The Top Fishing
Chapter 78 - 078: Release Directly

Chapter 78: Chapter 078: Release Directly

Lin Yang gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands. Even though his physical strength was twice that of an ordinary person, he still found it difficult to manage the big fish.

Sometimes, the force of the big fish was too much to handle, and it would pull him forward.

Fortunately, today the fish were not biting well, and there were many people around, so he was still able to keep the fish under control.

Wuu wuu wuu—

After several minutes, the fish’s strength underwater hadn’t diminished at all and continued to exert force.

And the longer the fish exerted force, the more excited everyone became!

Because this indicated the fish underwater was indeed very big!

Even occasionally, some creaking sounds came from Lin Yang’s fishing rod, making everyone a bit worried. Would his rod break?

Lin Yang was also somewhat concerned himself.

However, the big rod he was using had cost him over a thousand dollars and was a genuine product. Although it wasn’t as good as those top-tier rods that cost several thousand, the quality of his rod was still passable.

Even though the "creak, creak" sounds often happened, sounding somewhat dangerous, the rod didn’t burst immediately but kept holding on strongly; it was just the noise that was scary.

But Lin Yang knew this was already the limit of this rod.

If the fish exerted a bit more strength, or if he caught an even bigger fish, the rod in his hands would definitely burst!

Luckily, Lin Yang’s skills were excellent. He knew many fishing techniques; if it were a person who didn’t know much about fishing handling this fish, the rod would undoubtedly burst.

After struggling for seven or eight minutes, the fish underwater finally quietened down a lot and was not as aggressive as before.

Several more minutes passed.

Eventually, Lin Yang started to pull the big fish around, and it no longer had the strength to struggle.

Then not long after, the big fish finally surfaced and revealed its true identity.

Upon seeing the enormous, gloomy body on the water, everyone, including Lin Yang himself, was stunned.

Because previously, everyone thought it was the legendary carp that weighed about thirty or forty jin.

But now seeing the dark, slimy body of the fish without scales and its flat head dotted with a few whiskers...

It was clearly a catfish!

And looking at the body longer than a meter and a head nearly the size of a person...

Everyone was sure that this catfish weighed over thirty jin!

Catfish, also called Sheatfish or Whiskered Catfish, are carnivorous fish that eat organisms like water fleas, water worms, and even small fish species such as crucian carp, topmouth culter, and loaches...

Knowing he had caught a catfish, Lin Yang then understood why there were no small miscellaneous fish in the Heavenly Pit and why those crucian carp were so thin.

It had to be due to being preyed on by big catfish all the time!

After seeing the fish, Li Xiaopeng, Wang Bo, and Tai all exclaimed,

"Wow, cousin, you actually caught a catfish, and such a big one at that, incredible!"

"Such a big catfish, and not skinny at all, must have eaten who knows how many other fish. No wonder there are so few fish here...."

"The mystery is solved; it’s not that there are no fish in this place, it’s that there’s a big catfish eating the fish!"

By this time, Li Xiaopeng had already prepared his giant landing net and was waiting by the water.

When Lin Yang pulled the big catfish close to the shore, he suddenly thrust the landing net into the water.

Swish!

The moment the net touched the water, the big catfish, still tethered by the line and floating on the surface, somehow regained strength and darted back underwater.

Splashing water all over Li Xiaopeng’s face!

But Li Xiaopeng didn’t mind the splash; he was just worried the big catfish might escape.

Luckily, the fish Lin Yang hooked was very securely attached, showing no signs of coming off the hook, and soon, it was pulled back to the surface by the line.

Then Li Xiaopeng tried to net it again.

Yet, the big catfish began struggling again.

After three or four attempts, the big catfish was finally successfully netted by Li Xiaopeng.

Then Li Xiaopeng ran back very laboriously holding the big catfish, all the while laughing excitedly, "I told you to run; now you’re still caught in my net, haha...."

Then he put the landing net down in front of Lin Yang, somewhat embarrassed, "Cousin, sorry to make you laugh, but the fish didn’t escape, you wouldn’t blame me, right?"

"No worries, a fish this big is almost supernatural; it’s normal for it to save some energy and not use it all up."

Lin Yang didn’t mind; it was normal for fish to have energy during netting when catching big fish, and it had nothing to do with Li Xiaopeng.

After he spoke, he sneakily glanced at the unlocked rewards on the aquatic manual.

The displayed rewards were ¥+1000, Experience Value and points +10, and additionally, a nine-meter giant rod was awarded.

Seeing this nine-meter giant rod made Lin Yang very happy; he finally encountered something good!

He had unlocked so many aquatic species in the previous days, all awarding money, but this time, he was directly awarded the giant rod he wanted.

Originally, Lin Yang was considering whether to buy a big brand fishing rod after he got back, but now he could save that money.

