Chapter 8 Fishing Traps
There is a large area of flat land in front of the bamboo forest on Shishan Mountain. The land is low-lying, moist and watery. Especially where the stream flows, most of the land is covered with shrubs and weeds, with few tall trees.
Jiang Xuan planned to choose a low-lying area near a stream, dig a pool, and test a fishing method he had in mind.
"Sister, please accompany me to set a trap."
This world is too dangerous. Even though they are not far from the bamboo forest, Jiang Xuan decides to bring Chishao with him to insure his life.
"What kind of trap?" Chishao asked curiously.
"Fish trap."
"Can traps be used to catch fish?" Chishao was a little surprised.
The people of the Deer Tribe also eat fish, because the water resources in the Southern Wilderness are very abundant, there are mountain springs and streams everywhere, and there are abundant natural fish resources. The tribesmen will not miss any meat they can get.
However, they usually just hit the fish with sticks, catch them with their bare hands, or stab them with spears in the stream, without even a harpoon.
As for deep water, such as small rivers, they will not approach them.
Because in the past, many people were dragged into the water by terrible big fish after entering the water, and there was no way to save them.
"You'll understand if you come with me." As the saying goes, seeing is believing, Jiang Xuan did not explain too much.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Chishao trusted Jiang Xuan very much because he was her biological brother. Moreover, Jiang Xuan had also proved his ability by building bamboo houses and making bone hoes.
"I'm going too!"
Uncaria quickly picked up another bone hoe and said, "I can help you dig the trap. I'm very strong and can dig the soil very quickly!"
"And me, if you come across a wild beast, I can help hunt it."
Shi Qiu immediately took his bamboo bow and bone spear, as he didn't want to stay in the bamboo house.
The youngest, Nan Xing, held his wooden spear and looked at Jiang Xuan eagerly: "You all go, you can't leave me behind, right? What if a wild beast breaks in? I'm so young..."
Jiang Xuan was helpless: "Okay, okay, everyone go."
After receiving Jiang Xuan's reply, the three young men immediately smiled happily, took their weapons and prepared to go out.
"Since everyone is out, there's no one to look after the fire pit. Put some big logs there first so you don't have to light the fire again when you come back."
Behind the bamboo forest is a rocky mountain, and on both sides are forests. Because dead bamboo cannot withstand burning, they picked up a lot of dead trees and piled them under the eaves as firewood.
Chishao brought two thick pieces of dead wood from outside the bamboo house and put them into the fire pit. This kind of log burns slowly and can burn for a long time.
After closing the door, Jiang Xuan took the bone hoe and a bamboo tube and went out with the others.
“Chirp, chirp…”
“Chichi, chichi…”
Jiang Xuan and the other four walked along the stream, hearing the sounds of various birds and insects. It has been autumn for some time now, and the grass and trees are gradually turning yellow. This should be the last carnival of the insects.
The further down we go, the flatter the terrain becomes, the deeper the stream becomes, and the fish swimming in the water become larger.
Chishao held the short spear and listened vigilantly to the movements around her. As the only warrior among the five who had been in a hunting team, she knew very well that she must not be careless no matter where she was.
When the stream seemed to be very deep, Jiang Xuan stopped moving forward. At this time, they were more than 200 meters away from the bamboo house.
Don't underestimate these two hundred meters. In an area with dense vegetation, it is not an easy task to push aside the bushes and weeds and wade out a road of more than two hundred meters.
Of course, after they walk this road a few more times and completely suppress or even remove the grass and trees along the way, the road will become easier to walk on.
Jiang Xuan looked around and finally chose a low-lying area next to the stream with sparse weeds. He said, "Let's dig here."
"Okay, I'll get rid of this grass first."
Gou Teng swung the bone hoe and swept it across, cutting off the weeds in the depression. He then used the bone hoe to remove the weeds one by one, which made the work much more convenient.
The Uncaria rhynchophylla made such a big noise that the fish in the stream fled away and hid temporarily.
But don't worry, they will reappear when the noise disappears.
Jiang Xuan and Uncaria rhynchophylla used bone hoes to remove weeds, red peony root used a stone knife, stone loach used a bone spear, and Arisaema confusa used a wooden spear. Everyone was trying hard to remove the weeds.
Soon, the larger weeds on the ground were basically cleared away.
Uncaria didn't feel tired at all, and asked enthusiastically: "Xuan, what are we going to do next?"
"To dig a pool this big, you don't need to dig too deep."
Jiang Xuan used a bone hoe to draw a circular area on the ground with a diameter of about two meters.
"Okay, let's get started."
The five of them used their own tools and started digging the soil vigorously.
Jiang Xuan and Gou Teng were digging the fastest because they had a bone hoe. They only needed to step on the crossbar of the bone hoe, and the hoe would easily sink into the moist soil. Then they could pry up a large piece of soil by prying it up.
With the efforts of five people, an hour later, a nearly circular pool with a diameter of about two meters and a depth of about forty centimeters was dug.
While digging the soil, they also dug out a lot of fat earthworms, about dozens of them, and Jiang Xuan put them all in the bamboo tube he brought.
"The next step is to bring in stream water to fill up the pool."
The newly dug pool was less than half a meter away from the stream. Jiang Xuan used a bone hoe to dig an inlet about 20 centimeters wide. The stream water immediately flowed into the pool and filled the pool in a short while.
