As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 233: Chapter 201: Going Trolling with a Rubber Dinghy?

Chapter 233 -201: Going Trolling with a Rubber Dinghy?

It only took three or four minutes before the fishing rod started to show signs of life.

The rod trembled slightly at first, then, with a “whoosh,” it bent violently downwards.

The extent of the bend almost made one think the rod was about to break, and this was a stiff boat rod!

The line inside the reel was rapidly being pulled out by the fish, and the nearly locked drag seemed to be of no use, causing Chu Mingcheng to almost think his reel was loose.

All signs indicated he had hooked a true behemoth.

Chu Mingcheng grabbed the rod with both hands to try and lift it, it was incredibly heavy, and he could barely move it with his strength.

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He then reached for the rapidly spinning reel handle, the handle struck his palm and was caught, it was painful, but he failed to stop the handle from turning.

Not only that, the resistance on his end caused the rod to bend even more, and the line tensed up even further.

Chu Mingcheng’s face changed, and he quickly let go, “Luoluo, start the boat!”

Jiang Luoluo, seeing the gravity of the situation from his stern expression, nodded and hurriedly ran into the cockpit to start the fishing boat.

Starting the boat to chase the fish would greatly affect Zhang Wei’s situation, but luckily he was using an electric rod, which could rely on machinery to pull the fish back in.

But it all depended on the situation, if it wasn’t feasible, he had no choice but to give up his catch.

The priority was Chu Mingcheng’s situation, the line was only one thousand meters long, and the fish had already run out more than five hundred meters, if they delayed any longer the line would break.

“What kind of fish is this, that you need to chase it with a boat?” Zhang Wei, also busy fishing and unable to see the situation on the other end, asked curiously.

Zhou Jiayi, who hardly knew anything about fishing, was unable to answer.

Actually, Jiang Luoluo didn’t quite understand what size of fish it was that required chasing it with a boat.

But she could only set aside her questions for the time being, planning to ask after the fish was pulled up.

“I’m not very clear either, Ah Cheng seems very serious, it feels like a huge fish,” Chen Yang went to Zhang Wei’s side to take a look, seeing that the fish hadn’t surfaced, he felt somewhat anxious.

“Do you have any idea when your fish will come up? Could it affect their situation?”

“It won’t be so soon. Fish weighing over two hundred pounds will take at least two hours to be pulled up.” Zhang Wei also started to feel tense, his hand gripping the handle he began to work with the electric reel to retrieve the line, and he loosened the drag a bit.

The boat had already started to chase the fish, so he was forced into trolling.

Trolling requires high technical skill, and if the coordination between the person operating the boat and the person fishing isn’t good, the result can be a snapped line and a lost fish.

And now, Jiang Luoluo was not cooperating with him, so naturally, his fishing would be more difficult.

Loosening the drag a little also increased the margin for error.

“Later, help me out, we’ll try to pull this fish up as quickly as possible to avoid affecting Ah Cheng’s side,” he said.

“Sure!” Chen Yang had no objections, he watched Zhang Wei start to reel in with gusto and prepared himself for the relay.

Chu Mingcheng, however, couldn’t afford to worry about their situation; he had to concentrate fully. The fishing line had already extended seven hundred meters, and although the boat had started, the line was still taut as a bowstring.

“Jiayi, tell Luoluo to speed up further,” Chu Mingcheng said. Even though the boat was on the move, he couldn’t retrieve any line because the fish kept pulling, causing his hand to turn involuntarily.

Reluctantly, he had to ask Zhou Jiayi, who was standing idle at the cockpit door, to pass along the message.

He had never imagined that he would need a walkie-talkie on his small boat; they usually just sat on the dashboard as decoration.

So now, he had no choice but to have the idle Zhou Jiayi act as a messenger.

Upon hearing his request, she hurried to inform Jiang Luoluo to increase the boat’s speed.

But soon, she came running back out, bringing with her bad news for Chu Mingcheng.

The fuel tank of the fishing boat was small, and although they had filled it up at the Qiantang River estuary yesterday, one third of the fuel had been consumed on the way to Twin Islands.

But now they were not heading towards the shore but moving away from the coastline.

Thus, they would need more fuel to get back. They could call for a fuel boat to come and refuel them, but that was, after all, a last resort.

After all, fuel here cost who knows how much more than on the shore, and it would be embarrassing if the value of this big fish didn’t even match the cost of the fuel.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Mingcheng said, “Let’s go for an hour first, and then see the situation. Tell Luoluo to push the speed to the max.”

Zhou Jiayi nodded and conveyed the message to Jiang Luoluo.

A little while later, the fishing boat jerked violently, the speed surged again, and the waves it broke splashed onto the deck, quickly drenching Chu Mingcheng.

The wind in winter at sea was cold and biting, and together with the chill of the seawater, it was thoroughly bone-chilling.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang huddled in a corner of the stern, and in a short while, all three men were so cold that their lips turned white.

Chu Mingcheng, in fact, had other ideas. He considered jumping into the water to be pulled by the fish or sitting on an inflatable raft to be towed by the fish.

But considering he might get lost as a result, he held back for the time being.

The fish had too much stamina right now. If he did that, there was no telling how far the fish could drag him.

By then, if Jiang Luoluo chased after him by boat, the fuel would still be nearly depleted, and they would be waiting for rescue.

It would be better to stay on the boat from the start. In this way, the fish would tire faster from pulling the big boat.

Now, he was waiting, waiting to see if he could exhaust the fish’s stamina within this hour.

Once the first burst of energy was over, although there would still be second and third rounds, the fish wouldn’t be as strong as it was now, and he would be able to slightly affect and control the direction.

