I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Three Years and Another Three Years, Where’s My Big Fish?

The large brown fish swam into the middle depths and encountered numerous squid chunks drifting down. It opened its giant mouth and frantically inhaled, instantly swallowing several pieces.

Unfortunately, by the time the squid chunks reached the middle depths, they had scattered widely, and some had been snatched by other fish, so it didn’t get a very satisfying mouthful.

The large brown fish continued swimming upward, toward the surface where there was more food.

After swimming just a few meters, it was surprised to find a small fish that wasn’t fleeing from it. Instead, the little fish was leisurely drifting about, showing it no respect whatsoever.

As the overlord of this reef area, where even sharks became its prey, how could the large brown fish tolerate such disrespect? It immediately swallowed the small fish in one gulp.

The next moment, it felt a searing pain. This immediately reminded the large brown fish of things it had often seen.

A lot of its prey, which also lived in the reef area, would for some unknown reason suddenly start struggling and fleeing in a panic, before ultimately vanishing completely.

The large brown fish had never understood why before, but now, at this moment, it finally did.

It panicked and instinctively bolted into the distance.

On the boat, Gu Nan saw the bobber on the water’s surface suddenly vanish. Knowing he had a bite, he was just about to raise his rod to set the hook when an immense force struck, yanking him right into the boat’s gunwale.

Once he recovered, Gu Nan quickly yanked up on the fishing rod, desperately trying to haul the fish upward.

”Holy shit, holy shit, it’s a monster fish...”

Beside him, Guo Xiao yelped at the unbelievable sight and quickly grabbed hold of Gu Nan, afraid he would be pulled into the water.

Wang Junhe also reached out to grab Gu Nan, staring dumbfounded at the scene.

’I’ve been fishing for three years, and then another three, for almost a decade now,’ he thought. ’When will I ever catch a fish big enough to slam someone into the gunwale?’

The immense pulling force made Gu Nan feel it was no smaller than the ”boss” he’d caught at the bridge pier.

The difference was that the marlin had just kept running, its charge unparalleled.

This fish, however, was incredibly heavy and just kept diving, pulling the tip of his rod straight down into the sea.

This behavior made Gu Nan suspicious. ’Why is it acting so much like a grouper?’

’A grouper this big is probably a Giant Grouper! You can’t sell those openly in this country!’

’With so many people around, I won’t even have a chance to handle it discreetly.’

’Everyone knows the deal with ”protected animals” along the coast; plenty of them are traded on the black market.’

’Giant Grouper are one thing, they’re only protected regionally. But wild Leopard Coral Trout and Brocade Lobster are nationally protected. Still, some people risk mixing them in with imported stock to sell them, claiming everything is imported.’

’Unless you’re a regulator, no one’s going to demand to see their import records.’

But it was already on the hook, and Gu Nan had no intention of letting it get away. No matter what it was, he had to land it first and figure out the rest later.

ZZZZZ~

The rod and line were pulled taut, emitting that characteristic sound—the hallmark of a truly big fish.

This behemoth wasn’t thrashing about; it was just running straight for the bottom, making it impossible for Gu Nan to play the fish. All he could do was grip the rod tightly and pull upward with all his strength.

Luckily, being on a boat was different from being on land. He braced his knee against the gunwale for leverage and leaned his weight against the butt of the rod, making it much less strenuous than fighting a fish from shore.

There’s a trick to catching giant groupers like this: the beginning is incredibly difficult, but if you can weather the initial storm, the rest is much easier than fighting a tuna or marlin.

Although Gu Nan wasn’t sure what kind of fish it was, he fought it as if it were a giant grouper. He held the rod high, locked in a stalemate with the fish for a full five or six minutes before its first powerful run finally ended.

He let out a small sigh of relief. After catching his breath for a moment, he braced himself and began cranking the reel handle furiously to take back the line.

After he had recovered several meters of line, the great fish below began its second run.

This time, the force was a little weaker, but Gu Nan was also getting tired. The rod still felt incredibly heavy, and he began to pant loudly. HUFF... HUFF...

