Chapter 364: Catching Smelt Fish at Night
After Lin Heng and Lin Yue investigated, they decided to choose this place and try it at night. They couldn't find a better place.
Lin Yue held the chicken entrails and said, "Brother, let's find a place to set up the trap?"
The chicken innards were left over from slaughtering a chicken to celebrate the opening of the convenience store. They were specially used to catch fish. In such a cold day, the innards won't go bad after being caught, and can be taken back to feed the dog.
"Here we are." Lin Heng came over carrying four four-meter-long traps. They went downstairs and found a place with lots of rocks and aquatic plants to place the traps.
The weather traps are generally ineffective on other fish, and they mainly catch yellowtail snapper and catfish. Both of these fish like areas with complex underwater environments, so they deliberately chose such places hoping to have a good harvest.
After finishing this, they went up to the riverside and built a shed with tarpaulin to protect against wind and rain with Lin's father, and then ignited the coal they brought from home.
After lighting the fire, Lin Heng warmed his hands and feet and said, "It's finally a little warmer. The wind on this river is really strong."
Lin Yue laughed and said, "It's really cold when you go down to the river at night. The water in the Black River is even colder than you can imagine."
"If you really can't bear it anymore, come back and warm yourself by the fire. It won't be worth it if you catch a cold." Father Lin looked at the two of them and said that he lit the fire because he was afraid that the water would be too cold for people to bear.
Putting two sweet potatoes on the side to roast, Lin Heng looked at his father and said, "Dad, you stay here and watch the things. My brother and I will search along the river to see what the environment is like and see if we can find any prey."
"No problem, you guys go ahead." Father Lin waved his hand.
The two men packed up their belongings, took their bows and arrows and hunting rifles, and walked up the forest along the river.
It stands to reason that there would be plenty of prey along the river, but the two searched for a long time without much success.
"Brother, I found wild boar shit here!"
At dusk when it was almost dark, Lin Yue spoke out.
Hearing this, Lin Heng hurried over to check it out. After looking at it, he shook his head and said, "There's no hope. It's from several days ago. Let's go back and see if we can find any pheasants or rabbits."
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded, and the two of them walked back. They came to the campsite but didn't gain anything.
"It really proves the old saying, 'Ten days of climbing the mountain and nine days of empty work, one day is equivalent to ten days of work! '" Lin Yue said with emotion.
Lin Heng also smiled and said, "I hope we can get some fish tonight."
Hunting in the mountains was like this, it was common to catch nothing, but once you did catch something, the harvest was often huge. If he didn't have Xiongba, a very smart dog with a super sensitive nose, the number of times he would have caught nothing would have increased several times.
When they returned to the camp, Father Lin said with a smile, "It seems that you didn't catch anything. Come over here and warm yourself by the fire. We are going to catch fish."
"Okay." Lin Heng and the other man sat down to roast by the fire and ate the roasted sweet potatoes. It was already dark when they finished eating, so they took a scoop net and a flashlight and set out to catch fish.
When they came to the river and shone the flashlight, the scene they imagined of migrating plum fish everywhere did not appear. They only saw one or two sparsely.
They tried this for a while wearing water shoes, and the fish were really stupid at night. When the scoop net was set downstream, the fish would be washed down by the current when the people above stepped on the water, but they might not fall into the scoop net because the river was very wide.
“It’s in, it’s in!!”
Lin Heng said excitedly, after trying four or five times, he finally saw a fish enter the net.
"This one is pretty good, it weighs more than one kilogram." Lin Yue said with a smile as he picked up the net.
"It's just that the water is too cold for people to bear. I'll go put the fish in the fish basket." Father Lin said, handed his scoop net to Lin Yue, and walked back with the scoop net with the fish.
Lin Heng and his elder brother worked together to continue catching fish.
There are few fish here and it is not easy to catch them. It takes about ten minutes to catch one. However, even with rain boots, it is still very cold. After a while, I can't stand it anymore and have to go back to warm myself by the fire. The efficiency is much lower than expected.
"I found that where the water flows fast, there are more fish and they seem to be easier to catch." Lin Heng said while roasting a fire.
Although you can't see clearly in places with fast water flow, the fish will be directly washed down by the strong current when they are caught. Setting up a scoop net below is often more effective than in places with slow water flow.
In places where the water flow is gentle, the direction in which fish swim can be controlled to a large extent, and they will instinctively dodge when they see a scoop net.
Lin Yue nodded and said, "I found it too. How about we take off our pants and try the deepest part in the middle of the water?"
Father Lin hesitated and asked, "It's so cold, isn't it a bit dangerous?"
"It's Jingzhe now and the water level won't rise. It's just a little cold. It's not a big problem." Lin Heng shook his head.