Jiang Xuan found another wooden stick and smashed all the earthworms in the bamboo tube with a "dong dong dong" sound. Then he picked up a few stones and stuffed them into the bamboo tube.
Finally, he placed the bamboo tube in the center of the newly dug pool.
Because of the stones and the fact that the bamboo tube was filled with water, it quickly sank to the bottom of the water.
"Okay, let's go to the side and rest for a while."
Jiang Xuan washed his hands, cleaned the bone hoe, and then walked to a stone and sat down.
“Is this the end?”
Chishao and the three boys were a little confused. Just digging a hole, filling it with water, and putting some mashed earthworms in it, is this a so-called fish trap? Jiang Xuan smiled and explained, "Fishing is different from catching animals. Wild animals in the mountains have feet and can run around, but most fish don't have feet. They can only move around in water and can't go ashore."
Jiang Xuan pointed to the newly dug pond and said, "This pond is connected to the stream. The earthworms in the pond are the bait. In order to make the smell of the earthworms spread faster in the water, I also mashed them up."
"The fish in the creek smell the earthworms and swim through the inlet to the pond we dug."
"Once the fish get in, we just need to move a big rock to block the water inlet, and the fish inside will not be able to get out."
"When the time comes, with such a small pond and such shallow water, we only need to muddy the water and we can easily catch the fish!"
After listening to Jiang Xuan's explanation, the four of them were stunned. They felt that what Jiang Xuan said made sense, but they didn't dare to believe it, because it was too simple, right? They rested in the bushes nearby with doubts, and looked into the pool from time to time.
Time passed bit by bit, and when the surroundings became quiet, the hidden fish soon swam around in the stream again.
Soon, some fish with a keen sense of smell smelled the fishy scent of earthworms. They swam in the direction of the smell and swam into the pond without hesitation. They circled around the bamboo tube, trying to eat the food inside.
“The fish really went in!”
The Uncaria rhynchophylla, who had been staring at that place, stood up excitedly. He lowered his voice for fear of scaring the fish away.
Chishao, Shiqiu and Nanxing also stood up and looked over there. They found that there were quite a few fish in the pond, both big and small.
This also made them finally believe that the fishing trap set up by Jiang Xuan was really useful.
Chishao asked Jiang Xuan in a low voice: "Should we go over and block the water inlet now?"
Jiang Xuan looked at the fish in the pond and said, "The big fish haven't come in yet. Wait a little longer. These fish can't eat the earthworms, so they won't run away until the fishy smell disappears."
"good."
They waited patiently for a while, and soon, several big fish swam in through the water inlet. Jiang Xuan estimated based on their size that each of these big fish should weigh more than ten pounds.
"Sister, go and block the water inlet."
As soon as Jiang Xuan finished speaking, Chishao, who had been impatient for a long time, rushed over in a few steps, picked up a big rock beside the stream, and with a "snap", directly blocked the water inlet.
She was afraid it was not safe, so she picked up some smaller stones to block the gap.
“Clatter…”
The fish in the pool panicked and swam back and forth quickly, trying to escape. However, the pool was so small, where could they go? Jiang Xuan and the three teenagers immediately ran over, excited to catch the fish.
However, at this moment, two fish suddenly jumped out of the water, spread their wing-like fins in the air, flew several meters with a "fluttering" sound, fell into the stream, splashed two water drops, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
This change happened so quickly that even Chishao didn't react, because she had never seen such a strange fish with wings.
"How come there are still flying fish!"
Jiang Xuan was holding the bone hoe and was stunned for a moment. The fish meat that was almost in his mouth actually flew away like that?
The others were also confused. If they were not afraid of water, the three teenagers would have jumped into the water and caught the fish.
Chishao held the short spear and comforted him, "It's okay, there are still a lot of fish here. I'm watching them, they can't run away!"
Jiang Xuan nodded: "I will muddy the water first, and when the fish head floats to the surface, you can knock it unconscious when you see the right opportunity."
Chishao and the three boys were ready to fight. They would not let the fish have any chance to escape again.
Jiang Xuan put the bone hoe into the water and stirred it desperately. Soon, the water in the pool became extremely turbid. The fish in the water could not hold on and soon floated to the surface.
"Hurry up and knock these fish unconscious before catching them up!"
Jiang Xuan seized the opportunity and hit a big fish's head hard with a wide bone hoe. The big fish struggled violently for a few times, then floated up with its belly turned up.
Jiang Xuan quickly pulled the fish ashore and continued to photograph other fish.
Chishao and the three young men also took action. Before long, except for some small fish, more than a dozen fish in the pond were knocked unconscious or killed, and then pulled ashore.
“Good harvest!”
Jiang Xuan was very happy as he looked at the dozens of fish of all sizes on the ground. This fishing trap was very effective and his idea was correct.
Moreover, this fish trap can be used continuously, so it can be said to be a once-and-for-all solution.
The only pity is that the two flying fish escaped.
"Let's go back and grill some fish."
Jiang Xuan moved the stone at the water inlet so that other fish would be able to enter.
Then he found two vines to string the fish together, and he and the hooked rattan each carried one string and brought them back to the bamboo house.
This trip was very rewarding. When we returned, everyone was in a very good mood and their steps were much lighter.
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(End of this chapter)
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