I Can Fish Up Everything!

After adding some water to the livewell, Gu Nan started to fish.

Daylight wasn’t suitable for catching big fish. The commotion would be too great, and if any fishing boats passed by, they might gather to watch.

Since it was his first time fishing on the reef island, he first tested the water’s depth. He soon discovered the terrain here was complex. On his first cast, the bait nearly got snagged on the bottom. The upside of complex terrain, however, was that more fish hid within it.

’Looks like I was overthinking it. It’s not a good idea to fish for species from the Fengqi Coast during the day.’

Seeing this, Gu Nan could only close the map. It was better to just fish normally during the daytime.

He couldn’t fish for Fengqi Coast species from the other three sides either, as he would be too easily seen.

The Antarctic krill had thawed quite a bit. Gu Nan squeezed it with his hands into several fist-sized balls and tossed them into the water to create a chum slick.

He tossed in four balls, then went to wash his hands. He picked up his fishing rod and changed the rig to one for float fishing.

He also placed the landing net to one side. Small fish could be lifted straight out, but he’d need the net for a big one.

With the rig set up, he didn’t wait to see if the chum had taken effect yet. He gently lifted his rod, and the bait swung out.

The baited hook landed accurately in the chummed spot and slowly sank, leaving only the float bobbing on the surface.

The fish here were already used to being fed. It didn’t take long at all for a small school to gather and frantically devour the krill.

However, the krill hadn’t yet dispersed with the waves as it would at night, so it hadn’t attracted fish from further away.

But as soon as Gu Nan’s baited hook hit the water, it caught the attention of a few fish.

He was using a shrimp-shaped soft lure, so a fish immediately bit down on it.

The float dipped twice on the surface, then—WHOOSH—it vanished.

Gu Nan reacted instantly, quickly lifting the rod to set the hook.

SWISH!

The rod immediately bent into a shallow arc. Clearly, the fish wasn’t very big.

Gu Nan reeled in the line a couple of times and lifted the rod again, pulling the fish up a good distance. He repeated this process, and in less than half a minute, a Sea Bass weighing less than a pound was pulled from the water.

’A little small, but it was able to swallow the hook mainly because Sea Bass have big mouths. A small black porgy wouldn’t have been able to take it.’

Perhaps because few people came to the reef island, or maybe because the chum had just been laid, Gu Nan hooked another fish not long after his second cast. It seemed the bite was good.

After he caught four in a row, the rod went still for a while.

Gu Nan wasn’t in a hurry. He knew the fish would eventually come to him.

In reality, the bite hadn’t stopped because there were no fish, but because they had been scared away.

A huge fish was slowly swimming back and forth. Each time it opened its mouth, it would suck in some of the krill.

Just then, it spotted the shrimp lure lingering in the water. Since it was food anyway, the fish casually opened its mouth and inhaled it.

The next moment, a sharp pain shot through its mouth, instantly reminding it of a recent encounter.

It had fallen for a similar trap back then. Frantic struggling had been useless. In the end, it dove to the bottom and played dead, and for some unknown reason, it had gotten away.

That strange pulling Power had suddenly vanished at a certain moment.

The big fish couldn’t understand why, but it knew what to do to be safe.

So, mimicking its previous success, it dove violently toward the bottom and then went completely still.

Gu Nan had already raised his rod the moment the float disappeared and the tip bent down, but the fish’s initial burst of strength was so powerful that he couldn’t hold it back at first.

When he tried to pull on the rod again to reel in the line, he found he couldn’t lift it at all. The rod was bent into a deep bow, and the fish at the bottom hadn’t moved an inch. It was as if he was snagged.

Many anglers have probably experienced this trick. The fish plays dead at the bottom, a move anglers commonly call "piling."

Piling is when you can’t pull the fish up because a bottom-dweller has buried its head in the mud, hidden itself in an obstacle, or the line has snagged on something while reeling in.

Trying to brute force it at a time like this can easily lead to a snapped line or the hook coming loose. Experienced anglers will usually opt to tap the rod or pluck the fishing line. The resulting vibrations travel down to the hook, causing the fish enough pain to make it run on its own.

Other methods include scaring the fish out by throwing rocks, or even letting out the line to allow the fish to swim out on its own.

Most of the time, however, the latter two options are not recommended.

Usually, just plucking the line or tapping the rod is enough to get the fish moving again.

Gu Nan kept pulling on the rod, keeping the rod and line taut. He then braced the butt of the rod against his stomach and started tapping the rod’s body with his hand.

His rod was flexible, so tapping it created a vibration, achieving the same effect as plucking the line.

If it were a stiffer rod, plucking the line would be the better choice.

Tapping the rod had no effect at first. But as Gu Nan continued relentlessly, the large fish on the bottom seemed unable to bear the continuous, sharp pain in its mouth. It couldn’t help but shift slightly to ease the ache.

Gu Nan, of course, noticed this movement. Knowing it was working, he tapped with even more vigor.

This time, the large fish at the bottom finally couldn’t take it anymore and began to thrash about.

Gu Nan immediately lifted the rod with all his might. With the butt still braced against his stomach, the force of this pull was immense, yanking the fish right up.

’The old trick isn’t working! That strange pulling Power is still there, and it’s even stronger than before!’

The big fish couldn’t hold its ground this time and began to dart about in a panic.

Having finally managed to pull the fish up, Gu Nan seized the opportunity to reel in his line.

He ignored the pain where the rod was digging into his stomach, using his core strength to yank the fish several meters higher in just two or three pulls.

He had bought a fighting belt at the tackle shop today, specifically for dealing with big tuna at night.