Father Ye sailed in the direction the sardines were swimming, intending to chase them. With a compass in hand, he was also an excellent helmsman when he was young, so he was not afraid of getting lost at sea.
What's more, at this time, more and more ships were gathering on the sea, all attracted by the sardines and trying desperately to cast their nets.
Father Ye had just passed by a trawling iron boat and could clearly see that the boat was filled with several large deep-sea fish and a boat full of sardines, all of which were caught during the sardine storm.
He was envious, "You should know that I asked your mother to weave the net a few days ago. Trawl nets are much easier, cover a wider area, and can catch more fish."
"Without a net-lifting machine, the boat had to manually pull the net from the tail slide to the deck. Suddenly, the cargo was too heavy and there were not enough people to pull it up."
"That's less labor-intensive than hand-casting a net. You cast a 6.7-meter net and still don't catch a big fish."
"There's nothing I can do. I couldn't have known this earlier. If I had known, I would have asked my mother to weave a net sooner. The light is not good at night."
He was also envious of the big fish on other boats. Just now he saw a bluefin tuna on one of the boats.
"It was daybreak and the light was good. After we had finished setting the hooks, we had rested enough. We aimed at the target and caught two big fish."
Father Ye hated not having to rest and had to work non-stop, but his hands were too weak and he could only watch.
After daybreak, more and more ships gathered on the sea, all attracted by the overwhelming swarms of seabirds, and their exclamations became louder and louder.
When passing by several fishing boats that were collecting their nets, you could hear their joyful discussions and guessing what big fish they had caught.
The fishing boats on the sea are really going to make a fortune today.
Father Ye looked at the sardine storm on the sea with both joy and regret, "I don't know if your elder brother and second brother are in this sea, and whether they have the chance to meet them. It would be a pity if they didn't. This is completely money falling from the sky for you to pick up at will."
Ye Yaodong shrugged, "Who knows, the sea is so big and wide, who knows where they are going to work, I hope we can catch up."
"There are more and more ships, and each one of them will make a lot of money today."
Looking at the cargo on other people's ships and then at his own ship, Father Ye no longer felt that it was too much. He just felt that he had caught too little. He was so heartbroken that his facial features were all wrinkled. He no longer had the joy he had when he first started loading the cargo.
Ye Yaodong also felt it was a pity that he didn't catch any big fish like tuna and swordfish, but when he thought about it, he was already quite lucky. Fortunately, he temporarily borrowed a fishing net as a backup, otherwise he would have vomited blood and died by now.
"Hey? Guang's boat."
Ye Yaodong was placing the hook while looking into the distance, and a familiar iron boat appeared in his sight.
Ye's father also saw it, but he was setting the hooks and it was inconvenient for him to get close to the fishing boats over there as they were trawling and if he was not careful, his hooks would easily get tangled up in them.
This time, Ye Yaodong deliberately did not put out any floats. He let all the hooks sink to the bottom of the sea and carried out bottom longline fishing to avoid being entangled by the trawling fishing boats on the sea.
The nets are now operating on the surface, catching sardines and the big fish that feed inside.
An hour later, all the hooks were finally released. He threw the float down and left it alone. Longline fishing is so easy.
Looking at the endless schools of sardines on the sea, he picked up the hand-casting net again with great courage and confidence.
Keep working as long as you’re not dying of exhaustion!
After resting for more than an hour, he regained some strength and asked his father to steer the boat closer to the school of fish. Fortunately, there was no wind today and the waves were caused by the big fish.
He targeted a knife fish that was hunting not far away. Because of its bright and eye-catching color, he attacked it.
Ye Yaodong cast the net towards it and covered it very smoothly.
"bingo!"
Father Ye's face immediately showed joy, and he quickly went to help drag the animal.
The knife fish was interrupted while eating happily. It struggled hard in the fishing net and swung its tail angrily. The father and son worked harder to pull the net in than to pull in sardines and did not dare to let go at all.
The swordfish, also known as the dolphin, is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. It is green in color, so some people say: "This fish looks like a fake fish."
It is particularly voracious and often chases surface fish such as flying fish and sardines. Sometimes it will jump out of the water to hunt. It is a companion fish of tuna and swordfish.
In fact, there are many kinds of marine fish with different shapes. Even fishermen living by the sea cannot recognize all the fish nearby. The swordfish is highly recognizable because of its bright colors.
Its body is elongated and flattened, tall in the front and gradually tapering towards the back. It has a large head and a very narrow back. The back of the male's head is raised in a square shape, and the fish face stands up steeply like a ghost head, which is also the source of their common name "ghost head knife".
It is also nicknamed the "underwater fox" because it will lie down and pretend to be dead when in danger, just like foxes on land.
At this point, it was pretending to be dead. It struggled for a while and then stopped moving, which made it easier for them to pull it up.
When the fishing net was untied, the fish was jumping around and wagging its tail among the sardines. Compared to the sardines, it was too big and was right on top when the net was drawn, so all the sardines in the net could not squeeze it to death.
