Chapter 401: Trawling is indeed one of the most suitable operating methods

The night was deep.

Wu An turned on all the lights on the boat, lighting up the surroundings completely.

They arrived at the area for Longline Fishing.

Wu An hooked the float and began to reel in the line.

Lao Fu Tou stopped the boat.

He leaned to the side, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

Three people are enough to haul in the hooks.

A Qing clasped his hands together: 'Hope we get a good catch.'

Mei Wu saw this and followed suit.

No matter if it works, the intention is absolutely in place.

The longline was hauled up quickly; the first few hooks were empty, then the line shook violently.

A Qing shouted excitedly: 'Brother, we have a catch!'

As the sea catch came out of the water, A Qing pointed the flashlight at it and shouted: 'It's an oil eel!'

The sea eel struggled violently.

The hooks around this sea eel were all tangled together; Mei Wu said somewhat dejectedly: 'Now the longline probably can't be used.'

Wu An smiled: 'I wasn't planning to drop it again anyway.'

'Let's haul it in.'

'A Qing, be careful.'

A Qing responded, took off the oil eel, quickly threw it into the bucket, and shouted happily: 'Good catch, at least six or seven catties!'

Wu An nodded, also thought it was not bad; this oil eel could sell for at least three or four hundred yuan.

Oil eel, also known as sand eel and seven-star eel, has high nutritional value, thus called soft gold of the sea, especially suitable for children.

Because it has only one main bone and no messy small spines, it tastes delicious when steamed.

The later hooks were still empty.

A Qing felt anxious, saying: 'Brother, why does it feel like the longline isn't catching anything?'

'The harvest is getting less each time.'

Wu An nodded and said: 'That's pretty normal; what's there to say?'

A 1-kilometer longline only provides 20 points of Luck Value; whether it's a crab pot or adhesive net, the Luck Value granted is much higher than that of longline.

Compared to that, such a harvest from longline is completely normal.

The reason he hasn't given up longline fishing yet is mainly because it occasionally brings surprises.

However.

Once the trawler is in place, longline fishing, including adhesive net, will likely have to be abandoned.

After all.

Trawling is indeed one of the strongest operating methods.

They often go out to sea and occasionally encounter a trawler hauling its net; they watch with binoculars from afar as a large mass of trawl is pulled from the sea.

Bulging, Lao Fu Tou said that net could easily yield over a thousand catties.

Wu An thought: even if it's worthless, that net could still make ten thousand or so yuan.

Ordinary people can do that as well.

Then he, this hooker, would surely make even more money.

Just a few hours for one net, working nonstop all day, a trip lasting several days—Wu An calculated that using a trawler to go out to sea once would surely earn several hundred thousand yuan!

Yes.

Wu An now somewhat dislikes the speed of making only tens of thousands per trip; he feels it's a bit slow and also a bit laborious.

Although longline fishing looks simple to operate, each hook must be baited; with five hundred hooks, you just have to bait them, guaranteeing not a single sound.

This trip was better; the longline had the hooks pre-baited at home by his sister-in-law.

But we can't keep bothering the sister-in-law.

Moreover, the sister-in-law doesn't want wages; if he pays her, she's unhappy; if he doesn't, he feels uneasy.

He thought that once the trawler arrives, he would try to abandon other operating methods.

But then another problem arose.

Lao Fu Tou clearly told him that trawling operations aren't that easy; with just these few people, they absolutely couldn't keep up the pace, not to mention other things.

When over a thousand catties of catch come up, they must be sorted and processed immediately.

At the same time.

They also need to continue deploying the nets.

Lao Fu Tou has to steer the boat and can't help.

With just the three of them splitting the work, they're also a bit nervous.

Wu An also worries.

Finding people is hard; they need to be trustworthy. He had Lao Fu Tou and Mei Wu help look around, and he already planned to find a free moment to consult Father, seeking reliable people in the village.

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard A Qing shouting, and the winch also made a creaking sound.

Wu An looked toward the water surface.

Nice catch.

The sea surface splashed violently.

He asked: 'What is it?'

Mei Wu held the electric lantern and said, "It looks like an oil eel, but it's really big."

A Qing shouted, "That's a big oil eel."

He reached out to grab it.

Wu An called out, "Be careful."

The Winch is working powerfully.

The three watched the big oil eel hauled onto the Deck, all astonished; this eel looked at least twice as large as the previous one, and A Qing couldn't help but gesture, "It looks bigger than me."

"I'll name it Oil Eel King."

"Brother, it'll surely fetch a good price."

Wu An smiled and nodded.

A Qing and Mei Wu together, carefully stuffed the big oil eel into the Fish Basket; the creature is very vigorous, so once tossed into the live‑fish hold it needs no further care.

The next dozen or so hooks were empty again.

Wu An laughed, "Don't rush."

"Those two oil eels we just got can still sell for a decent sum; at least the cost of this Longline Fishing and our labor aren't a loss, so there's definitely profit to be made."

Hearing Wu An say that, A Qing's mood relaxed considerably.

His thoughts are simple.

Good catch makes him happy; a poor catch makes him upset.

Having such a lively character on the ship makes it much livelier; otherwise, Lao Fu Tou is quiet, Mei Wu is also taciturn, and Wu An would feel bored.

After about a hundred hooks, they finally hauled another oil eel, sizable—roughly seven or eight jin.

Wu An thought it shouldn't have been.

The oil eel is okay, but it certainly won't consume that much Luck Value.

Sure enough.

In the last thirty‑odd hooks, a red‑spotted one surfaced, making A Qing twist his waist in joy and break into a chaotic dance—not pretentious, just non‑mainstream.

Wu An watched, amused, and after the Longline Fishing was fully hauled, he taught A Qing the "Subject Three" dance.

A Qing tried it once and immediately got the hang of it.

Mei Wu came over and said, "There are twelve oil eels in total, one red‑spotted."

"Shall we go collect the Adhesive Net?"

Wu An glanced at the system; the Luck Value for the Adhesive Net was essentially depleted, only a few had 1 point left, and he said, "Call Lao Fu."

"We'll finish collecting the Adhesive Net before daybreak."

Mei Wu went to see Lao Fu Tou.

Lao Fu Tou groggily opened his eyes and asked, "Is the Longline Fishing done, and how's the catch?"

Mei Wu shook his head and said, "It's just average."

Lao Fu Tou nodded, just as he was about to start the fishing boat; when the lights flickered on, he lunged forward, eyes wide, staring at the sea surface not far from the bow.

"A school of fish!"

"Didn't you notice?"

"Look at the sea surface—it's boiling, a complete mess."

Lao Fu Tou shouted.

Mei Wu also noticed and said, "Wu An and A Qing are singing and dancing at the back, making a ruckus, so they didn't see it."

He went to call Wu An and A Qing.

Wu An looked.

What a fellow.

Around the lights, the school of fish was dense, fish leaping up then falling back, like dumplings dropping.

"The fish don't look big."

"Whatever the fish, if we can haul it up it can be sold."

"Use the Cast Net."

"Work, work!"

"Not going to collect the Adhesive Net?"

"Why collect? A school of fish is a gift from Goddess Mazu; if you don't take it, aren't you afraid of displeasing Goddess Mazu?"