However, Chen Hong liked to eat the white strips, and she scooped up quite a lot, filling a large plastic bucket. Judging by the weight, it must have weighed at least ten kilograms.

This fish doesn't grow very big, at most only a palm's length, with fine, thin scales that shimmer with a silvery-white light; some people also call it the Little White Drifter.

It has a slender and thin body, a small head and a small belly, and only a small amount of internal organs.

When cleaning the fish, pinch its belly with your fingernail and then gently squeeze it to remove the internal organs.

The little whitebait in the Yellow River don't have any black membrane inside their bellies; they're white, tender, and clean.

No need to marinate with scallions and ginger. Just rinse it clean, sprinkle with some fine salt, and marinate for about ten minutes. You can also sprinkle some five-spice powder on top.

Whether you dry-roast them, sprinkle them with dry flour, or coat them with a thin batter, fry them in oil, and then eat them one bite at a time, the taste is amazing!

It's so fragrant, tender, and crispy, you don't even need to spit out the bones, it's just too delicious! It's so good it could make your head spin!

Chen Hong remembers that when she was a child, only families that were particular about their children would serve a plate of crispy fried small fish at the wedding banquet.

In the Jinan area, the only fish that can be served at a grand banquet, besides sweet and sour carp, is crispy fried small fish.

Being able to eat crispy fried small fish was the happiest thing for children at that time.

Strangely enough, Chen Hong searched everywhere and found carp, whitebait, silver carp, and even gudgeon.

There were also many other small fish such as sand bream, crucian carp, chub, catfish, and small bream, but I couldn't find the Yellow River soft-shelled turtle (scientific name: Yellow River soft-shelled turtle, also called Yellow River soft-shelled turtle or Three Yellow Soft-shelled turtle).

After the fish finished eating the bait, they all swam away, and not a single turtle appeared.

Chen Hong was somewhat disappointed. If you were to ask what the most nutritious, delicious, and expensive aquatic product in the Yellow River is, the Yellow River giant turtle would be the top choice.

Yellow River turtles are not only highly nutritious, but also have significant medicinal value.

Every part of them is valuable. Turtle meat can treat chronic dysentery, weakness, and beriberi; turtle shell can treat bone steaming fever, yin deficiency and wind-heat, hepatosplenomegaly, and cirrhosis.

Even turtle blood is a traditional Chinese medicine ingredient; when applied externally, it can treat conditions such as facial nerve paralysis and infantile malnutrition with night sweats.

It is said that it can also be used to make blood wine, and regular consumption can treat physical weakness, low sperm count, and azoospermia. It has a powerful effect of boosting yang energy and strengthening yang, and is very popular among men.

It's already early September in the lunar calendar. In at most another month, the Yellow River turtles will burrow into the mud and sand to hibernate.

Chen Hong was getting anxious. If she couldn't catch any more, she wouldn't be able to eat any this year, as the Yellow River turtles were at their fattest and most delicious at this time of year.

They eat voraciously, making ample preparations for hibernation by storing up a thick layer of fat, with the thickest layer being turtle fat, which is also a traditional Chinese medicine.

Turtle oil can delay aging, reduce swelling and relieve pain, clear heat and detoxify, and can also treat a variety of diseases such as colds and hemorrhoids. It is only during the period before hibernation that turtles are the thickest and fattest.

Chen Hong was even thinking of catching a few turtles to keep for the winter so she could stew them for her family as a nourishing dish!

After spending half the afternoon catching quite a few fish, I still hadn't seen a turtle. I didn't know if there weren't any nearby, or if I hadn't smelled the aroma of food emanating from the space.

Chen Hong released the fish, squeezed the remaining bait into a ball, and threw it forcefully into the middle of the Yellow River to lure the fish away.

She didn't want to exterminate the Yellow River carp; she wanted to feed them more food to help them reproduce!

There are far fewer Yellow River carp now than when she was a child.

The Yellow River has dried up several times, causing the extinction of many fish species. For example, she hasn't seen the Yellow River knife fish for over twenty years.

The fish may have already become extinct in the Jinan section of the Yellow River. This year's flood season is very long, and the rainfall upstream is also very heavy. It's uncertain whether new fish species will be washed down from other provinces.

Chen Hong decided that this autumn, until the river freezes over, she would come to the Yellow River to fish whenever she had free time, feed the fish, and secretly improve the water quality of the Yellow River.

I hope that when my son and his generation grow up, they will still be able to eat delicious, authentic Yellow River carp and Yellow River turtle.

We also hope that the Yellow River knife fish will reappear in the Yellow River, so that these delicacies can return to people's dining tables.

She checked her phone; it was already 3:40. It was getting late, and she needed to hurry back, or she would be late picking her child up from school.

Chen Hong deftly packed up her fishing rod, untying the fishing line and hooks. She put the rod in her bag and poured the water from the plastic bucket into her fishing box.

I also put two carp, two silver carp, a dozen crucian carp, and about two pounds of small whitebait into the fishing box.

The rest of the fish were kept in a large tank in the space, including a dozen or so catfish that were slightly longer than the palm of a hand.

These yellowish-brown fish are small with long fins, especially their dorsal fin, which is long and thick. If you don't know their habits, you can easily get pricked.

If you get pricked by the dorsal fin of this fish, the wound will feel numb and painful, similar to being pricked by a peppercorn needle, which is particularly pungent.

Chen Hong was infected when she was a child, and she still remembers the pain. Just imagine how unforgettable it was.

Chen Hong tidied up her things, slung her fishing rod bag over her shoulder, carried the fishing box in her right hand, and a plastic bucket in her left.

Looking around, I realized that walking back along the riverbank for such a long distance would be too much trouble, as there were too many seedlings to harvest.

She was crawling through the grass, and now that her hands were occupied, it was difficult to clear away the grass stalks. She was easily torn apart by the tangled vines and her hands and face were scratched.

After observing for a while, she felt that it was more convenient to climb directly up the embankment from here, as the journey was shorter and faster.

With no one around, it was easier for her to operate. She quietly stored everything into her spatial storage.

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