”Want me to take over for a bit?” Wang Junhe offered, seeing how exhausted he was. There was a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

”It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

But Gu Nan rejected him without hesitation. ’I might not get many chances to show off in public,’ he thought, ’but landing a huge fish in front of a bunch of fellow anglers? That’s a prime opportunity to flex, one I could never pass up.’

Wang Junhe was a little disappointed by the rejection. He had yet to experience the thrill of catching such a massive fish!

With a wife and kids, he couldn’t just take off for days on an offshore boat to hunt for big game fish. As a result, in his ten years of fishing, he had never even caught a twenty-pounder.

His biggest catch was a bonito in the teens, and while it put up a good fight, the sense of accomplishment was much less.

Since they traveled in schools, if he could catch one, so could anyone else.

VMMMM~

The line continued to vibrate nonstop, cutting irregular patterns across the water’s surface.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but Gu Nan was already drenched in sweat.

”It’s coming up! It’s coming up! Holy shit, it really is huge!”

”That shadow... it looks like a grouper. It’s not a Giant Grouper, is it?”

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao were both incredibly excited when they saw the fish’s silhouette. They even pulled out their phones to take pictures, hoping for some future bragging rights.

With a great SPLASH, the big fish finally broke the surface.

The eyes of the three men on the boat lit up in unison. It really was a grouper, and it had already reached the Meter Level.

The grouper’s body was predominantly brown, with a pattern of irregular white spots.

But it had nothing to do with a Giant Grouper. Gu Nan, who had been slightly worried, instantly breathed a sigh of relief, which was immediately followed by elation.

Wang Junhe examined it carefully and said in surprise, ”This looks a lot like an Oil Grouper!”

Guo Xiao mulled it over for a second. ”Probably not,” he said. ”When do Oil Groupers ever reach Meter Level? This should be a False Oil Grouper.”

”Forget about Oil Groupers and False Oil Groupers! Help me get this fish on board! Don’t you guys want any? If not, you can go ask for directions at the supermarket for all I care!” Gu Nan said with a look of exasperation. He couldn’t possibly land a fish this big alive all by himself.

Hearing his words, the other two were spurred into action and immediately went over to help.

”Our landing net’s not big enough. We can’t haul it up with this. Ah Nan, pull the fish to the stern, and we’ll drag it up from there.”

Gu Nan did as he was told. It would indeed be easier to get it aboard that way.

’If that doesn’t work, someone will have to jump in the water.’

Groupers are front-heavy, and this Meter Level behemoth’s mouth was wide enough to swallow a soccer ball. It looked truly terrifying.

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao were both wearing gloves, each holding a fish gripper.

They worked in tacit agreement, moving to the stern and maneuvering the fish over so its head faced them.

Then, they clamped the gripper onto the fish’s upper lip while grabbing the gill cover with their other hands and hauling upward with all their might.

The fish immediately began to twist and struggle. SPLASH! SPLASH! Seawater flew high into the air.

Gu Nan watched nervously, afraid the fish would get away. All he could do was hold on tight to the rod.

Fortunately, on their second attempt, they successfully dragged the fish onto the deck.

A smile finally broke out on Gu Nan’s face. This fish was worth at least 5,000, and possibly even seven or eight thousand.

”It had to be you, Ah Nan,” Guo Xiao remarked with awe, looking at the big fish on the deck. ”That guy who was just yelling about a fifty-pounder getting away... and you go and catch it right after.”

Gu Nan removed the hook, but he didn’t find any other hooks or hook marks in the fish’s mouth.

”He was talking nonsense. This fish’s mouth is clean, just my hook mark. The one he lost couldn’t have been this big.”

Wang Junhe froze. He hadn’t noticed when they were dragging the fish aboard. Hearing what Gu Nan said, he immediately scrambled back to his spot and resumed fishing.

Guo Xiao reacted a step slower. After a ”Holy shit,” he also rushed back to cast his line.