The Top Fishing
Chapter 481 - 223: Bluefin Gold Spear_2

Chapter 481: Chapter 223: Bluefin Gold Spear_2

For the next 10 minutes, the massive fish underwater seemed to never tire, as it sprinted again and again, while Lin Yang fully exhibited the tough character of a fisherman who would risk his life but not his wealth, gripping the rod tightly and gritting his teeth with determination.

Five more minutes passed, and the force of the fish’s sprints finally weakened.

Lin Yang seized the opportunity, locked the drag, and reeled in line desperately. Under the powerful torque and pulling force of the winder, the fish, already exhausted, was pulled out of the water.

At that moment, the drone’s camera provided a top-down close-up view, offering everyone a deeper understanding of the fish’s details.

Visually, it was about 1.2 meters long, round like a torpedo, with a large dorsal fin that could retract into a groove on its back, followed by a series of pretty bright yellow fins.

"A small bluefin, about a hundred pounds, do we bring it aboard?" Lin Yang had already made an accurate judgment, he turned his head to ask Captain Harry.

Indeed, once on board, most of the decisions had to be consulted with the captain, due to various local rules or legal regulations, which even Zhang Lin might get wrong.

Harry, having just made a bold statement over the radio, couldn’t possibly contradict himself. After a glance at the fish in the water he shook his head, "Too small, doesn’t meet the minimum catch size standards, can’t bring it aboard, wait for me, I’ll go get the dart tag."

Harry gestured a goodbye, turned, and went into the cabin, soon returning with a metal tube about a meter long and as thick as a thumb.

At the front of the tube, there was a device similar to a syringe, with a blue capsule-like object at the very tip.

Lin Yang glanced at the peculiar device, curiously asking, "What’s that?"

Zhang Lin replied, "That’s a dart tag, inside it there’s a micro-location device. All the bluefin tuna caught near the North Carolina Fishing Ground must be tagged before release. It seems related to the captains’ association regulations, but I’m not clear on the details. Let Captain Harry handle it, we don’t have to worry."

Soon, Captain Harry gestured for Lin Yang to pull the bluefin tuna to the side of the boat, then precisely jabbed the tube next to the fish’s dorsal fin.

With a gentle push and press, the blue tip was embedded into the fish’s back muscle, and the already weary fish struggled symbolically a few times before calming down.

After marking it, Captain Harry took a gaff hook, skillfully used the gaff’s split end to remove the fish hook, then hooked the bluefin tuna’s sturdy lower jaw and handed it over to Zhang Lin.

"I’ll go steer the boat, you hold tight to the gaff hook, and once the fish recovers and rights itself, you can let it go."

"Don’t worry, leave it to me." Zhang Lin confidently nodded.

Soon, the fishing boat started up, cruising in a small area on these waters, while Lin Yang clarified to his live-streaming viewers about the release procedure.

"Due to long evolution, the bluefin’s gills have degenerated, and it can only absorb sufficient oxygen by continually moving. The releasing action Captain Harry did is the standard method for releasing bluefin. The gaff hook carries the fish as it swims, and once it recovers, we let it go."

Over ten minutes later, the fish gradually regained its strength, struggling to turn around.

Zhang Lin promptly flipped over the gaff hook, and after ensuring the fish’s tail started moving, he then probed downwards, letting the fish break free from the gaff’s hold.

And thus, the hundred-pound bluefin tuna quickly darted back into the water, disappearing from sight.

"Streamer, does this count as 1:1, a tie?"

"A tie +1, but we didn’t haul it aboard, and the fish wasn’t injured, so it’s more reliable than theirs."

"I’m a bit curious, the boat has been sailing for so long, can the kite fishing rig that was deployed earlier still hold up?"

This keen fan hit the nail on the head, as Captain Harry picked up anchor and started the boat without having retrieved the kite fishing rig.

By then, it had already been left far behind, and the kite, due to imbalance in pull, had fallen into the water needing redeployment. Once the boat was repositioned, Captain Harry also alerted with the microphone.

"Just now, we also caught a small bluefin tuna about 1.2 meters long, successfully tagged and released it, one to one tie, as I said, the Will would absolutely not lose to you guys."

Joseph on the other boat had already noticed this, responding somewhat unenthusiastically, "Got it, a tie, one each."

....

With the results reported, Harry then leisurely came to the ship’s rail, slowly gathered the kite fishing rig, replacing it with fresh bait, and setting up a dry kite to repeat the process.

"Recently, small to medium-sized bluefin tuna, along with some yellowfin tuna, have also come to these waters. Using chunk bait can attract more fish, but catching these small ones is not our target and it wastes time."

From my professional perspective, I recommend not continuing with this kind of bait. Of course, you are the employer, this is just my suggestion, and the decision is yours to make."

Lin Yang heard this, nodding in agreement.

The captain was right; both vessels had brought aboard a fish, each just over 100 pounds. Such size was considered insignificant in these waters.

The further fishing validated this idea.

In the morning’s effort, the Ghost and the Will had each caught two more bluefin tunas of similar size, and while it was fun, the dream of catching a large bluefin remained far off.