Li Haochen's first stop was naturally the lucky fishing spot, the small uninhabited island where he had encountered the玳瑁 last time. It was dotted with many reefs, perfect for setting traps, and might even yield lobsters and mud crabs.
By noon, he arrived at the fishing spot. After anchoring and preparing lunch, he decided to make it a bit different today, pan-searing a steak. He also wanted a glass of Binggu, but remembering he'd have to move locations soon, he decided against it, saving it for later that evening.
After eating, he noticed two fishing boats appear not far away. Judging by their gear, they seemed to be fellow fishing enthusiasts. Ignoring them, he returned to his cabin, entered the space, and brought out over ten catties of mussels along with all his equipment.
The mussels used as bait for the traps didn't need to be shucked; simply smashing the shells and stuffing them in was enough. It wasn't for the fish, shrimp, or crabs to eat, just to serve as an attractant.
He then loaded the traps stuffed with mussels into the fish cages, crab cages, and eel cages, and tossed them overboard along the side of the boat. Each cage had a long line attached to a large buoy, ensuring they wouldn't be lost.
He hadn't set any longlines, as those required constant boat movement and were difficult for one person to manage around the numerous reefs nearby, posing a potential danger. He decided to save them for when he reached open waters with no reefs and few boats.
With that done, he let time do its work. The weather was scorching, and the heat reflected off the water made it unbearable. Li Haochen had no intention of fishing; he retreated to the air-conditioned cabin, sipping soda, enjoying the sheer leisure of it all.
After a few sips of soda, he suddenly remembered he hadn't turned on the sonar fish finder. "Idiot, I forgot about this! Cost over ten thousand yuan, I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't get my money's worth."
He switched on the fish finder, and the display showed sparse red objects moving erratically. He assumed they were fish, but there were only a handful, countable on one hand. He lamented the scarcity of marine resources in this area but also marveled at the power of technology. With this divine artifact and the special bait, he was confident of a full haul.
He dozed off as he sat there. When he woke up, it was almost 4 PM. He went out and saw that the buoys had drifted more than ten meters away from the boat. Li Haochen gave a wry smile, "Looks like I'll need a longer pole next time."
With no other option, he got out the inflatable boat to retrieve them. The round trip took another half hour. Back on the main boat, Li Haochen first stowed the dinghy before starting to pull up the traps.
He started with the eel traps. Of the four he pulled up, he caught only two stone eels, each weighing about a catty. These eels were similar to leopards in appearance, but with differences; they weren't very heavy, with four or five catties being the maximum. They fetched a decent price, around 80 yuan.
The four crab traps, however, yielded a small surprise for Li Haochen: one mud crab weighing over a catty, and three red crabs weighing six to seven ounces each. He also found six whelks, and they were quite large, weighing five to six ounces.
Conversely, the fish traps, which he had the most anticipation for, performed mediocrely. The four large fish traps yielded only one sea bass weighing over two catties and a few threadfin bream weighing one to two ounces.
"Looks like the fish finder was quite accurate."
He secured the crabs and put all his catch into the live bait well before raising anchor to change locations.
Li Haochen steered at a slow speed, only three knots. He worried that going any faster might prevent the fish finder from reacting quickly enough. After traveling a considerable distance, the fish finder's feedback was still not satisfactory. Despite the vastness of the ocean, factors like destructive fishing nets, trawlers, blast fishing, electric fishing, and indiscriminate dumping of garbage were leading to a continuous depletion of marine resources.
After another ten minutes or so, the data from the display improved significantly. Li Haochen checked the time and saw it was getting late. He decided to set his traps in this vicinity. At a speed of one knot, he quickly smashed mussels, stuffed them into the bait cages and then into the fish and crab traps, throwing them in one by one. The water here was deeper, so he used longer lines for the buoys this time.
To prevent the buoys from drifting away from the boat, Li Haochen specifically tied a several-dozen-meter line to each buoy and fastened it to the side of the boat.
After completing these tasks, he quickly went inside, shut off the engine, and anchored the boat.
For dinner, he used what he caught: boiled a few whelks, steamed some red crabs, and made egg fried rice with a dish of chili and soy sauce.
Both the whelks and red crabs were in their prime season. Especially the red crabs, with their tender meat and rich roe, left Li Haochen's mouth full of crab juice. The whelks were also excellent, with firm flesh and a very satisfying texture. He thoroughly enjoyed the meal, realizing that buying the fish and crab traps had been a wise decision.
After dinner, Li Haochen didn't immediately retrieve the ground traps. Instead, he began shucking mussels, planning to use them for the longline. Although it was only a hundred meters long, it had plenty of hooks, one every meter, requiring a hundred mussel baits. Shucking the meat was quite fast, taking about ten minutes, but it took time to thread the bait onto the hooks and coil the line.
Once the longline was prepared, Li Haochen started pulling up the ground traps. He untied the ropes and slowly retrieved them. The fish traps were the first to be pulled up, and they yielded good results. The first trap contained two large golden drum fish, each weighing about a catty. The second yielded a sea bass weighing around three catties and a yellow seabream over two catties. The third trap was a blank, but the fourth brought a great surprise: over a dozen large prawns, each as big as two fingers. These dozen or so prawns alone weighed over three catties.
Live large prawns were very expensive, around 120 yuan each. However, Li Haochen had no intention of selling them. His space didn't have any yet, and it would be better to have baby shrimp.
With such a good start, his anticipation grew. The crab traps and eel traps were now down to luck, as even the fish finder wasn't infallible.
When he pulled up the four crab traps, they gave Li Haochen a super big surprise.
"Spiny lobsters!" Li Haochen exclaimed with great delight and excitement.
In the traps lay fifteen spiny lobsters, with long antennae and bodies covered in spines, clearly not to be trifled with. They were one of the largest and longest-lived members of the lobster family.
Their coloration varied with age. Adult spiny lobsters were mostly reddish-brown or blue-green, while older ones tended towards reddish-orange. The older they were, the redder they became. They also had an interesting characteristic: when migrating, they would form a line, like a moving train.
Looking at the fifteen spiny lobsters in the crab traps, Li Haochen couldn't stop smiling. Among them was an adult red-brown lobster, well over half a meter long, estimated to weigh at least ten catties.
"I'm rich, I'm rich! This guy is very expensive, going for 180 to 260 yuan each. These fifteen spiny lobsters alone could fetch five to six thousand yuan, hahahaha."
These lobsters had a very strong territorial instinct. If he kept them in the live bait well, they would wreak havoc on the mud crabs and fish. Li Haochen had no choice but to take them into his space. He released the smaller ones into the open sea, while the others were kept in a fish keep. As he was leaving, he noticed another fish keep nearby. Upon scooping it up, he found it filled with stonefish.
"I'm such an idiot, I even forgot about these over twenty catties of stonefish."
Li Haochen clutched his forehead, a wry smile on his face. He had caught these stonefish quite some time ago, at Dunhuang Island, and it had been over half a month since then.
Exiting the space, he continued to pull up the remaining eel traps, which also performed well. Four traps yielded two large moray eels, each weighing four to five catties, bringing him another seven to eight hundred yuan. Li Haochen couldn't help but grin again.