After hauling in three soft cuttlefish in a row, Ye Yaodong brought up a devil ray. It was not very big. Showing no sporting spirit, he grabbed it by the nose, yanked it up roughly, and tossed it onto the boat for his father to deal with.
It was so ugly and so small. It could forget about getting gentle treatment from him.
After five catches in a row, the next hook came up empty again. The piece of fish was still hanging from it; perhaps no fish had bitten.
On this trip, he had used several kinds of bait. Some hooks held shrimp, while others held chunks of different fish. They were all small fish brought up in the fishing pots, chopped up for bait regardless of species. Whatever wanted them could bite.
Ye Yaodong kept hauling in the line, opening one mystery box after another. One tug told him he had another big fish. Bringing in a catch felt wonderful. He was delighted.
"Oh-ho! A Spanish mackerel! This one's five jin!"
Longline fishing was more interesting than Trawl Net fishing or fishing pots. Each branch line brought up a catch, and there were no small fish. Trawl Net fishing and fishing pots brought up a whole pile at once, which was satisfying too, but something was missing.
Behind him, Father Ye was also beaming as he sorted and bled the catch. He had not expected longline fishing to work so well. None of the fish were small. He put the better-quality fish into one basket and the poorer ones into another.
Ye Yaodong was thoroughly enjoying hauling in the Fish Catch too. The Fish Catch offshore was better quality than that along the coast, and there were more big fish. It might also have been because the bait