As soon as this initial burst was over, the fish would no longer be able to escape his grasp.

Chu Mingcheng struggled to control the handle, but the line was still slowly being pulled out.

By now, he was certain it was a swordfish in the water; no other species, not even a Bluefin Tuna, had the might to render him so powerless.

After all, the largest Bluefin Tuna in the Pacific Ocean rarely exceed six hundred pounds.

Only the Bluefin Tuna from the Atlantic could surpass eight hundred pounds, and such weight is a record-breaking existence.

Currently, the most difficult ones to handle could reach a maximum weight of one thousand pounds, and those would be swordfish.

Of course, female Golden Spearfish could be even larger, but one would have to encounter them.

Seawater flowed down his forehead into his eyes, causing Chu Mingcheng extreme discomfort.

But he could only brace himself, struggling to maintain the fishing rod and the handle without being able to wipe it off.

There was only a thin layer left of the fishing line in the drum, forcing him to grip the handle tightly with both hands, not able to let go anymore.

If he released a few more turns and the fish suddenly exerted force again, he would have no margin for error.

Chu Mingcheng never thought fishing would be such an exhausting task, his strength was drained significantly in just a short while.

As his strength depleted, his throat got drier and drier, a sign of dehydration.

“Water, someone give me some water!” Chu Mingcheng yelled.

But the sound of the wind and waves was too loud, and Zhang Wei, who had been switched out for a rest, didn’t hear him.

Zhou Jiayi had even gone into the cabin, completely unaware of the situation outside.

Chu Mingcheng felt helpless and looked at the Life Transformation ability, not sure if it could quench his thirst.

Luckily, Zhang Wei and the other person didn’t have an easy time fishing for another fish, and after a little while, when they switched again, the rested Chen Yang also felt thirsty and prepared to go into the cabin to get a bottle of water.

Passing by Chu Mingcheng, he saw his bulging veins and cracked lips, and asked, “Ah Cheng, are you thirsty? Should I get you a bottle of water?”

“Yes!”

Chu Mingcheng was relieved; all his efforts in introducing a beautiful woman weren’t in vain, and he was just about ready to use Life Transformation beforehand.

After a while, Chen Yang emerged from the cabin, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

Seeing he was unable to drink on his own, he thoughtfully opened the bottle cap to feed him.

“Cough cough cough…”

“Listen, my nose isn’t thirsty, thank you!”

“Sorry, sorry, the boat is rocking too much!”

Having successfully drunk some water, Chu Mingcheng regained some of his spirit, yet the fishing line had decreased a few more turns.

This was because his hands had involuntarily loosened when Chen Yang choked him; thankfully, he had allowed some leeway, so there was no immediate problem.

An hour passed excruciatingly slowly, and it was not until Chu Mingcheng’s hands were numb that he used Life Transformation for the first time to adjust his state.

But the fish still showed no sign of stopping, whereas there was good news from Zhang Wei’s side.

On Chu Mingcheng’s side, because they were chasing the fish, it meant on the other side they were dragging the fish. With the help of an electric windlass and that fish being much smaller, a swordfish of about two and a half meters was finally pulled to the side of the boat.

However, since the boat was still moving, it was difficult for them to kill the fish.

The fish was pulled over so quickly mainly because the boat dragged it, exhausting its strength completely.

At this moment, the swordfish, being dragged along powerlessly, looked very helpless.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei came over to Chu Mingcheng’s side to inquire about the situation there.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jiayi also arrived at the door, asking if it was time to stop the boat after an hour.

Chu Mingcheng could feel that the swordfish had lost a lot of its strength, so he said, “Tell Luoluo to slow down gradually, don’t stop all at once, let me see the situation first.”

Zhou Jiayi went in to relay the message, and soon after, the fishing boat began to slow down gradually.

As the boat’s speed decreased to a very slow pace, the pressure on Chu Mingcheng increased dramatically, as did the strain on the fishing rod and line.

The fishing rod squeaked incessantly, bending into a reverse U shape, fearing it would snap under the strain.

But the fishing rod was quite sturdy; it appeared to be on the verge of breaking, yet it remained firm.

Seeing that the fishing rod could withstand the pressure, Chu Mingcheng told Jiang Luoluo to maintain this speed and continue for another half hour to see how things would go.

Moreover, with the slowed-down speed, Zhang Wei’s side was also able to pull in the fish.

The two worked together to kill the fish, and with the help of the crane, successfully hoisted it aboard.

The crane had a weighing function, and could be used as a scale; the weight of the swordfish was as expected, reaching two hundred and seven pounds.

Its cylindrical body looked quite plump.

Zhang Wei and his partner began to bleed the fish, and without a refrigerator on board, they had to resort to bleeding it to keep it fresh as they planned to sell it later.

So, after about half an hour more, the fishing rod’s situation finally started to show positive feedback.

It was no longer continually on the verge of breaking as before, and seeing this, Chu Mingcheng tried to reel in the line, and to his surprise, he actually managed to retrieve some.

The fish was tired, the first burst of exertion had finally ended.

But the real struggle had just begun, as it would probably take several more hours of fighting to get the fish aboard.

But the boat couldn’t follow any longer, as only half of the fuel remained, so they had to consider if it would be enough for the return trip.

While the fish rested, Chu Mingcheng asked Zhang Wei to quickly inflate the rubber dinghy and put it in the water, as he planned to try a different method of fishing.

Zhang Wei and Chen Yang didn’t think it would be impossible to fish this way, but Jiang Luoluo became anxious, immediately leaving the cabin to persuade him.

“No, you can’t go on the rubber dinghy to tow-fish; it’s too easy to capsize, and it’s too dangerous!”