The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 169 (2): Battling the Tuna

The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 169 (2): Battling the Tuna

The biggest difference between a hand pole and a sea rod is the fishing reel. Now, Chu Mingcheng had set the drag of the drum reel to the maximum.
But he could still be in a stalemate with the fish. Unlike the hundred-jin catfish from before that could pull him around, the main reason was that he only needed to resist the maximum drag of the drum reel.
If the fish's strength was greater than the drag, then the fishing line would be pulled out, and this force wouldn't be excessively applied to Chu Mingcheng.
This was the main reason why you could be dragged around by a fish with a hand pole, but could be in a stalemate with a big fish with a fishing reel.
He braced the fishing rod against his stomach, and while turning the handle to reel in the line, the rod tip also slowly lowered.
When the rod tip was parallel to the sea surface, Chu Mingcheng grabbed the fishing rod and, using his waist strength, directly lifted the fishing rod to the top of his head.
Then he took the opportunity to turn the handle and reel in several turns of line.
The fishhook was deeply embedded in the fish's mouth. With this sudden pull, the fish felt pain and instinctively swam toward the boat, and the taut fishing line also loosened a little.
And this little bit of slack gave the fish a chance to escape.
Unfortunately, before it could react, the line was reeled in and became taut again.
But it wasn't reconciled and exerted its strength again.
But it didn't run far before another strong force came, making its mouth hurt.
It wanted to resist, but in the end, it was pulled back.
After repeating this several times, the fish's stamina had not recovered much, but the distance from the boat was getting closer.
This made it sense danger. Disregarding its remaining stamina, it burst out again.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Chu Mingcheng was caught off guard and was directly pulled forward a few steps.
This burst was very sudden, and the drum reel couldn't unload most of the force at once, so this force was directly applied to the person holding the fishing rod.
Jiang Luoluo, who was beside him, was startled and quickly went up and hugged Chu Mingcheng's waist, pulling him back.
At this time, Chu Mingcheng couldn't care less about the softness pressing against him. With her help, he finally stabilized his body and pressed the handle to make the line in the spool run as slowly as possible.
This was the fish's second burst. After surviving this, this fish would be his.
With a man and woman working together, the work wasn't tiring. With Jiang Luoluo's help, the fish's second burst was easily passed.
"OK, Luoluo, you can let go. This fish can't escape!"
Jiang Luoluo let go and asked curiously, "How big must a fish be to put up such a fight against the two of us?"
Chu Mingcheng was also fishing for tuna for the first time and had no experience. He shook his head and said, "I'm not sure. The burst of a tuna is much stronger than yesterday's opah. It might be bigger than yesterday's opah, or it might be about the same."
"It's already amazing to be over one hundred and fifty jin. I'd never even seen a hundred-jin big fish before I met you."
"Haha, then you'll definitely see them every day in the future. You'll probably get used to it soon."
The remaining strength of the fish wasn't much, which made Chu Mingcheng relax a lot, and he could talk to Jiang Luoluo.
If it were before, he couldn't relax.
And at this time, Jiang Luoluo and Wei Jianguo's lines also showed movement. They had also each hooked a big fish.
"Luoluo, don't take the fishing rod down first. Try to hold on and don't let the fish run toward me or the bottom of the boat."
Jiang Luoluo didn't answer—she was holding her breath!
Breath couldn't be relaxed, otherwise the fishing line could be pulled out several hundred meters in minutes.
Chu Mingcheng wasn't too worried about Wei Jianguo's side. The other party was much more experienced than he was.
But Jiang Luoluo hooking a fish made his heart race. He quickly sped up the reeling of the line.
But even so, the fishing line had been pulled out over three hundred meters before. Now it would take a lot of time to pull it back.
During this period, the fish would occasionally burst out, but he managed to hold on.
The improvement of his physical fitness had the biggest impact not on strength, but on sufficient stamina.
Under his full-strength reeling, the giant tuna that was originally expected to take more than two hours to pull back was pulled to the side of the boat in an hour and a half.
Wei Jianguo was also busy now. Chu Mingcheng had no choice but to let a crew member help hold the fishing rod.
The crew member had never expected that he, who did miscellaneous work, would have such an honor. He quickly and excitedly took the fishing rod and held the fish so it wouldn't run away.
But the fish was too big and was still swimming restlessly by the side of the boat. In just a short while, his face was flushed.
Chu Mingcheng himself took out a gaff. This gaff wasn't his spearfishing gun, but a long spear, a bit like a harpoon, specially used to secure large fish that had been pulled to the side of the boat.
