At ten o'clock in the morning, after five hours of continuous sailing, the Sea Monster successfully arrived at Whale Horn Bay.
Accompanied by a low rumble, the anchor quickly sank to the seabed, firmly securing the Sea Monster on the surface.
Li Wei stood on the deck of the fishing boat, looking at the towering snow-capped mountains in the distance, and couldn't help but deeply marvel at the nature's miraculous creativity.
Just as he was amazed by the wonders of nature, he saw Jim running out of the cabin with a stack of fishing rods, and said loudly to Jack:
"Jack, isn't this too extravagant for us to come to Whale Horn Bay on the Sea Monster just to fish?"
"You're easily surprised. We're not even close. When I used to fish for tuna in Portland, those rich people were truly extravagant. They would go fishing in yachts worth hundreds of thousands or even millions. The fish they caught probably weren't even enough to cover the fuel costs for one trip."
"How can we compare ourselves to rich people? That's called living, this is called surviving."
Li Wei was also attracted by their conversation. He had also watched relevant documentaries in his previous life. Fishing for tuna was a very profitable job. He wondered what the situation was like for tuna fishing in 2004.
Buck and Jessica were also a little curious, all staring at Jack, wanting to hear about his tuna fishing experience.
Jim was indeed the spokesperson for everyone. Seeing that everyone was curious, he quickly asked:
"Jack, why haven't I heard you talk about this before?"
"Pshaw, I've been to a lot of places. I can't tell you about everything."
"Then tell me about your tuna fishing. I heard a single tuna can sell for tens of thousands."
Seeing everyone looking at him curiously, Jack's vanity was instantly satisfied, and he began to correct the mistakes in Jim's words.
"Don't listen to those people talking nonsense. Ordinary tuna don't sell for much money at all. And if anyone invites you to work on a deep-sea tuna boat or squid boat in the future, absolutely don't agree. That's not a job for people, and..."
Jack roughly recounted his past experiences. Although there were many things added later, it also gave Li Wei a general understanding of tuna fishing at that time.
The relevant policies at that time were similar to what he learned from documentaries in his previous life. Theoretically, tuna could be fished year-round, but only tuna caught during the tuna season could be bought and sold.
Secondly, there was no limit on how many tuna you could catch at once at that time, as long as you had enough quota, catching 100 at once was fine.
Similarly, exceeding the quota would result in heavy penalties.
"Jack, did you ever catch any large bluefin tuna?"
"Cough, cough, cough... That was all in the past. It's been so long, who can remember clearly? Let's just fish first."
Jack quickly changed the subject.
He thought to himself, these young people now don't play by the rules. He was just a rookie back then. If he had caught so many bluefin tuna, would he still need to come back and be a fisherman?
Seeing this, Jim wanted to ask more, but was directly interrupted by Li Wei.
"Jim, you guys can chat later. Go to the cargo hold first and move out all the bait."
"Hehe, Boss, I'll go now."
Jim dashed into the cargo hold.
Before long, Jim came to the deck with two boxes of bait.
"Boss, do you want to compete to see who catches the biggest fish?"
"Jim, how can I be left out of something like this!"
"..."
Li Wei saw that the others were also eager to try. As the Boss, he naturally couldn't back down. He was a man with a golden finger, no one knew fishing better than him.
"I'm in, but just competing on who catches the biggest fish is a bit boring. How about we add some stakes?"
"Boss, what stakes are you talking about?"
"How about this, each of you puts in 5 us dollars, and I'll make it up to 100 us dollars. Whoever catches the biggest fish today gets this prize money. What do you think?"
Everyone didn't expect there to be a prize for fishing and nodded in agreement without delay.
As for what to do if they weren't the champion.
Impossible, who else but me could be the champion?
Li Wei took the money from the four of them, then took out 80 us dollars from his wallet to make it a full 100 us dollars, and then gave it to Jessica to keep.
Seeing the hundred us dollars in Li Wei's hand, everyone's movements sped up significantly, and fishing hooks were cast into the sea one after another.
