pjbooks Chapter 45 Fishing
Chapter 45 Fishing
Upon arriving at Sandao Lake, Shan Yaowen began moving things down there.
This time, he planned to try it out alone first, and then bring his older brother and Gou Dan along to try it out together.
Sandao Lake is very large. It used to be a natural lake, but it was flooded several times in history. In the 1950s, the government led the locals to dig and build dikes to reinforce it.
It is now considered a semi-artificial, semi-natural lake.
The lake is large, but not deep, and dries up easily.
Shan Yaowen recalled that during several severe droughts in the past, the water in Sandao Lake would dry up completely.
As for what happened later, he remembered that there was a drought in 90, and Sandao Lake dried up completely. The lakebed was not only exposed, but it even developed cracks.
Upon reaching the shores of Sandao Lake, Shan Yaowen did not stop. Ice fishing in winter is not something that can be done just anywhere.
We need to find a place with lots of fish to break the ice.
As for how to find places with lots of fish, Shan Yaowen knows how; otherwise, he would have lived in vain in his past life.
Look for reed beds or areas with lots of underwater vegetation.
He didn't understand the principle, but he remembered this thing.
Walking north along the edge of the three lakes, he soon saw reeds at a bend in the lake. There were reeds not only on the shore, but also at the bottom of the lake with roots and rotten stems.
"Great place!"
Shan Yaowen whistled, but didn't start immediately. Instead, he went to the shore and cut some reeds, then gathered a bunch of relatively dry weeds under the snow to use as kindling.
Taking out a lighter, Shan Yaowen tossed it around and lit the fire. "This is still the most convenient."
After lighting the fire and warming himself up for a while, he began to unload his things from the sled.
He didn't lead the horse off; it's easy for a horse to slip on the ice, so he left it aside to graze on the snow.
After chiseling for half an hour, watching the nearly one-meter-wide ice hole gradually approach the water surface, Shan Yaowen warmed himself by the fire for a while, then switched to an ice pick and pierced through the last layer of ice.
Immediately afterwards, a surge of water mixed with ice shards rushed up and quickly overflowed the edge of the ice cave. Fortunately, Shan Yaowen was prepared and dodged the water the moment it started to rise.
Seeing the water surging at the cave entrance, Shan Yaowen immediately switched to a landing net, first scooping up the ice shards, and then preparing to cast the net.
However, while he was scooping up ice shards, he unexpectedly saw a large carp fly up and crash onto the ice.
"Hehe, looks like we'll be having stewed fish tonight." Shan Yaowen rubbed his hands together, then casually grabbed a net and swept the large carp off the ice to the side.
Now is not the time to collect the fish. First, throw the big carp aside, and Shan Yaowen quickly scoops up the ice shards before setting the net.
Fishing by breaking through the ice in winter doesn't require any special skills; you just need to cast the net and then pull it up.
Just like that big carp, they will run towards this exit on their own.
"Gah~"
But after he finished casting his net, a bird called out. When he looked over, the silly bird had landed sometime earlier and was carrying the big carp in its beak.
"Damn, I forgot about you, you idiot."
Shan Yaowen cursed, but didn't bother with it. It was just a fish; he wouldn't go so far as to snatch the fish from the silly bird's mouth.
It can eat whatever it wants, and if it doesn't want to eat, you should feed it something else.
"Yaowen?"
As Shan Yaowen was warming himself by the fire waiting to cast his net for the first time, a shout startled him.
"The Party Secretary?"
Seeing Li Baoguo wearing a thick sheepskin coat and a dog-skin hat, Shan Yaowen was stunned. Why would the Party Secretary be here?
Li Baoguo rubbed the frost off his face and quickly moved closer to the fire to warm himself, but his eyes kept glancing at the hole and fishing net beside him. "Are you fishing?"
"Yes, it's snowing heavily, so I came out to do some work." Shan Yaowen smiled. "I don't think this counts as misappropriating public property, do I?"
Even though he said it jokingly, he was actually quite concerned about it.
After all, now that the household responsibility system has been implemented, Sandao Lake still belongs to the public property. If someone with ulterior motives were to report it, his behavior would be considered an encroachment on public property.
"Tch, who cares about you in the dead of winter?" Li Baoguo waved his hand dismissively. "As long as you don't touch the land that others have privately contracted, strictly speaking, the forests and wild animals are all public property. Who cares if you go hunting in the mountains? Catching a couple of fish is nothing."
"Well, thanks, Uncle. Have a smoke. I'll take two fish home to eat later." Shan Yaowen casually took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to the Party Secretary.
"No need to thank me." Li Baoguo casually took the cigarette, lit it on the fire in front of him, took a couple of puffs, and looked at Shan Yaowen. "But can you really catch fish in the dead of winter?"
"Just you wait and see."
Shan Yaowen stood up, grabbed the fishing net line, and after regaining his footing, he exerted force with his arms and began to pull the fishing net upwards.
The net spilled water, creating a large splash that landed on the ice with a series of crackling sounds.
Li Baoguo was truly astonished when he saw the fish in the net.
"Silver carp and bighead carp! This net must weigh twenty or thirty pounds, right?"
Upon seeing the fish in the net, he stopped watching, put on his gloves, and went to help.
Shan Yaowen was not surprised at all, after all, there was still a special winter fishing in later generations.
He was just a little curious, how come the Party Secretary didn't know?
"Uncle, you didn't know you could catch fish in winter?"
Shan Yaowen pulled up the net and threw the fish onto the ice, planning to collect them later.
Watching Shan Yaowen prepare to release the fish with the net, Li Baoguo took a drag of his cigarette in frustration. "I know, but Sandao Lake used to be part of the town. We couldn't fish there, we could only use the water. And I really didn't expect you to catch so many fish with such a small net."
Shan Yaowen: ...
No wonder you're so generous; you're not from the village, are you?
It was clear that the Party Secretary wasn't in a high mood, so Shan Yaowen changed the subject, "What have you been doing? You didn't even ride a horse, you just walked."
"We're going to a meeting in town," the Party Secretary said, then, as if remembering something, added, "By the way, there's a blizzard coming up, you'd better prepare your ranch."
"snowstorm?"
"Yes, it's said to be going to last a long time." Li Baoguo sighed. "Hopefully we won't suffer a major disaster this year, otherwise we won't be able to get through the New Year."
Shan Yaowen remained silent. Sometimes what you fear most is what will happen; this year's snow disaster was inevitable.
Thinking of this, and seeing the Party Secretary's worried expression, Shan Yaowen decided to remind him, "Uncle, this year's snow looks unusual. I still want to remind everyone to be prepared. Those in the production team who need to shovel snow should do so, and those in the pasture who need to take protective measures should also prepare."
"Hmm, you're not bad, still caring about other people at a time like this." Li Baoguo smiled at Shan Yaowen.
"We're all from the same village, we see each other all the time, we can't just stand by and watch everyone suffer."
"That makes sense, but some people just can't stand seeing others do well." Li Baoguo was about to continue speaking when he suddenly stopped and buried his head in his cigarette.
Shan Yaowen didn't ask any further questions. Seeing that it was almost time for the second net to be set up, he went to start the net.
After finishing his cigarette, the Party Secretary warmed himself by the fire for a while, and then went home after the snow stopped.
Shan Yaowen had been fishing the whole time, adding firewood to the fire several times. He only packed up his things and prepared to go back when it was getting dark.
As for the fish, he estimated they weighed about 70 or 80 pounds, and he threw them all, big and small, onto the sled.
He was ultimately outnumbered and outmatched; if he had someone to help him, he was confident he could double the number.
Who should I invite tomorrow?
Should we invite them all at once?