The Top Fishing
Chapter 487 - 225: Another Huge Catch_2

Chapter 487: Chapter 225: Another Huge Catch_2

"Mr. Joseph, are you releasing bluefins over three or four hundred pounds in these waters? In our Japan Sea, fish of that size would already meet the standards for harvesting. Could it be that these Chinese have no quota? If they catch bigger fish, can we buy the fish with our quota?"

Joseph shook his head, "I’m not too sure if they have a quota, but such bluefins are not rare in these waters, and there are plenty that are even larger."

"But, why haven’t we encountered any big fish up to now? Is our luck that bad? Now we are falling behind them!"

"Don’t worry, we will hook a big one. They just got a tiny bit luckier than us, and we have the best detector equipment on board. There’s definitely no problem."

"I need to catch a decent-sized bluefin soon to save face, losing to those Chinese is unacceptable!"

"Alright, be assured."

Captain Joseph assured the not-so-easy-to-talk-to Japanese with a smile and soon headed into the cabin to use the onboard detecting equipment to search for the big fish.

You don’t know if you don’t check, but once the detector was on, Joseph’s face immediately lit up with joy.

For some reason, the detector’s screen showed several large bluefin tunas moving around within a hundred meters of the fishing boat, their outlines and trajectories clearly visible.

Could it be that the plentiful bait fish thrown overboard had lured the big bluefins closer? Joseph wondered, somewhat undecided.

On the other end.

Lin Yang and the others had just successfully released their fourth bluefin tuna. After a short break to recover, Lin Yang sat aside to regain his strength while Captain Harry deployed the kite fishing rig once more.

"In these waters, there are many more bluefin tunas than I thought. Have you seen this many fish when you’ve taken customers out to sea before?" Lin Yang casually chatted with the captain.

The captain turned and replied, "Around the North Carolina Fishing Ground, every year from the end of March or April until the beginning of August, there are many schools of fish that follow the currents here, so the bluefin tuna density is indeed high. As long as the weather is suitable, we always encounter a few every time we go out to sea. That’s also why I don’t recommend using up a precious quota."

"What about the average size? How big were the fish you caught in previous years?" Lin Yang continued to ask.

"If we don’t use mixed fish chunks for chumming, most of the tuna caught with kite fishing are around three or four hundred pounds. Bluefins under five hundred pounds are relatively common. Bigger specimens depend on luck, and there are fishing boats that manage to catch them every year."

"Oh, knowing that gives me some peace of mind."

Just as Lin Yang finished speaking, he heard Zhang Lin shouting from the side of the boat; they had another bite.

This catch was different from the last one; after attacking the bait fish, the prey didn’t run away dragging the line but instead swam toward the fishing boat.

Similar to casting from shore in freshwater fishing where the fish swims towards the shore after taking the bait, the line doesn’t go out but instead slackens.

Without the tension of the fishing line to help, the low-hovering kite wobbled and fell onto the water’s surface.

Captain Harry quickly grabbed the fishing rod and started reeling in the line with great effort. Reeling in was quite dangerous because if the fish ducked under the boat or got tangled with the anchor, the fish could be lost.

Fortunately, the captain acted quickly and reeled in the slack line, bending the rod significantly.

However, compared to the previous fish, the strength felt distinctly different this time.

This big fellow, despite Captain Harry’s vigorous jigging to hook the fish, showed no intention of running wildly—it was almost as if the hook had snagged the bottom since it was extremely difficult to move.

"Hooked onto some debris? That shouldn’t be, we’re not on the bottom," Lin Yang said with a glance, perplexed.

Zhang Lin was also confused and looked at the captain, "Did we hook a fish, or did it snag on some debris or the fishing line?"

The captain, clutching the rod tightly, said, "It’s a fish. I felt it moving earlier, but for some reason, it’s not desperately escaping. It might be that the hook is in a part without nerves, so it hasn’t felt pain yet."

Lin Yang didn’t know exactly where the hook was, but seeing how lightly the fish was exerting itself, it felt eerily familiar.

Sometimes, with freshwater trophy fish or the big ones near the pilings in this situation, they show the same lack of struggle. Could saltwater fish do the same?

"Tap the rod and see if the vibrations travel down the line to affect it," Lin Yang suggested.

Captain Harry, taking the advice, quickly began slapping the rod with his large, fan-like hands.

The taut fishing line hummed dully like a two-stringed instrument, and shortly after, there was a response from underwater.

"It’s moving, the big fish is moving!" The captain hastily adjusted his stance and started moving along the side of the boat, following the direction in which the fish was swimming.

"How’s the strength? Is it big?" Zhang Lin also asked curiously.

"A big one, I swear to God, this is a big fish!" Captain Harry exclaimed excitedly, invoking God in his excitement.

Despite the heavy pressure, the line kept going out with click after click, and the captain failed in several attempts to reel it in, his heavy-duty fishing reel was at its limit. Trying any harder would only break the line.

"The fish is huge, and we are now nearing the performance limits of the fishing reel. We can’t keep fighting like this; the line will break," the captain said, his tension unusual.

"What do we need to do?" Lin Yang and Zhang Lin asked almost in unison.

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