some. The grass carp were quite big, the other fish were all very small, and I don't know where they swam from. Do you guys want them? If you do, go to my house and get them, they taste terrible, I don't know why my dad brought them home?"

Everyone shook their heads. At this time, people by the sea didn't really like eating freshwater fish, feeling the earthy smell was too strong!

Only Ye Yaodong said unceremoniously: "You guys don't want them, I do. I'll go to your house later to get the grass carp and crucian carp, I don't want the common carp."

He didn't like eating common carp; he liked eating braised crucian carp and crucian carp tofu soup, and braised grass carp was also not bad.

Yesterday, when his eldest brother and second brother went to the fields to check, they didn't say to catch any fish to bring back, probably because they thought they were small, and having gotten used to eating sea fish, they also thought freshwater fish didn't taste good.

The group walked slowly to the road and headed toward the direction of Dongqiao Village. The fields of the people in their village were all located at the junction with Dongshan Village.

It was only early July and they hadn't started transplanting seedlings yet, so the fields and ridges were empty. Late rice wouldn't start transplanting until mid-to-late July.

Walking in the dirty fields, Ye Yaodong looked at the mud on his feet, glad he had worn rain boots.

Actually, May was the best time to fish for swamp eels. At that time, the climate warmed up, the water temperature rose, and the swamp eels crawled out of the mud holes where they overwintered, gathering in shallow water areas like fields, ponds, and ditches that were relatively spacious to forage and fatten up. At this time, their appetite was vigorous, making it the best season for fishing.

Xiao Xiao put down the bucket, "You guys take the fishing rods and earthworms yourselves. There are empty bottles in the bucket, pour some earthworms into each, and divide them up."

Their fishing rods were very simple, just casually made by themselves, a small wooden stick tied with a line and a fishhook. Don't look at how simple it was, it could still be used many times.

Ye Yaodong took the small wooden stick from their bucket and the jar containing earthworms. He put an earthworm on the hook at the end of the bamboo stick, making sure the earthworm covered the hook without exposing the tip. The others also put them on and started searching.

"Let's act separately."

"Old rules, let's compete to see who catches the most, the one with the least has to wash the dishes next time we drink!"

Oh, so there was this rule, he had almost forgotten.

Swamp eels in the water generally live in holes they dig themselves in soft mud or in natural mud holes or stone holes, so to fish for swamp eels, you first have to know how to find swamp eel holes.

However, not all swamp eels have ventilation holes, because the mud doesn't just house swamp eels but also earthworms and small insects. The holes between them are interconnected, so they can borrow their neighbors' ventilation, and they don't necessarily stay in one place to come out of the hole to feed at night.

Sometimes they are blocked by a patch of grass, or the water isn't clear enough, and there are many small water lilies.

However, there must be swamp eel holes on the muddy bank. At this time, you have to rely on your fingers to find them. Insert your index or middle finger into the bank 5 to 10 centimeters away from the water at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees.

If you feel it suddenly empty inside, and when you remove your finger you can see water, and the internal space is large enough to dig open a bit to fish, it means you've found a swamp eel's nest. Sometimes there will be bubbles on top. If there are bubbles, then this is the legendary nursing hole, which is the swamp eel hole where they are brooding.

There are also holes that can be identified by the naked eye, located within 8 centimeters above the water line, which can also be found if you look carefully.

Ye Yaodong had only walked a few steps when he saw several round and smooth holes around the muddy bank under his feet, about the thickness of his thumb. Just as he was about to put it into the hole, he heard Xiao Xiao shout, "Caught one!"

"Oh? It's quite big, looks like it's half a jin!"

A-Wei also said happily: "I caught one too! Seems a bit small."

"I caught one too!"

While everyone had a harvest, Ye Yaodong wasn't in a rush. He pointed the hook downward at the hole entrance and teased it for a short while. He clearly saw the water in the hole having a phenomenon of entering and exiting, and he even heard a "pa-pa" sound.

It took the bait!

An extra-large swamp eel, visually estimated to be about seven taels, was fished out by him, looking extremely thick.

At this time, wild swamp eels generally weighed about two or three taels, and swamp eels reaching four taels were rare. This one of his was really super big.

Decades later, with the pollution and destruction of the environment by people's production and life, wild swamp eels in rural fields became fewer and fewer. Ones as big as this were generally farmed.

Luck was not bad, he caught such a big one on the first try. Ye Yaodong was instantly full of passion, put it into the bucket, and continued to bait, changing to the next hole.

At this time, there were plenty of swamp eels in the fields, and they were very easy to fish, basically without much effort. Moreover, many holes on the banks of the ridges were newly made, and some even had traces left by swamp eels foraging, which were very easy to distinguish.

Having only fished two, Ye Yaodong saw two brooding swamp eel holes (swamp eels laying eggs), because there were bubbles at the hole entrance.

He didn't put bait down to fish these, because after the swamp eel is fished away, the eel roe in the hole, or the newly hatched small swamp eels, will all die after a period of time.

Sustainable development, right!

Why cut off someone's offspring?

Wild swamp eels will become fewer and fewer in the future!

He moved his position slowly, and the swamp eels in the bucket became more and more, some big and some small. The biggest one was his first catch, and the small ones were all two or three taels.

After using up the earthworms in the jar, he straightened his waist and stretched, and the sun was about to set.

He shouted to his friends who were squatting or standing not far away: "Hey, the sun has set, let's finish work and go home for dinner!"

"Two earthworms left, let me finish fishing!"

A-Guang shouted and continued to squat down, while the others, regardless of whether they had finished fishing or not, all walked out.

"How many did you guys catch?"

"15!"

"16!"

"13!"

"Oh~ you wash the dishes! I have 18!"

"Really or fake, let me see... seems to be more than us, if I had known, I would have taken two more earthworms!" A-Zheng sighed.

"Don't be anxious, A-Guang isn't done yet," A-Zheng shouted to A-Guang who was standing up in the distance, "A-Guang, how many did you catch?"

"These two caught 16!"

"Alright, I'll wash the dishes next time."

A bet is a bet!

"Hurry up, let's go home for dinner, I'm starving, just right to take back and stew in the pot."

This bucket also had 5-6 jin. Ye Yaodong silently counted the heads in his heart, there were 17 people at home, just enough for one per person, and one left over.