I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 351: Chapter 232: Underwater Pursuit of the Precious Stone Grouper (Part 2)

Gu Nan drew closer, rubbing the handle of his speargun with his left index finger, creating a sound to attract the fish.

However, there was a difference between striped rockfish and the Spotted Rockfish. When Gu Nan had previously encountered a Spotted Rockfish, the slightest sound from his rubbing finger was enough to attract it immediately.

The Spotted Rockfish’s sensitivity to sound was far greater than a striped rockfish’s. This striped rockfish, however, was still swimming leisurely along the reef at the bottom.

It seemed to have neither heard the sound nor sensed the approaching danger.

Just then, the striped rockfish swam above a large rock. Gu Nan’s eyes lit up. ’This is my chance.’

He predicted the fish’s trajectory, and seizing the moment, decisively pulled the trigger.

As expected, he successfully bagged the striped rockfish.

Life is full of surprises. After diving back down to a depth of twenty-three meters, Gu Nan was stunned to discover a fish that weighed at least seven or eight catties.

It was just a bit too far away for him to see it clearly.

From its silhouette, it looked like a mangrove red snapper or some other type of bream, possibly even from the snapper family.

As Gu Nan slowly approached, he realized there wasn’t just one fish of that size, but a small school.

The school was mixed, though; the group of a dozen or so fish was comprised of at least three or four different species.

The next moment, Gu Nan’s pupils contracted. ’Did I just see an incredibly valuable fish?’

He decisively used his appraisal skill on it. ’Holy cow, it really is a Golden Clam!’ Its scientific name was *Lutjanus stellatus*. According to online rumors, the price for this fish had been driven up to eleven hundred yuan per catty.

But the appraisal listed its price at three hundred eighty per catty. For a larger one, over five catties, the price would be higher, but five hundred per catty was about the limit.

Snapper prices were driven up by Hong Kong Island. In their markets, a Golden Clam went for over six hundred Hong Kong Dollars per catty.

It was only after opening his own seafood shop that Gu Nan had gradually learned the prices of the various valuable fish that appeared on the market.

Underwater, a Golden Clam really did look a bit like a mangrove red snapper at first glance. He had just mistaken it for one, not expecting such a huge surprise upon getting closer.

And there wasn’t just one—there were three of them.

The Golden Clam’s exorbitant price wasn’t just due to its delicious meat; its rarity was also a major factor.

With domestic seafood, as long as it’s wild, rare, and tastes good, it can be sold for a fortune.

Gu Nan quickly swam toward the school, aiming his speargun at the largest of the big ’golden’ fish.

Just then, a huge mangrove red snapper, at least ten catties, blocked his path.

’Get lost!’

Gu Nan almost pulled the trigger on the wrong target. Annoyed, he glared at the big mangrove red snapper before resuming his prediction of the Golden Clam’s path.

On any other day, he would have taken this big mangrove red snapper without a second thought. But today, hunting ’gold’ was the priority.

The Golden Clam ahead seemed completely oblivious to the danger. With some slick maneuvering, it suddenly made a turn, closing the distance to him by over two meters.

Gu Nan’s eyes lit up, and he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

This time, no oblivious fish got in the way. The spear hit its mark.

Gu Nan’s heart pounded with excitement. He’d been on countless dives, but he had never caught a fish with a higher price per unit than this Golden Clam.

This was the stuff of anglers’ dreams, an even more thrilling catch than a Spotted Rockfish.

Compared to spearfishing, however, the odds of catching one of these with a rod and line were ridiculously low. You couldn’t even dream of it under normal circumstances. It was better to just grab a speargun and go "PEW PEW PEW."

Gu Nan tugged on the line, swimming toward the surface.

This wild Golden Clam was certainly living up to its name. Up close, its color was far more vibrant than other fish.

Farmed Golden Clams lacked this coloration; they were reddish and looked more like mangrove red snappers.

He reeled in the line, grabbed the fish, and dispatched it with his dagger. Gu Nan surfaced, holding the fish up to examine it. It shone with a golden light, and its belly was plump.

If nothing else, it was incredibly fat. You could tell it would be delicious just by looking at it. At least, a big mangrove red snapper never had a belly this plump.

There were still two more below. Gu Nan clipped the fish onto his stringer and resumed the chase.

The school had been startled and had scattered earlier. He’d only paid rough attention to the direction the Golden Clams had gone, so after returning to the original hunting spot, he immediately swam off in pursuit.

