Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Setting the Net in Deep Waters

He took a deep breath to calm his excited emotions and then turned his gaze to the space where the stinging net he had woven a few days ago was located.

Lin Yu’an returned to the shore, turning his back to the camera as he took the stinging net out of the space and displayed it in front of the camera.

“Previously, because there were no suitable tools to set the net in water, this stinging net hasn’t been put to use.”

“Now with the ’Pioneer’, I can finally deploy it in the ideal waters!”

Lin Yu’an considered the situation he observed on the shore earlier and his Sixth Sense of special spatial perception.

He had long marked a relatively calm water flow area that could be a passage or gathering area for migrating fish.

This area had a water depth of about two to three meters and was at a certain distance from the shore, a place he couldn’t reach on foot before.

He controlled the canoe while moving slowly towards the target waters, explaining to the camera: “I need to find the areas where fish might pass, or the edges where water plants are dense, this way I can maximize the catch rate.”

Upon reaching the predetermined location, Lin Yu’an faced the bow into the wind and then began to carefully set up the stinging net.

“Keeping the bow into the wind ensures stability of the boat, making the operation easier for me.”

“The stinging net was already equipped with floats and weights during weaving; my task is merely to stabilize the boat, allowing the net to vertically unfold in the water.”

He securely tied one end of the stinging net’s top line to a moderately sized stone, which would serve as the first “anchor point” for the net.

The main function is to fix one end of the net at the bottom, preventing the entire net from being washed away by the current or dragged by big fish.

He gently tossed the anchor rock into the water, feeling it sink to the bottom, holding onto one corner of the stinging net.

“The first anchor point is fixed. Now I just need to move the boat and the net will automatically be evenly deployed into the water.”

He used one hand to lightly paddle, controlling the ’Pioneer’ at an extremely slow speed along his intended intercept route.

With the other hand, he methodically released the stinging net from the side of the boat bit by bit into the water.

As the stinging net entered the water, the lightweight poplar floats evenly tied to the net’s top line immediately took effect.

They floated lightly on the surface like a string of small white beacons, lifting the net’s upper edge visibly.

Meanwhile, the weighted small stones tied evenly to the net’s bottom line pulled the net’s lower edge stably towards the bottom with their weight.

In the stable movement of the boat, the stinging net, thanks to the delicate balance between its floats and weights, almost automatically unfolded vertically in the water.

It formed a barrier stretching from the surface to near the bottom.

Once the entire stinging net was deployed, he similarly tied an appropriately sized “anchor stone” to the other end of the net’s top line and let it sink to the bottom.

“Even if the anchor stone sinks to the water, the net’s upper line remains floating on the surface thanks to sufficient floats, preventing it from being dragged down.”

For easy retrieval and identification later, he attached a longer marking rope with a conspicuous reed float to the rope of the second anchor stone.

“Alright, the fishing net is all set up!”

Lin Yu’an clapped his hands and watched the area of the stinging net on the water surface, where only a row of small poplar floats and the marking float were visible, with anticipation on his face.

“Next, we’ll see if the fish are ’kind enough’ to come; hopefully, tomorrow morning, we will have some catches!”

As the sky darkened, Lin Yu’an turned the bow around, paddled the ’Pioneer’ back to the shallow beach near the shelter, and carefully dragged the boat ashore, securing it well.

Back at the warm stone cabin shelter, Lin Yu’an simply ate some smoked beaver jerky and roasted Jerusalem artichoke left over from before.

The fire roared warmly in the stone cabin, making it comfortable enough to wear just a sweater. He took care of maintaining his tools while calculating in his mind the possible catches for tomorrow.

Early the next day, Lin Yu’an was awakened by the chirping of waterfowl.

After a simple wash, he didn’t even bother with breakfast but eagerly put on his rain pants and pushed the ’Pioneer’ into the water again.

Cautiously he paddled towards the area where he had placed the net, following the markers left yesterday.

The morning fog hadn’t completely dissipated, and the lake surface was like a big blue mirror, serene and mysterious.

As he neared that familiar line of floats, he immediately noticed some unusual signs!

The stinging net beneath the surface seemed no longer flat and loose as yesterday, but some parts were being pulled down noticeably!

“There’s movement! Definitely fish caught in the net!” Lin Yu’an’s voice was filled with irrepressible excitement!

He paddled to one end of the stinging net, untied the rope from the “anchor stone,” and then began carefully, lifting the net segment by segment.

The stinging net felt obviously heavy! As the net gradually emerged from the water, one surprise after another followed!

“Wow! The first one!”

A wet net emerged, revealing a dogfish with dark green spots and a sizable body full of sharp teeth, caught in the netting, its gills strangled by nylon threads, its body still futilely writhing!

This spotted dogfish was about fifty to sixty centimeters long and weighed three to four pounds!

Lin Yu’an swiftly extricated it from the net and tossed it into the boat hold lined with birch bark.

He continued lifting the net.

“Second one! Another dogfish! This one is even bigger!”

“Oh my! Here! There’s another one! A rainbow trout!”

The surprises kept pouring in! Just like a heaven-and-earth net, the stinging net precisely intercepted the fish trying to pass through this water area.

By the time the entire four-meter-long stinging net was out of the water, the boat hold already contained five dogfish and two beautiful rainbow trout!

The largest dogfish measured close to eighty centimeters, estimated to weigh seven to eight pounds! Other dogfish were also three to four pounds, while the two rainbow trout weighed about two to three pounds each.

“A great harvest! This is definitely a great harvest, folks!”

Lin Yu’an looked at the lively catches in the boat hold, excitedly shouting to the camera!

“Such a small stinging net, overnight, has brought us this much protein! Now my food supply for the next week or even longer is secured!”

He roughly estimated that these fish altogether weigh at least over thirty pounds! For someone surviving alone in the wilderness, this is indeed a massive wealth!

“The combination of the Pioneer and the stinging net is simply the fishing magic of Chilco Lake! Once I repair the net, I’ll cast it again!”

Lin Yu’an fondly stroked the gunwale, his eyes full of pride in his creativity. Of course, he knew, without the support of the special spatial Sixth Sense, he wouldn’t locate the possible routes of fish so easily.

With abundant catches, Lin Yu’an piloted the ’Pioneer’, cutting through the serene lake surface at dawn, heading towards the shore.

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