Lin Yue also said: "It's okay. If we continue like this, we probably won't catch many fish tonight."
"Okay then, I'll come too. Your elder brother and I will set up the net at the bottom, and you will chase it from above." Seeing that both sons were determined, Father Lin had no choice but to agree.
After discussing it, the two of them took off their pants and left all their underwear here, then walked in in the night temperature of around zero degrees and the water temperature of four or five degrees.
As soon as he entered the water, Lin Heng shouted, "Damn it, we have to hurry up, or I'll be frozen to death!"
"It's too cold. The birds are frozen." Lin Yue also quickly quickened his pace.
After a while, the three of them arrived at the middle of the river, where the water was nearly seventy or eighty centimeters deep. The two of them placed large scoop nets with a diameter of fifty side by side.
Father Lin said excitedly: "Hurry up and chase them, son, there are so many plum fish here!!"
The dim light of the flashlight shines into the rushing water, and you can see the figures of plum carps surfing against the current.
“Here it comes!”
Lin Heng's legs were frozen at this time, but he was still excited and used his feet to quickly chase the fish swimming upstream. In the turbulent water, these fish swimming upstream all rely on their strength. If they are interrupted, they will be ruthlessly washed away by the current.
"Oh my god, there are so many fish!"
"What a great catch! There are at least seven or eight fish in this net!"
Along with the sound of fish jumping in the scoop net, Lin Heng's father and elder brother were so excited that they couldn't control themselves.
"Let's go back to the water quickly!" Lin Heng was extremely excited, but also extremely cold.
The three of them quickly ran to the river, and after counting, they were all so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
Lin Yue laughed and said, "I have eight fish here!"
Father Lin grinned and said, "I have nine here, which is more than we caught in the previous two hours!"
"And the fishes among them are big fish weighing two or three kilograms!" Lin Heng said happily while touching the smelt fish. These guys would never have thought that they would suffer such a tragedy during their migration at night.
As they talked, the three of them put the fish into the fish basket and then quickly ran back to the camp to warm themselves by the fire.
While sitting by the fire, they discussed the harvest enthusiastically.
Father Lin agreed, uncharacteristically: "This is a great deal. Let's grill it and have another try. It may be cold, but it's definitely faster than catching fish by the water."
"We have to wait a little longer to give these migrating fish some time. Then you set up the net below and I will chase them from above and we will succeed." Lin Heng said with a smile as he put on his underwear.
He looked at his watch. It was only half past eight, so there was still plenty of time.
Next, the three of them tried once every twenty minutes, and continued to harvest. Before they knew it, it was already one in the morning. They had harvested thirteen times in total.
The results became worse as time went on. On average, we could catch ten fish each time, which made a total of 130 fish. Together with the ones we caught at the beginning, the three of us caught more than 200 kilograms, almost 300 kilograms of fish in one night.
This is definitely a great harvest.
After warming up, Lin Yue asked, "Do you want to continue?"
"Forget it. We've already caught three or four fish in this net. If we catch too many, there won't be any fish left." Lin Heng shook his head.
Father Lin also nodded and said, "This is enough. Let's just take a rest. There are no other fish in this weather."
The three of them ate a roasted sweet potato and then leaned on the tarpaulin to rest.
I didn't sleep well the whole night. Even with the tarpaulin outside, it couldn't hold up. The side close to the fire was hot, and the side facing away was cold. I woke up from the cold every half-hour of sleep.
But there is no other way. If you want to get something, suffering from cold and hunger is the norm. It is impossible to have everything just by sitting at home.
The three of them woke up at 6:30 the next morning. Lin Heng felt a little headache, and his father and eldest brother both had a slight cough.
"I'm going to collect the traps. Come back as soon as I'm done." Lin Heng said, standing up.
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded and went out with him.
The wind by the river was even colder in the morning, and Lin Heng only managed to warm up by walking and exercising.
"It looks like it's not as good as expected!"
Pulling up the first trap, Lin Heng shook his head and said, there are three and a half kilograms of yellow croaker in it.
"Mine is even worse. It's just a small catfish weighing half a pound!" Lin Yue also shook his head.
Then the two men retrieved the other two traps, one of which had no fish in it, and the other contained only a small fish weighing two taels.
The two men walked back with their things. Although they were helpless, they had to accept it. It was the same when fishing with a cage. Sometimes, even if you choose the right place, you may not catch fish.
When the two came back, Lin's father had already cleaned up everything and dismantled the camp, except for the remaining fire that had not been put out.
Lin Heng went to the side of the road, opened the oxygen cylinder, connected the tube and air stone, and placed them into three large 50-liter water tanks.
