Wishes are beautiful, but reality is always harsh.
The rope was untied, and the fish inside were poured onto the deck.
This catch was clearly not as good as the previous one. Although there were a few black-eyed ribbonfish, most of the catch consisted of shrimp and crabs.
The shrimp were all cheap prawns.
"Damn it, whose lousy net is that throwing into the sea!"
Somehow, among the fish on the deck, there was a tangled, obviously abandoned fishing net, probably dropped or thrown into the sea by some fisherman somewhere.
When Ye Xiaocui saw that the fish caught in this net were obviously not as good as the previous net, she couldn't help but curse.
"Luckily, we managed to bring the fishing net ashore. If it had been eaten by dolphins or whales, that would have been a real tragedy!"
Fu Wan also felt a sense of lingering fear. Although the fishermen in the village usually take their trash with them when they go out to sea, there are always some people who throw everything into the sea.
Thinking back to the rare encounter with the white dolphins last time, Fu Wan and the others were also glad that they hadn't run into these marine debris. Otherwise, these seemingly insignificant things could have taken the lives of these marine creatures.
Fu Liang's second net was similar to this one. Their net didn't contain any broken fishing nets, but rather a lot of prawns, a handful of ribbonfish, and quite a few crabs.
By the time the people on both sides had finished sorting through the fish on the deck, night had already fallen.
Ye Xiaocui took out the biscuits she had brought on the boat and shared them with Jiang Chunlan, then invited Fu Liang and the others to have something to eat first.
Fu Wan was chewing on a dry biscuit, standing at the stern of the boat in a daze, when a fish suddenly came crashing down on her.
Fortunately, she instinctively took several steps back, otherwise she would have been injured by the fish.
"Ah Wan, are you alright?"
Ye Xiaocui quickly pulled Fu Wan aside, while Jiang Chunlan picked up the net next to her and scooped up the still-living fish, then threw it into the fish box next to her.
They lit kerosene lamps on the boat and also turned on the large flashlight they had bought from the supply and marketing cooperative.
There are many phototactic fish in the sea, all kinds of them. Some species jump around wildly when they see light, like they don't care about their lives. There are quite a few that are silly enough to jump directly onto people's decks like the ones we saw before.
It would be foolish not to catch fish when there are them. Fu Wan and her companions had prepared a lot of hand nets on both boats. When they saw the fish jumping up and down on the surface of the sea, they also took out their hand nets and used flashlights to catch fish.
Their landing nets were of medium mesh size, which could filter out small fish no bigger than a finger. Both sides were having a great time catching fish, so Boss Fu simply turned off the engine and went to the stern to prepare to reel in the longline.
Perhaps because Boss Fu took a large flashlight from the cabin, many fish jumped towards the deck on Boss Fu's side. Some fish even spread their fins when they jumped, looking like they had grown wings and flew away.
"Mom, is it raining?"
Fu Ling was awakened by the commotion outside, and rubbed her eyes as she walked out of the cabin.
As soon as they came out, they saw fish falling onto the boat with a splash, which terrified the child.
"It's fish falling, not raining."
Fu Wan was both amused and exasperated. She told Fu Ling to stand back so she wouldn't get hit by the frenzied fish. The group simply stopped using nets to catch the fish and put several flashlights on the deck, picking up the fish directly with buckets.
"I've lived most of my life, but this is the first time I've ever waited on the deck for a fish to fly up and come to me to pick it up."
Jiang Chunlan took a spare piece of clothing and covered her head with it. Then she and Ye Xiaocui squatted on the deck and frantically picked up fish.
Ye Xiaocui was dressed the same way. There was no other way; Fu Wan had reminded them that although these fish were small, the force with which they flew up could cause concussions if they hit anyone.
Boss Fu simply put a bucket over his head, and the strange sight made Fu Ling, who was hiding by the cabin, laugh with amusement.
"There are so many bamboo knife fish, they must weigh at least a hundred pounds."
"Luckily, they were all sardines and barramundi. If we had encountered needlefish, the deck might have been pierced by their arrows."
Fu Wan's hands kept moving. She only dared to let everyone cover their heads and go out to collect fish after she saw that there was no trace of needlefish on the sea.
There are many phototactic fish in the sea, the most common being the sardine and the bamboo knife fish. These fish are slender, with the largest being only about 30 centimeters long and weighing only a couple hundred grams.
Most importantly, this kind of fish won't endanger your life if it hits you. The needlefish that Fu Wan mentioned is a particularly disgusting type of fish in the sea.
Needlefish, as their name suggests, have a needle several tens of centimeters long on their heads. They are very attracted to light sources, especially at night. If they see lights on the sea, they will excitedly rush towards the light with their needles on.
Therefore, fishermen who work at night are taught from a young age to be careful of needlefish. After all, these fish can jump over and pierce you through, no matter what part of your body it is. In the 1980s, when medical technology was not advanced, it was very likely that you would die from infection or excessive blood loss.
The rain that caught bamboo shad only lasted for about ten minutes. After Fu Wan and the others had collected all the fish on the deck into the fish baskets and saw that there was no more movement on the sea, Boss Fu called on Fu Ming and Fu Liang to reel in the longline fishing line.
Both longline anglers had put out plenty of bait. The two boats were not far apart at this point, and Fu Wan joined the team reeling in the fishing lines.
"I've caught a grouper!"
"Dad, Wan, your boat can't do longline fishing today!"
With a cheer from Fu Ming, Fu Wan saw the red pheasant in his hand. Although Fu Ming had missed several times, his expression remained calm.
The next second, Fu Wan felt the fishing line in her hand become taut.
There's a big fish!
She held the line with both hands and followed the fish's momentum, and Boss Fu saw this and quickly came over to help.
After swimming for a while, the fish must have gotten tired, and Fu Wan could see its appearance clearly through the seawater.
The fish was different from the others, with a noticeably protruding mouth, a brownish-red body, and black spots all over its body.
This is a moray eel!
"Dad, it's a conger eel!"
This thing can bite! With quick reflexes, Boss Fu picked up a wooden stick and whacked the eel a few times. Then, Fu Wan, in perfect unison, took out a net and scooped the eel up.
"Goodness, this must weigh over 20 pounds."
Fu Wan's family doesn't eat eel because it contains toxins and can easily cause poisoning if not handled properly.
However, many restaurants in the county offer eel on their menus. Experienced chefs clean it thoroughly, making it a decent dish.
With this giant eel in front, all the other fish look small.
Both longline fishing lines were put away, leaving only a few dozen sea bream and sea bass weighing one or two pounds. When Fu Wan was cleaning up the fishing hooks, she saw the fishing rod that Boss Fu had put aside and couldn't help but feel a little itchy to fish.
She hadn't tried fishing with a rod in a long time.
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