Chapter 252 - 252 249 The Divine Fisher
Chapter 252 - 252 249 The Divine Fisher
?Chapter 252: Chapter 249: The Divine Fisher Chapter 252: Chapter 249: The Divine Fisher Ouyang Jun’s heart sank, and his expression turned serious.
He slowly started cranking the reel, lifting the fishing rod eagerly, but found no resistance. Soon, his hook was pulled up.
It was then he noticed that the bait worm was still there, but the fish was gone!
“Fuck, what’s going on? Where’s the fish?”
A puzzled look crossed Ouyang Jun’s face. He clearly felt the tug on his rod, definitely a big fish. How could it have disappeared in the blink of an eye?
“The hook came off!”
Zheng Huaqing immediately judged the situation, certain that the fish had struggled free from the hook during the tug.
Ouyang Jun was frustrated, “It really was a big fish, at least twenty or thirty pounds. How could it have thrown the hook? My bait is still perfectly hanging there!”
Zheng Huaqing laughed, “The bigger the fish, the craftier it is. It has escaped your hook, narrowly avoiding death. Now, it must have fled far away; hooking it again will be difficult.”
The others upon seeing this immediately burst into laughter, gloating, “Look, that’s what you get for showing off. Now you’ve gone from joy to sorrow, eh?”
Ouyang Jun’s face turned awkward as he stiffened his neck, “So what? Even if that fish escaped, our group has caught more than yours. We’re winning for sure!”
No sooner had Ouyang Jun spoken than Gu Xu’s fishing rod suddenly dipped.
Gu Xu didn’t show much on his face, but he was secretly pleased. Without drawing attention, he turned the reel, and soon, the first fish was ashore.
This was a small mackerel less than three inches long, not even the size of a palm; a testament to Gu Xu’s novice status.
As soon as the fish was on shore, Ouyang Jun’s keen eyes spotted it, and he twisted his mouth into a laugh, mercilessly mocking.
“Ha ha, Xu Zi, that’s a nice catch. Chop it up, it might just be enough for a pot of soup.”
Gu Xu glanced sideways at Ouyang Jun, said nothing, calmly threw the little mackerel back into the sea, and replaced the bait with a rice ball before casting again.
“Gu Xu!”
Just then, Huo Sining also cried out in a low voice, her rod bending downwards, pulling her towards the edge of the boat.
Gu Xu quickly grabbed Huo Sining’s shoulder, steadied her, and then took over the fishing rod from her hands.
A huge force tugged from the water, Gu Xu’s eyes darkened; he wrapped his arms around Huo Sining, took her hands in his and started pulling the rod towards the shore.
“Such a strong pull, must be a big fish!”
Huo Sining was entirely embraced by Gu Xu, but at that moment, her attention was wholly captured by the fish churning the water’s surface, oblivious to the intimacy of their actions.
With the warmth of her body in his arms, Gu Xu’s chin resting on the top of Huo Sining’s head, and his nose seemingly catching the faint scent of the girl, his heart swayed, and he took a deep breath to stabilize his mind. He forced his gaze away from the girl before him, focusing on the water not far away.
“Is it really a big fish?”
Noticing the commotion from Gu Xu’s side, Ouyang Jun and the others were quite skeptical, but when they saw the fishing rod being pulled to the point of almost breaking, their faces immediately became solemn.
The fishing rod rose and fell, engaging in a tug-of-war with the desperately struggling fish in the sea; the standoff lasted for nearly ten minutes before coming to a halt.
The hooked fish seemed to have exhausted all its strength and resigned itself to stop struggling.
A large fish, nearly half a meter long, was pulled ashore, its black head with its mouth wide open, its back oval-shaped, its belly silvery-white, with several black horizontal bands on its sides.
As soon as the fish was dragged onto shore, everyone’s eyes went wide, including Ouyang Jun, who was so astonished that he opened his mouth wide and involuntarily cursed under his breath, “Damn it!”
Zheng Huaqing’s eyes also filled with surprise, but having seen much and knowing a lot, even though the sight of the fish startled him, he quickly regained his composure.
“This is a black porgy!” Zheng Huaqing stepped forward and took the black fish off the hook, weighing it slightly before laughing, “Good grief, it must be at least five kilograms! I’ve lived for over forty years, and this is the biggest black porgy I’ve ever seen!”
Black porgy, commonly known as sea bream, are mostly found in the western North Pacific Ocean, abundant along China’s coasts, with fishing seasons usually occurring in spring and autumn, often caught by fishermen with fishing nets.
Black porgy is a high-end edible sea fish, costing sixty to seventy yuan per jin, considered quite expensive in the seafood market. They usually weigh around two to three jin. The biggest black porgy Zheng Huaqing had ever seen was no more than three kilograms, so Huo Sining’s catch set a new record.
“Damn, Tuan can actually fish, what kind of damn luck is this!”
Song Hui, watching Huo Sining pinch the few rice balls in the bowl, was momentarily speechless.
“My luck has always been very good,” Huo Sining glanced at Song Hui with a sly smile, his mouth curving like that of a fox.
“I think it’s just a blind cat running into a dead mouse. The black porgy must be so hungry it’s not picky about food. I don’t believe your luck can keep holding up like this!”
Ouyang Jun wasn’t superstitious, and turned around to go back to his spot.
Huo Sining merely shrugged and didn’t argue, continuing to press the rice in his hands, slowly kneading it into firm, resilient balls.
Previously, Gu Xu and Huo Sining’s team had been at the bottom, but now, with one fish, they had turned things around and climbed to the top, fueling a competitive spirit in everyone. They returned to their spots and began fishing earnestly.
However, what bewildered everyone was that ever since Gu Xu’s first little horse mackerel was landed, the competition had undergone a drastic change.
Ouyang Jun and Song Hui, who had been fishing from a very advantageous position at the stern, were reaping a good harvest, but after their rods went down again, there was no more activity. Not to mention catching a big fish; there weren’t even any signs of nibbles on the hooks.
It wasn’t just Ouyang Jun and Song Hui; even Su Jinyuan and Qin Tian in the middle of the boat, although not as successful as they hoped, still had some catch, but now there appeared to be no chance of fish at all.
At first, no one thought much of it, as fishing requires patience and can’t be rushed, but gradually everyone began to sense that something was off.
How could there be no sign of movement… That just shouldn’t be!
Everyone felt puzzled and looked towards Huo Sining and Gu Xu at the bow of the boat. The sight took them aback.
It hadn’t been long, but Gu Xu’s side had another bite, and this time both Gu Xu and Huo Sining had fish on their lines simultaneously!
Prying eyes watched as quickly two fish were pulled up, one a seventy-centimeter-long swordfish and another a six-to seven-jin grouper, blinding everyone with envy.