The water in the water tank was filled up yesterday when we passed a small stream beside the road, so we didn't have to go to the river to fetch water later.
"It's done, come and catch the fish." Lin Heng shouted to his elder brother and father after he finished.
“Here it comes!”
The two men agreed and went to the river to bring the fish back. From afar they could hear the fresh fish jumping in the two fish baskets.
Although they were tired and didn’t sleep well last night, this big fish really satisfied the three of them.
Each of the plum fish was bigger than the ones caught last summer, and they estimated that the largest one weighed more than three kilograms.
After putting the fish into three water tanks and closing the lids, the three of them got in the car and headed back.
Lin Heng was driving the car, while Lin's father and his older brother sat on a wooden cart at the back to help control it.
I didn’t dare walk too fast on the way back for fear that the water would spill out, so I walked for two and a half hours before finally returning to the village.
I had no intention of showing off when I returned to the village. I walked quickly through the center of the village and headed towards Red Maple Mountain.
Inevitably, I met a few people on the way. They asked me how many fish I had caught, and then they just left without showing me.
"You're back. What did you get?" Lin's mother asked curiously when she saw the car stop.
"Look for yourself!" the three of them said, and then they hurried back into the house to warm themselves by the fire. They were almost frozen into fools.
"Oh my god, I made so many this time!"
After a while, Lin's mother's shocked voice spread, and then she ran into the house to ask.
After learning how they were caught, she felt sorry for the three men: "You guys must have worked so hard. I made rice for you and cut the vegetables. I'll go fry them now."
After the fish were warmed up, Father Lin asked, "Should we release the fish directly into the mountain, or do some artificial ovulation?"
"Let's do it first, so as to avoid the trouble of being caught again in two years." Lin Heng said.
"I think this is a good idea too." Lin Yue nodded.
"Then get up and do it. Come back for dinner when you're done." Father Lin said as he got up. He got two buckets and three small basins, and the three of them carried the fish to the door of the hatchery.
The fish this time were all very lively, not a single one died.
When they arrived at the door, they brought two large water tanks, which were bought last year when they were raising shrimps.
After filling the water tank with spring water, the three began to ovulate. They put water in a small basin, grabbed the fish with a towel and squeezed them gently, and the light yellow eggs came out.
These migratory fish are basically sexually mature. After the fish eggs are photographed, the male fish is picked up to squeeze out the fish sperm, and then stirred to complete the fertilization of the eggs.
The fertilized fish eggs were placed in a hatchery pond, separated from the previous batch.
After two hours of hard work, we collected seventy female fish and more fish eggs this time, more than fifty thousand in total.
"Including the last time, there are almost 70,000 of them. It depends on how many fry can be hatched." Father Lin said with a smile. This is the first time he has done this kind of work.
"I think it will be difficult. It's the first time I hatch plum carp, so I'm not sure." Lin Heng shook his head. He had hatched grass carp and carp before.
"Never mind, let's put the fish aside and go eat." Lin Yue waved his hand and said, he was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Brother, are you raising your fifty fish in cages?" Lin Heng asked.
The fish had to be divided equally. It was impossible that his elder brother worked all morning and evening and got nothing. He just took advantage of the situation and collected the fish eggs.
"Sure, just feed me and I'll eat slowly." Lin Yue said with a smile.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, and the three of them took the fish to the small reservoir on the top of the mountain.
Fifty male fish were placed in the net cage, and only four of Lin Heng's and his father's fish were kept, and the rest were thrown into the reservoir for release.
Among these fish, four or five have not ovulated, so let them reproduce in the reservoir on their own.
Later, when they want to eat fish, they can just come over and catch a few. I believe it should not be difficult to fish in their own small reservoir.
By the time they put the fish down, it was already 12:30 in the afternoon, and the three of them quickly went home to have some food.
"I'm starving!" Lin Heng picked up the rice and started to eat it. His mother cooked sour beans and minced meat. He ate three bowls of rice in a row.
After dinner, Lin Heng drove back home with his elder brother.
When Lin Heng opened the door, Xiaoxia came to greet him. Lin Heng picked her up from a distance and spun her around in the air twice.
Today, only Xiulan and the three children are in the house. Caiyun has already gone to school.
"I guess you had a good harvest last night. I saw you going to Red Maple Mountain this morning." Xiulan said while feeding her baby.
"What a great harvest." Lin Heng smiled and told Xiulan about what he had gained last night.
"Then it's worth it for you to go out and suffer the cold this time." Xiulan smiled slightly and said, "You should go to bed quickly. I can take care of the child by myself."
Although it was a bit tiring for her to take care of three children alone, she felt more sorry for Lin Heng.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
