Chapter 556: Chapter 549: Mouthwatering Golden Crispy Fried Ribbonfish (Part 2)

Captain Wu laughed and said, "Aren’t these belt fish just perfect?"

Wang Fan, half-crying and half-laughing, pointed to the basin, "Isn’t this too little? Just the three of us aren’t enough to eat."

Captain Wu shook his head, "Boss Wang, you might not know, belt fish always travel with their families. Once you catch one, it means the whole school is here, and the water layer is fixed. And the fact that you hooked five at once shows that the density of belt fish below is very high. I estimate if you cast your line again, you’ll get a bite. Do you remember at what depth you caught these belt fish?"

Wang Fan frowned and thought for a while. The display on the electric reel had the water depth displayed, and he vaguely remembered, "I think it’s around 50 meters."

Captain Wu chuckled, "Great, I’ll use mackerel as bait and guarantee you’ll catch so many belt fish your hands will cramp."

Wang Fan walked to the deck. Shen Teng was still gloomily pouring bait into the sea, dumping box after box of krill as if it cost nothing. The surface of the water was already swarming with fish.

Yet these fish seemed bewitched, stubbornly ignoring Shen Teng’s bait. He was still a ’turtle immortal’ until now, utterly miserable.

Wang Fan said to Shen Teng, "Captain Wu said there are a lot of belt fish down there now. I’m planning to catch some for lunch. Do you want to join?"

Shen Teng, still frustrated, said, "I’d rather be the turtle immortal than lower my standards to catch those lousy fish!"

After saying that, he felt it might sound bad, so he quickly added, "I didn’t mean anything else."

Wang Fan laughed, "I get it, no worries. You fish your way, Captain Wu will help me later. Keep it up; we’ll have lunch soon."

Indeed, Captain Wu was going to help Wang Fan fish, but Wang Fan still needed to pay him, calculated at 200 yuan per fish.

Captain Wu moved quickly. In no time, he fetched a box of icy fresh mackerel from the freezer, bringing along a strong fishy smell.

Captain Wu said, "These mackerel have a strong smell. We’ll cut open the body and hang it on the lead head hook. When it reaches the belt fish layer, they’ll definitely bite in a rush."

Wang Fan took out the hook from his rod, and Captain Wu removed it, replacing it with the lead head hook tied with mackerel. Then he took out his fishing rod to fish for belt fish with Wang Fan.

As Captain Wu said, as long as the line reached beyond 50 meters, it would immediately catch a belt fish, and they were quite large, generally around a meter long.

Shen Teng watched Wang Fan and Captain Wu busy at work, looking almost green with envy.

He thought to himself, "I haven’t even offended the old Dragon King, have I?"

"Where’s my fish?!"

"Huh?!"

"Would it be embarrassing to join them in fishing for belt fish now?"

These belt fish seemed insatiably hungry, biting one after another, and the fish box Captain Wu prepared quickly filled to the brim.

Seeing there were enough fish to sell, Wang Fan asked Captain Wu to stop, recorded the fish Captain Wu caught, and moved them into the cabin with him.

Wang Fan then began to prepare these belt fish. By the time he finished and soaked them in marinade, the fishing boats that arranged to come for lunch had started arriving one after another. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

On the first day, there was just one boat; today, the number had surged to seven, with nearly a hundred people in total.

These boats tied together looked much like Boss Cao’s fleet during the Battle of Chibi.

The anglers eagerly checked out people on other boats, occasionally exchanging their catches.

Anglers might be the purest group of people in this world. They come together primarily to talk about their catches, fishing spots, occasionally discussing their gear and the performance of their bait, but you almost never hear anyone bragging about how expensive their equipment is.

It is said that this is the only circle among many that hasn’t been corrupted by people with ulterior motives.

Of course, what was discussed the most today was what to eat for lunch.

"We’ve been drifting at sea for four days now, and this time’s catch is not good. We’ve only recouped half of our costs, but getting to eat a meal from Boss Wang today makes the trip worthwhile."

"I’m doing okay, managed to make a small profit. Just a shame we lost a 200-pound yellowfin tuna, or it would’ve been a big win."

"This trip was a bust for me. Not only didn’t I make money, but a shark also broke my fishing rod. Now I’m going to have to bleed money again to replace my gear."

"Haha, don’t dwell on unhappy things. Does anyone know what we’re having for lunch today? I’m really curious."

"Yesterday, we had dragon grouper skin. Old Pi and the others loved it; today can’t be too bad, right?"

Some people craned their necks, looking towards Wang Fan’s fishing boat, occasionally sniffing the air, trying to catch any hints floating around.

By now, Wang Fan had already taken out the marinated belt fish pieces, carefully wiped the moisture off the surface with absorbent paper.

Usually, fried belt fish is done without any coating, but Wang Fan still preferred to give them a light batter.

He mixed corn starch into a batter and coated each piece of belt fish with a thin layer. When the oil reached six-tenths hot, he put the pieces in.

"Sizzle..."

The sound of frying filled the air, and naturally, the delicious aroma of belt fish soon followed.

With thorough preparation, there was no risk of failure when frying the belt fish. The unique fresh scent of sea fish wafted through the air, with not even a hint of fishiness.