Fortunately, the two remaining Golden Clams had stuck together, which meant he wouldn’t have to hunt for them individually.

Reef-dwelling fish like these tended to flee in one direction and then hide when frightened.

Gu Nan only had to search for a dozen or so meters before he spotted the two Golden Clams.

The two fish were now pressed up against a large rock, looking a bit agitated.

Their stillness, however, made them perfect targets. With a THWUMP in the water, another Golden Clam was pierced by his spear.

The last Golden Clam, startled, shot away with a WHOOSH, moving even faster than before.

Afraid the fish would get too far away for him to find it again, Gu Nan quickly tugged on his line and gave chase.

Fortunately, the fish slowed down after darting about a dozen meters. He had lost sight of it for a moment, but spotted it again after swimming a few meters.

The fish didn’t stop, so he had no choice but to reel in his line while continuing the pursuit.

The timer on his sports watch had just passed a minute and a half. He could still hold his breath for another two and a half minutes. This fish wasn’t getting away.

This time, the Golden Clam swam for nearly thirty meters before finally stopping beside a large rock on the seabed.

Clearly, for fish that lived among the reefs, the rocks gave them an instinctive sense of security.

Against any other predator, it might have actually escaped. Unfortunately for the fish, it had run into a human.

Once Gu Nan was sure the fish had stopped fleeing, he quickly swam to the surface for air. While there, he dispatched the Golden Clam he’d just shot, reeled his line back in, and reloaded the speargun.

He then dove back down. A short while later, he surfaced again, another Golden Clam in his hand.

That made three in total. He had successfully caught them all.

The three of them weighed twelve or thirteen catties combined, worth around four or five thousand yuan. The haul was substantial.

He glanced at his fish stringer. There were still five empty clips. Since there were plenty of big fish around, Gu Nan dove back down and shot five more, filling the stringer completely.

He also gathered some sea snails, stuffing his net bag full.

Unable to carry anything more, Gu Nan finally returned to the boat, fully loaded.

The boat was quite lively. Not only had Xu Zhina and her friends returned, but An Jun and Ye Jing were also back and taking a break.

The group was gathered around Yi Chen’s Tiger Stripes, their voices filled with envy.

That iced Tiger Stripes could probably sell for around five thousand yuan. How could they not be envious? The only question was whether it had ciguatera toxin!

Many Tiger Stripes carry ciguatera toxin, which was something to be wary of.

"Ah Nan, you’re back! What did you catch?" Yi Chen, being sharp-eyed, was the first to spot Gu Nan and hurried over to help him with his gear.

"When I’m the one doing the hunting, of course there’s good stuff."

As he spoke, Gu Nan hauled up his fish stringer, revealing a chain of fish, most notably the three Golden Clams.

While not as blindingly brilliant as large yellow croakers, they were still dazzling under the sunlight.

"Holy shit, are those Golden Clams? Three of them?" An Jun, who had come over to help, exclaimed in shock.

A month had passed, and having familiarized himself with his small shop’s business, he was preparing to expand and get into high-grade sashimi fish.

He had just recently been looking into Golden Clams, so he knew what he was looking at.

In contrast, Ye Jing, who had been out to sea with Gu Nan a dozen times, had no idea what these fish were and showed no reaction.

"Golden Clam? The name sounds a little familiar!" Ye Jing frowned, trying to recall where he’d heard it before.

Hearing this, An Jun retorted, "You’ve never heard of a Golden Clam? And you call yourself an angler? This is a dream fish in the fishing world, right up there with the humpback grouper."

"Oh, I remember now! It’s the Golden Clam that’s rumored online to sell for a thousand a catty, right?" Ye Jing finally recalled, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the three fish.

Nearby, Xu Zhina and Jin Enfei didn’t understand fish prices. Hearing this, they were dumbfounded. ’A fish worth a thousand per catty? Is it made of gold?’

Yi Chen shook her head with a laugh. "It’s not that exaggerated. They’re more like three or four hundred a catty, though bigger ones are more expensive."

Gu Nan nodded in agreement. "But if the Junhao Hotel were to sell one, a three- or four-catty fish like this could definitely fetch four or five thousand."

"Then the online rumors aren’t wrong after all!"

Ye Jing grew thoughtful. ’If Gu Nan caught Golden Clams here—three of them, no less—then maybe there are more to be found?’

"You guys keep chatting. I’m rested up. I’m going back in."

Seeing this, An Jun quickly followed suit. A Golden Clam... he wanted one too.

Seeing Ye Jing get back in the water, he hurried to follow.