Li Wei didn't plan to use his golden finger today. The most important thing about fishing was the unknown, and the process of lifting the rod and reeling in the fish.
As for whether he could win the competition, Li Wei didn't care at all. This competition was more about strengthening team cohesion; they would be working together for a long time in the future.
Li Wei skillfully put on the bait, shoulder leading the elbow, elbow leading the wrist, wrist leading the fishing rod in his hand, and cast the rod fiercely. The hook disappeared instantly like a meteor.
Li Wei stood quietly on the deck, his eyes fixed on the sea surface, afraid of missing even the slightest movement.
At this moment, Jim shouted excitedly:
"Wow, I've got a fish!"
Li Wei turned his head and saw Jim pulling the rod hard while reeling in the fishing line.
He would also let out exclamations from time to time.
Judging by the bending of the fishing rod, the fish Jim had hooked would not be small.
The result was as Li Wei guessed.
Before long, a large fish, entirely red, slowly floated to the surface.
He recognized what kind of fish it was at a glance.
rockfish, scientifically known as Pacific rockfish, individuals range from under one kilogram to over fifteen kilograms.
The rockfish Jim caught weighed about seven or eight kilograms, which is considered large among rockfish individuals.
As the rockfish's struggle became weaker and weaker, Jack, who had already prepared the landing net, saw this and scooped the rockfish onto the boat with one sweep, then skillfully bled the rockfish.
Perhaps because Jim got off to a good start, Buck and the others also started hooking fish one after another, leaving only Li Wei with a record of zero catches.
When he saw Jessica catch a True Cod weighing over ten pounds, Li Wei, who was originally quite calm, felt a slight sense of being "broken."
He didn't care about being the champion, but being "empty-handed" was another matter.
Just as Li Wei was considering whether to cheat, he felt the fishing rod in his hand sink, and subconsciously lifted the rod and reeled in the line.
"Finally got a fish!"
Based on the force transmitted through the fishing rod, he had already determined that this fish was not large, and it was likely just a baby fish.
When a Halibut the size of an A4 paper appeared in his sight, Li Wei was not too disappointed. Although the fish was small, as long as it could break the curse of being empty-handed, it was a "good fish."
Li Wei took off the small Halibut and quickly threw it back into the sea while no one was paying attention.
Perhaps because he broke the "empty-handed" curse, he then hooked three fish in a row, the largest of which weighed over 20 kilograms.
...
Time came to the afternoon, and everyone had a good harvest.
Among them, the largest fish caught by Buck was a Pacific halibut weighing over thirty kilograms.
Just as Li Wei and the others were preparing to pack up and go back to the cabin for lunch, they suddenly heard Jessica's scream.
"Ah..."
That scream startled everyone, thinking something had happened.
They quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw the girl had fallen to the ground, clutching the fishing rod tightly in her hand, and the drum reel was spinning rapidly.
Li Wei knew what had happened without even thinking.
The girl must have hooked something big.
Li Wei rushed to Jessica's side in a few steps, didn't bother to help the girl up, grabbed the fishing rod from her hand, and locked the drum reel directly. The fishing line instantly became taut, a huge force was transmitted to his hand, the fishing rod instantly bent, emitting a harsh sound.
It was only then that everyone came back to their senses, and then felt a wave of lingering fear.
Fortunately, Jessica hadn't locked the drum reel, otherwise she would have definitely been dragged into the sea. Even if she was lucky enough not to be pulled into the sea, the fishing rod could have caused her considerable harm.
Buck had already run to Jessica's side at this time,
asked anxiously:
"Jessica, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Buck, I'm fine, I just fell. Did I hook a big fish!"
"Just look for yourself and you'll know."
Jessica looked when she heard this and saw that the special fishing rod had been bent, and Li Wei was locked in a struggle with the large fish on the seabed.
Li Wei was extremely excited at this moment, all his attention was focused on the fishing rod in his hand, adrenaline and dopamine secreted rapidly in his body, making him feel as if he had endless strength.
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