Having caught a beautiful big fish, Ye's father was also happy. If there is one, there will be two. There is still plenty of time today. Just keep working as long as the fish can survive!
He excitedly used the long-handled hand scoop net he had made yesterday to move the swordfish from the pile of sardines to his front. After all this tossing and turning, it exhaled more than it inhaled.
As its life gradually ebbs away, the brilliant colors of its body will quickly fade away, and eventually only a dull grayish-white color will remain.
Father Ye held it in his hand. This was the first time he had caught this kind of fish. He said happily, "It's one meter long and weighs more than 20 kilograms."
"A few more!"
"You go and bleed him, let me cast the net!" Father Ye put down the sword that was still opening and closing, and excitedly went to try the hand-cast net.
Ye Yaodong also let him go and let him have some fun!
He picked up the sardine knife that had lost its beautiful color on the deck, patted it, and stood on tiptoe to get the knife. At this moment, sardines were scattered all over the deck, and there was almost no place to step. There was only a small space in front of the cabin.
I used too much force on my hands, and the knife started shaking as I held it. I guess I'll have trouble eating when I get home tonight.
With shaking hands, he laboriously cut the white membrane between the gill filaments and the gill cover, severing the artery to allow the blood to flow to the gills. He then lifted the pectoral fin and cut a short and shallow cross section under the pectoral fin, thus severing another main blood vessel of the marine fish.
Then make a cut in the small fin of the fish's tail to ensure that the last bit of blood can be removed, and then throw it aside to let it bleed slowly.
"Dongzi, come and help!"
Hearing his father calling him for help, he quickly stepped forward to help pull, "Is it a bomb fish? Didn't you catch the swordfish?"
"I can't see anything around me. Those over there are too far away. There are more and more boats on the sea now. We shouldn't run around, or we won't be able to get a good position. We should just grab whatever is in front of us."
There are indeed more and more of them. At dawn, the number of boats on the sea can be counted on ten fingers. As the sardines migrate forward, more and more ships will be attracted.
"This bomb fish is not bad either. It's bigger than the swordfish. Although the price is not as high as the others, the weight is there. Dad, you really know how to catch it."
Father Ye was very happy. For fishermen, nothing could make them happier than catching a big and valuable fish.
"Hurry up and pull it up. There are quite a few sardines in this net."
Needless to say, he knew he had to exert force, but this net was heavier than the previous ones.
The father and son finally pulled the net up with all their might, and then they casually scattered the fish on the deck and piled them up.
There were simply too many of them, so they could only be thrown onto the deck without any scruples.
Ye Yaodong dragged out the bonito alone. Knowing that his father was in high spirits, he took the initiative to bleed it so that the old man could have a good catch.
Just like using a sword, first cut the artery, then the pectoral fin, and finally the small fin at the tail of the fish. When you are done, throw it aside and let it bleed together with the sword.
"Dongzi, Dongzi..."
His father needs him again...
At this time, with the flow of the sea water, their boat was gradually getting closer and closer to A Guang and his friends. When A Guang and his father were collecting the nets, he also saw the father and son working hard to collect the nets.
"Dongzi, Dongzi."
Ye Yaodong looked up when he heard the sound. His hands were shaking from having exerted too much force. Now that he had diverted his attention, the net in his hands was almost loosened by the struggle of the big fish in it. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and caught it again.
This time there was another bomb fish in it. Since this fish was closest to their boat, Ye's father could only catch the closest one. Fortunately, there was also a gannet in it, and Ye's father's net was very accurate.
After pulling the net up with great effort, Ye Yaodong let out a long sigh of relief, "I'm so tired."
He waved his arms and looked towards the boat of A Guang and his companions not far away, only to see that their net had also been pulled up. Although he had only taken a quick look just now, he also saw a swordfish in it. The color was conspicuous and he could see it at a glance.
I don't know how many good fishes Ah Guang caught. He shouted to the guy, "How many big fishes did you catch?"
Ah Guang narrowed his eyes and smiled, "A lot of them."
The two boats were a little far apart, making it inconvenient for them to talk, so they greeted each other and went about their own business.
Father Ye also felt his arms were sore and planned to take a break and have a meal before continuing. Physical work consumes energy quickly and he was hungry before the morning was over.
Ye Yaodong also felt that physical work would make one hungry quickly, but he was not in a hurry because he had to bleed the fish first.
By the way, put the first swordfish that had almost finished bleeding into a large plastic box with ice cubes.
Of course, big fish should be treated like big fish, and they must have a luxurious single room. This was newly prepared by him. The yellowfin tuna did not enjoy it a few days ago, and it was neglected.
Ye Yaodong was holding the lunch box, his hands were shaking so much that the lunch box almost fell onto the deck. Fortunately, he caught it quickly, otherwise he would have been left with nothing or had to lick the deck.