He glanced at the specifications of the fishing rod, which were very good, although there were no special attributes, but he was sure no rod on the market could compare to his.

On the other hand, seeing the big catfish Lin Yang had caught, the livestream viewers were also very satisfied.

"The host is really amazing, being able to catch such a fish, so badass!"

"Although it’s not a wild giant carp, catching a wild big catfish is enough."

"How heavy is such a big fish?"

"I guess this fish is at least 50 pounds?"

"It should be less since the tail of a catfish is a bit thinner, unlike other big fish. So even though it looks big and long, it should not be 50 pounds, but around 40 pounds should be right...."

"It’s really big, but it still seems a lot smaller than those giant catfish abroad."

"Isn’t that obvious? Those giant catfish abroad can weigh up to two or three hundred pounds; they’re two to three times bigger than an adult. We don’t even see such monsters here, do we?"

"It’s not that we haven’t seen them, it’s that our anglers here aren’t skilled enough to catch them."

"There you go bringing up skills again... It’s clearly due to geographic and cultural reasons that our catfish here don’t grow that big. If those fishing masters went overseas to fish, they’d definitely be able to catch such giant catfish!"

"That’s right, I hope Master Lin has time to go abroad someday and catch a giant catfish for us to see. Our fishing skills are not inferior to those of foreigners!"

As they talked, the conversation drifted off topic.

Meanwhile, Lin Yang was already beginning to remove the hook from the catfish’s mouth.

However, seeing the catfish’s huge mouth and its sharp teeth peeking out when it opened slightly, he hesitated for a moment and decided not to take the risk.

Just about to ask the others if they had any tools, he saw Wang Bo walking over from his fishing spot, promptly handing him a pair of pliers.

"Here, Master Lin, use these specialized hook removal pliers for this kind of fish to avoid getting hurt."

"Thanks a lot!"

Lin Yang took the pliers and thanked him.

He really had to thank Wang Bo; if it weren’t for the latter bringing him here for wild fishing, he wouldn’t have been able to catch such a big catfish.

Although there was a misunderstanding at the beginning where everyone thought there were no fish here, after trying various methods, they eventually did catch them.

Lin Yang removed the hook from the big catfish’s mouth easily with the pliers.

Then Wang Bo came over with a fish clamp, helping him to secure the catfish’s jaw: "Let’s weigh it and see how heavy this big fish is!"

After clamping, Wang Bo pulled hard to lift it. Since the fish struggled, he had to use both hands.

Once the fish was completely lifted, the three of them leaned in to look.

"This... must be close to 40 pounds, right?"

Looking at the weight displayed on the fish clamp, Li Xiaopeng said with wide eyes.

"About 38 pounds, not quite 40 pounds!" Lin Yang said carefully, smiling.

This was the biggest fish he had caught so far, and it was a wild catch; even though it was a catfish, he felt a great sense of achievement.

Meanwhile, Li Xiaopeng and Tai had already taken out their phones to take photos and post on their social networks.

Lin Yang also picked a good angle to take a couple of photos, planning to use them as the cover for a video to be posted on Douyin later.

After the first nearly 40-pound big catfish was caught, everyone was clearly very happy.

Although this was not their target fish, which was a three or four-pound wild giant carp, this large catfish completely filled their expectations.

After everyone took photos, Lin Yang asked Li Xiaopeng to put the big catfish into the fish protector.

Next to them, Wang Bo asked with a smile, "Master Lin, this fish is so well-nourished, I assume you wouldn’t want to release it, right?"

"Of course not."

Lin Yang smiled and said, "This catfish must have ravaged who knows how many fish in this Heavenly Pit. Releasing it back is its ultimate fate."

As Li Xiaopeng came back from putting the fish in the fish protector, he reluctantly said, "Don’t do it, cousin; this big catfish has harmed who knows how many small fish. You still want to release it; isn’t that just aiding tyranny...."

Seeing Li Xiaopeng’s reluctant expression, Lin Yang and Wang Bo both laughed.

Then Wang Bo patted Li Xiaopeng’s arm and explained with a smile, "You misunderstood your cousin’s intention. Master Lin means to ’release’ this fish into ginger. Get it now?"

"Put it in ginger... Oh, I got it, brilliant, hehe!"

Li Xiaopeng murmured to himself, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

This was a great idea, completely what he was thinking. Such a big fish... no, such a menace, how could he let it go back and wreak havoc on other small fish?

Add plenty of ginger, cooking wine, soy sauce, and that would be its best destiny.

After catching the big catfish, it was already almost 3:30 in the afternoon.

Since it was still early, they were not in a hurry to pack up, but continued to stay and fish until after five before descending the mountain.

They hadn’t considered night fishing from the start.