According to the boatman, the first fishing spot boasted an excellent supply of fish—all big catches. Ten to twenty-jin fish were common, and with some luck, you could even land plenty weighing thirty to forty jin.

However, the actual location was still some distance from the Xisha Islands. This spot had been discovered by boat captains who frequently took anglers out to sea.

On a bad day, you might go home empty-handed. On a good day, everyone would return with a great haul.

Because of this unpredictability, the boat captains always came here first to test their luck. The specific conditions for the day would only be revealed after the captain checked the fish finder and briefed everyone.

When fishing in places like Xisha or Nanyou, you had to abandon any conventional wisdom or experience from shore or near-shore fishing.

Many first-time anglers would arrive only to discover that aside from their tackle scissors, none of their previous gear was suitable.

Chu Mingcheng's line setup was considered standard for these waters. During deep-sea fishing, you frequently encountered massive catches weighing forty to fifty jin.

These fish fought with incredible ferocity—a line that was even slightly too light would snap in seconds.

After dinner and a brief rest to let his meal settle, he noticed other anglers already claiming their spots. He quickly returned to his cabin, grabbed his fishing rod, and secured position number five on the starboard side of the aft deck.

For deep-sea fishing, there wasn't much difference between the foredeck and aft deck—both offered plenty of space.

The spots along the boat's sides, however, weren't ideal. The walkways became crowded with people moving back and forth.

The night sea breeze felt exceptionally cool. The sun had just set, so it wasn't too cold yet, but he knew he'd need a jacket soon.

Time crawled by slowly. The Sky High finally reached its destination, and the boatman brought excellent news: tonight's fishing spot was teeming with fish. A wave of excitement rippled through the anglers aboard.

By now, Chu Mingcheng had donned a waterproof jacket that could block both wind and spray.

The wind and waves grew fierce in the deep ocean at night. Spray from waves crashing against the hull would occasionally splash over the gunwale onto the deck crew. This was also the source of dampness in the lower-level cabins.

Chu Mingcheng prepared his gear and called over a crew member to inquire about bait types and prices.

"You're in luck today—there are plenty of big fish down there. You can buy some live Spanish mackerel, ten yuan per jin."

"If you want to target longtail tuna and other species, you can get some Antarctic krill bricks. They're eighty yuan for a two-and-a-half jin brick, all large krill. The ones for chumming are cheaper at sixty yuan per brick."

The Antarctic krill bricks were frozen solid and needed thawing before use.

Furthermore, Antarctic krill spoiled quickly. If thawed too long, the heads would turn black, reducing the hook-up rate. They needed to be used within four to six hours, or immediately refrozen if unused.

Considering that Antarctic krill bricks served double duty as both bait and powerful chum, he bought some of each type.

He planned to start with the Spanish mackerel to test the bite. If the efficiency for large fish proved low, he'd switch to targeting smaller species like red snapper.

Soon, the crew member brought him a bucket of live Spanish mackerel and the Antarctic krill bricks.

The crew member took a small wire basket, hung it on the gunwale, and placed a krill brick inside for chumming.

When deployed in a bottom chum dispenser and sent down with the baited hook, it would quickly attract nearby fish.

While waiting for the krill brick to thaw, Chu Mingcheng opened the mackerel container. The fish inside measured roughly ten to fifteen centimeters long. Judging by their silver bellies, he identified them as Australian Spanish mackerel.

When he used to deal in these fish, wholesalers would pay four yuan per jin. Here, the price was more than double—they were making a killing.

But he had little choice. Buying from outside vendors would cost about the same, and he'd have to transport them aboard himself, creating additional hassle.

Besides, outside purchases were mostly dead fish. The boat provided live specimens, which offered a significant advantage.

After a while, the krill brick had partially thawed. Chu Mingcheng loaded the thawed Antarctic krill into the bottom chum dispenser, then baited his hook with a Spanish mackerel and cast into the water.

Weighted by the heavy lead sinker, the baited rig sank rapidly.

A spreader separated the sinker from the leader line. When deep-sea fishing in places like Xisha and Nanyou, this was essential equipment, primarily used to prevent the leader and main line from tangling.

Chu Mingcheng watched the depth counter on his electric reel until it stopped at 157 meters.

He then retrieved three meters of line to avoid snagging on the bottom.

However, because ocean currents ran turbulent during deep-sea fishing, and the long fishing line presented a substantial surface area, even a sinker weighing several kilograms could drift sideways under current pressure. Therefore, he had to constantly monitor his rig's position relative to the seabed.

When the current strengthened, he needed to release the line to prevent the rig from lifting too far off the bottom.

Conversely, if the current weakened and he didn't retrieve the line promptly, snagging became likely. Deep-sea bottom fishing was genuinely challenging.

This was Chu Mingcheng's first attempt at this technique. Although he'd absorbed plenty of theory, he lacked practical experience.

Fortunately, the bottom current wasn't particularly strong at the moment. The three meters of retrieved line proved perfect.

His rig was positioned correctly. Now came the waiting game.

After roughly three minutes, Chu Mingcheng noticed a sudden twitch at his rod tip, followed by a sharp downward pull.

His eyes brightened—the fish were biting aggressively!

Looking around at the other anglers, he appeared to be among the first to hook up.

He quickly pressed the retrieve button, and his Z30 electric reel whirred to life. The powerful mechanical advantage left the fish far below with no chance to resist.

He could see his fishing rod trembling intermittently—clear evidence of the fish's struggles in the depths.

From the rod's pronounced bend, whatever he'd hooked was substantial.

Chu Mingcheng watched his line nervously. Under the deck lights, he soon spotted a red shape rising through the water.

The electric reel's sound had already attracted the crew member responsible for netting. Wearing thick gloves, he watched the fish break the surface, immediately helped guide the line up, brought the red snapper aboard, and secured a white zip tie to it.

The white tie bore the number 3, indicating that any catch marked with the number 3 belonged to Chu Mingcheng.

Having been hauled up from the deep so rapidly, the red snapper's swim bladder protruded from its mouth.

Red snappers didn't require bleeding. The crew member prepared to take the fish to cold storage.

But Chu Mingcheng, thrilled by landing such a large red snapper, quickly stopped him. "Wait—let me check its weight."

This red snapper was nearly a full size larger than the one he'd caught while diving previously.

He lifted it with his fish grip and found it weighed a solid twenty-three jin.

A twenty-plus jin red snapper! Back at his hometown pier, this would definitely draw a crowd. Here, the crew member showed no reaction, and only a few nearby anglers glanced over, treating it as routine.

Based on his previous selling prices, this single fish was worth over two thousand yuan.

Excluding the equipment he'd purchased, his total trip expenses should run around ten thousand yuan. So this represented a fifth of his investment already recovered?

Even at the standard market rate of sixty yuan per jin, it would still exceed thirteen hundred yuan.

Chu Mingcheng felt momentarily dazed. At this earning rate, how could some anglers who fished Xisha claim they lost money?

He looked around. Others were beginning to land fish steadily—mostly red species. Someone had even caught a massive greater amberjack over a meter long.

In reality, their group was fortunate today to encounter a period of weak current.

Just yesterday, another boat had anchored here overnight but encountered a powerful "jet stream" current. Even five-jin lead sinkers were swept away.

That had been a chartered vessel—twenty-five people under three group leaders chartering a fifty-meter boat.

As a result, they not only lacked the planned live Spanish mackerel but couldn't even use heavy sinkers, meaning the anglers aboard could only sleep through the night before departing empty-handed.