Chapter 370: Chapter 242: Finally Getting the Bluefin

After they finished butchering the seal meat, the organs and the fat-covered hide were tossed out. The rest of the meat was put in the freezer.

Yi Chen was already mulling over how best to cook it that evening—pan-fried, deep-fried, or braised. In the end, she decided to play it safe and stew it with strong seasonings to get a good sense of the meat’s texture.

They’d heard it was similar to venison, but they had no idea what it was actually like.

The seal was just an interlude. Gu Nan still had to press on toward their destination.

They didn’t encounter any more incidents on the way and soon reached the tuna’s migratory route.

Gu Nan didn’t cut the engine right away. First, he checked the fish finder.

It was only a little over fifty meters deep here, which was clearly not a good spot.

Typically, tuna fishing required waters at least a hundred meters deep, with two to three hundred meters being ideal.

He then took the helm and began searching for deeper waters.

His crab and shrimp pots were also ready to be deployed. The ropes for them ranged in length from a few dozen meters to as long as five hundred.

Gu Nan needed to get a feel for the surrounding topography before deciding where to drop the pots.

They had been at sea for several days, and he knew this would likely be the last stop of their trip. That’s why he was preparing to deploy all his pots.

By tomorrow at the latest, they would have to head back, whether they caught any tuna or not.

After cruising around for about ten minutes, Gu Nan let out a soft sound of surprise as he watched the fish finder.

This was a spot where the depth reached just over two hundred meters, and the fish finder was displaying several large icons. Clearly, there were big fish on the seabed.

Judging by the icons, each of these fish weighed over a hundred pounds.

He stopped the boat directly over the spot and watched the movement of the icons.

In just a short time, the icons moved from under the boat’s stern to the far left side of the display screen.

Based on their trajectory, Gu Nan was certain they were tuna—and large ones at that.

’I can’t believe we found some right after arriving,’ he thought. ’Looks like I’ve found the right spot.’

Not that they could start fishing for them right away.

A situation like this called for a massive amount of chumming to create a large slick that could draw the fish in.

The first thing they had to do was take the massive amount of bait from the freezer hold and let it thaw. The tuna weren’t likely to bite on "popsicles," after all.

It was getting late, so the three women went to the kitchen to prepare a hearty dinner. They still had plenty of food they hadn’t touched, and they’d need to eat their fill before going after the big fish tonight.

Meanwhile, Gu Nan took An Jun and Ye Jing to the freezer hold to haul out box after box of squid and sardines.

His freezer hold could reach temperatures as low as minus sixty degrees Celsius, a level known as ultra-low temperature freezing.

Most fishing boats’ freezers couldn’t get that cold; it was a testament to how well-equipped his vessel was.

He didn’t have the temperature set that low at the moment, though. The hold was full of their catch, which was mostly just being kept chilled on ice.

The giant wide-banded grouper, for instance, was packed with ice inside and out, but its body wasn’t frozen solid. If it had been flash-frozen, it would have been as hard as a rock.

But even at that chilled temperature, the bait was still frozen solid.

The three of them took knives and hacked away at the squid and sardines, sending splinters of ice flying everywhere.

This was the bait for the crab and shrimp pots.

After chopping up a large amount of bait, the two men loaded it into the shrimp pots, fyke nets, and the five crab pots meant for shallower water. Gu Nan then started the boat so An Jun and Ye Jing could deploy them.

Once all the pots were deployed, he piloted the boat to an adjacent deep-water area. This wasn’t the same channel where they had spotted the big fish earlier.

It was on the other side, with a depth of over three hundred and seventy meters. There was no telling what they might catch there.

After deploying five more crab pots, Gu Nan returned to the two-hundred-meter-deep channel to continue chopping bait with An Jun and Ye Jing.

This batch, however, was for chumming up three separate slicks, so they simply chopped the squid and sardines in half.

A single chum slick could require hundreds of pounds of bait.

Three slicks would require at least three hundred pounds, and they’d have to keep tossing in more bait periodically to maintain them. In total, a single tuna fishing expedition could easily burn through several hundred pounds of bait.

The cost was undeniably high, but it was acceptable when compared to the value of a tuna.

By the time the three men had prepared enough chum, the sky had already grown dim.

Just then, a rich, meaty aroma drifted out from the cabin and caught their attention.

An Jun sniffed the air, his face lighting up in delight. "Wow, that seal meat smells amazing! It has this rich, meaty aroma, but with a hint of the sea. Interesting."

Ye Jing, still holding his knife, said dryly, "Ever consider the possibility that the ’hint of the sea’ is coming from the pile of bait right in front of you? ’Rich and meaty with a hint of the sea’... what do you think this is, some fancy clam?"

An Jun’s expression froze. Gu Nan burst out laughing, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. ’Who knew my ’calm and quiet’ brother could be so savage with the dirty jokes?’

Just as Xu Zhina’s voice called out from the cabin that dinner was ready, the three men eagerly washed their hands and headed for the galley.

In the middle of the galley table sat a large tureen filled with seal meat and potatoes braised in a rich, dark sauce.

’Well, I’ll be,’ he thought. ’They just made it like beef and potato stew, but with seal meat?’

As for Yi Chen and the other women, they weren’t eating with Gu Nan and the men at all.

Each holding a plate of steamed vegetables and a steak, they sauntered off to the living room to eat at the coffee table.

Gu Nan silently brought the rice cooker over to the table, took the large bowl An Jun handed him, and declared, "Let’s eat!"

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