The Top Fishing
Chapter 480 - 223: Bluefin Gold Spear

Chapter 480: Chapter 223: Bluefin Gold Spear

His curiosity was quickly satisfied when the captain fixed the fishing rod to the holder on the ship’s rail and they began to reel in the line together. The fish’s sprinting speed decreased, and soon it was pulled back.

In less than 20 minutes, the big fish had surfaced.

By visual estimate, it was a fish over a meter long, with a plump body and streamlined shape. The fins on its back had traces of yellow, barely visible.

"It’s a Bluefin, but it’s too small, barely 110 to 120 pounds. It’s still a baby," Zhang Lin quickly assessed, clearly relieved.

"Will they bring it on board? Does this fish count for their score?" Lin Yang asked.

"Such a small Bluefin doesn’t qualify for harvesting. Even with the proper permits, you can’t kill it. It needs a tracking tag, then some initial recording before being released immediately. However, strictly speaking, I suppose it does count as a catch in a competition of provocation,"

Sure enough, after about ten more minutes, the opposing fishing boat lifted anchor, took a spin, and returned to release the little Bluefin.

At the same time, Captain Joseph’s taunting voice came through the radio on their boat.

"Hey, Old Harry, your luck’s not so good. We just caught the first Bluefin Gold Spearfish, 1.1 meters long and weighing about 120 pounds. Ready to surrender now? You could still save face if you give up now. If you wait until the end, you’ll be embarrassed big time,"

Upon hearing these obvious provocations, Captain Harry was so angry his eyes widened and his beard quivered.

"Damn it, Joseph, a Bluefin Gold Spearfish that size is still a baby. I can’t believe you’d stoop so low as to bring such a tiny fish on board just to win!"

In the American captains’ circle, there were no explicit rules against bringing small fish on board, but it was an unspoken agreement among the local seasoned captains to follow the practice of not doing so.

Even with the utmost care, pulling a fish on board increases the harm done to it. A fish injured internally due to struggling wouldn’t survive when released, easily becoming prey to other predators or even dying of natural causes within a few days.

Unexpectedly, Joseph, in the quest for weight and length data, had pulled the fish aboard.

"Hey Harry, don’t talk nonsense. There’s no rule or regulation that specifically prohibits bringing small Bluefin individuals on board after being caught normally! And we brought it on board for a thorough check and to help the fisheries bureau apply a tracking tag,"

Hearing Harry’s gripes, Joseph couldn’t help but defend himself.

After listening, Harry irritably twitched his beard: "Don’t dress up your actions as noble. You’re just making excuses to get data for the competition. We would never do such an unethical thing, even if it means losing the contest. Alright, I’m not wasting any more time with you. Wait till our team smacks you in the face with a big fish,"

After ending the call, a disgruntled Harry took a large gulp of bottled water and continued to busy himself outside the cabin.

On the rail, Lin Yang had been casting bait into the water for at least 20 minutes now, but there was still no sign of a big fish taking the bait.

After casting the Wave Crawler for a while, Lin Yang got a bit tired and stared out at the distant sea to rest for a moment.

"Did everyone see that? This is the reality of lure fishing, most casts don’t get a response. What do you do if you want to catch something? Keep casting," he chugged down a big sip of mineral water and swung his arms to cast the lure out again.

It must have been luck that he chose a random casting direction. About fifty to sixty meters out, the lure hit the water and he began the usual action of luring and reeling in.

But this time, after reeling in about ten meters and the lure made a small acceleration, jumping slightly above water before falling back, a big one suddenly shot out from below, unabashedly swallowing the entire lure in one bite.

The charm of topwater lure fishing is the clarity with which one can see the prey attack the bait. Lin Yang, seeing this scene, froze for at least half a second before he realized what was happening as his line began to unravel.

"Damn, I got a bite,"

He forcibly jerked the rod to set the hook, then quickly adjusted the reel’s drag brake. The rapidly unspooling line began to slow because of the increased drag, and his rod bent into a large arc.

"Wow, I’ve got a big one! That bite was fierce,"

"Was that a Bluefin just now? Does anyone recognize it?"

"It’s heating up, here comes the fish! That fish had such a big forehead; it must be bigger than what those brats on the other side caught, right?"

The viewers in the live stream were immediately stirred up, beginning to discuss fervently.

Zhang Lin and Yue’er, hearing his shout about the catch, also immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed over.

But just in the first round of the encounter, Lin Yang could already feel his arms were sore. The strength of this Bluefin Tuna was much greater than regular sea fish. He adjusted the drag to alleviate the force, but the fish kept pulling on the rod, tirelessly struggling for the line.

At that moment, he even had the illusion that his fishing rod might fly out of his hands and into the water.

"How’s it going, need help?" Zhang Lin asked with concern.

Lin Yang shook his head and said through gritted teeth with some difficulty, "Damn, this thing’s so strong. I’ll hold on for a few rounds before I’ll switch with you."

After saying that, he eased the drag slightly, the clicking of the line playing out filled the air, and another charge began.