He stood on the side of the boat, holding the gaff and observing the fish's movements.
Now with rich spearfishing experience, he could predict the trajectory of the tuna in the water very clearly.
Seeing the right moment, he lifted the gaff and fiercely stabbed it into the water, right into the middle of the fish's side, which was the spine.
Successfully hitting the fish, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A fish pulled to the side of the boat still had a chance to escape, but after being hit by the gaff, it had lost its last chance.
He used the rope on the winch to circle the fish's tail, opened the small side door at the back of the boat, started the winch, and pulled the yellowfin tuna up.
Then, Chu Mingcheng let out a surprised "huh." Because he found that the tuna actually had a separate data panel, the tuna did not belong to the premium aquatic species codex.
But he still had things to do now, so he didn't study it. He would deal with it later.
"Do you know how to bleed a tuna?" he asked the crew member.
The crew member nodded. "I know this. It's the same as a greater amberjack. I've dealt with a lot of greater amberjacks before."
"Alright, then you help bleed this fish." Chu Mingcheng handed the fish to the crew member and quickly went to help Jiang Luoluo.
She was already very tired now. Even though the fishing rod wasn't taken out of the rod holder, she needed to hold the fishing rod to resist the fish's strength, and also turn the handle to reel in the line or prevent the fish from running too far.
These were all very strenuous tasks. It was also because she had been practicing dance for many years, and her physical fitness was much stronger than ordinary women. Otherwise, she might have been exhausted in a few minutes—how could she hold on for dozens of minutes!
Wei Jianguo's side was fine. Two crew members were helping him, so there was no problem.
"Luoluo, do you want me to help you?"
"Mmm!" Jiang Luoluo gave up her position and shook her right hand. "My hand is so sore. I didn't realize fishing for tuna was so tiring."
"Mainly because you're not used to it. After you're skilled, maybe you can also catch a big tuna by yourself."
Although he said that, under normal circumstances, fishing for tuna was done by two or three people in turns.
An ordinary adult, if they caught one by themselves, would probably be able to rest for the remainder of the time, and they wouldn't be able to continue fishing.
Having caught one, Chu Mingcheng felt a little more relaxed when he caught this second one.
One was that the fish didn't seem to be as big as his, and the other was that he had a certain understanding of the fish's movements.
As the fish burst out again, Chu Mingcheng quickly shouted, "Luoluo, quick, hold me. The fish is exerting its strength."
"Oh, oh, oh!" Jiang Luoluo heard this and quickly hugged his waist, dealing with the fish's burst period together.
When the fish was tired, Chu Mingcheng gave up his fishing spot again. "The fish is tired, Luoluo, you hurry up."
Jiang Luoluo quickly went up, holding the fishing rod with one hand and turning the handle with the other.
Who knew that Chu Mingcheng would stick to her back, holding the fishing rod with her and reeling in the line together.
Jiang Luoluo herself didn't feel anything. Instead, she looked up at him and showed a sweet smile.
But the other people on the boat couldn't stand it anymore and all turned around in disgust.
Ugh! Get a room, you two! We're supposed to be fishing here, not watching your romance show!
With the two of them working together, plus the fish being a little smaller, forty minutes later, the fish was finally pulled to the side of the boat.
"Luoluo, do you want to try gaffing the fish?"
"I don't think I can, right?" Jiang Luoluo was a little unconfident. She was afraid she would miss and let the fish escape.
"It's okay, you can try. Try a few times first. If it really doesn't work, then I'll do it."
"Alright then." Jiang Luoluo took the gaff and began to aim.
Chu Mingcheng held the fishing rod still, trying to keep the fish quiet.
Swoosh! Jiang Luoluo saw the right moment and fiercely stabbed down with the gaff. Unfortunately, she missed and instead startled the fish.
The startled fish actually dove toward the bottom of the boat. Chu Mingcheng quickly lay on the side of the boat and put the rod tip into the water to prevent the fishing line from touching the boat's hull and being cut.
This position made it difficult to exert strength. His face turned red from the strain, but he finally managed to pull the fish out again.
Fortunately, it was a type of boat like this. If it had been a fishing vessel with a much higher hull, it would have been real trouble.
"Ah Cheng, why don't you do it!" Jiang Luoluo, who had been steadying Chu Mingcheng to keep him from falling into the water, was now frightened and quickly handed the gaff to him.
"It's okay, you try again. This fish is completely exhausted now—you can do it." If he took over at this point, it would crush her confidence.
So Chu Mingcheng encouraged her once more, urging Jiang Luoluo to continue.

Chapter 169 (2): Battling the Tuna