I am a local in North America

Chapter 5 Hibernating Alligator Snapping Turtle
The white-spotted pike is very ferocious. The females can grow to about 1.5 meters in length. Their large size means they need to eat, and even in the cold winter, they are sometimes willing to bite.

Su Jierui once caught a small white pike with a gillnet. It had few bones, was delicious, high in protein, and rich in nutrients, making it a very high-quality ingredient. It tasted great whether grilled or used in soup.

He brought his own "cheat code" to participate in the wilderness solo challenge, which is the source of his confidence in winning the prize money, and also the reason why he believes that it is necessary to spend physical effort to build a raft.

Since filming began, he has never had to worry about food. Animals within a radius of about one kilometer are identified by icons, and he can simply find a way to capture them.

Even if he were starving and had to catch mice, he could still get enough nutrition. However, these things tasted a bit disgusting, and Su Jerry didn't want to try them unless absolutely necessary.

The reason for the low food reserves was simply that no large prey had appeared near the camp.

For example, another contestant, Roland, who lived far away, had exceptional hunting experience. Because he was worried that the wild musk ox herds would wander into other people's territories and be taken advantage of by other contestants, he deliberately chose not to disturb the other musk oxen and let them remain a few kilometers away from the camp.

This means that if needed, the hunter guide named Roland would even have a chance to hunt another musk ox, with a very high chance of winning.

It's already the 80th day, and actually, besides Su Jierui and Roland, there's only one other female contestant left.

She neither caught a large prey in advance nor could she risk going out fishing on a raft like Su Jerry.

Recently, relying solely on stored berries and dried mushrooms to survive the hunger pangs have been insufficient to maintain my daily calorie intake, and I've become incredibly thin, yet I'm still dreaming of winning the competition.

Even if the female contestant wanted to continue, her physical condition probably wouldn't allow it, and she might soon be forced to withdraw from the competition by the program team due to failing the physical examination.

On the cold and desolate shores of Great Slave Lake, nutritious food is the most precious resource for survival.

Around 10 a.m.

Because it was a cloudy day with no sun, the lake water temperature was very low. Su Jierui seized the opportunity and tried several times near the pike with his homemade lure, but unfortunately the big fish did not bite.

This type of fish prefers to swim in the middle and upper layers of the lake and does not require a very long line.

As he moved his hand, the lure mimicked the swimming motion of a small fish. By observing the changes in the pike's position, it was clear that it began to chase the lure.

This discovery initially cheered Sujere up, but it soon swam away again, perhaps distracted by another bass, or perhaps the water was too cold and it wasn't hungry enough to hunt.

He let out a long sigh without thinking.

When it comes to fishing, who doesn't get a little crazy?
Although knowing exactly where the fish are gives you a slight edge over other anglers, whether the fish bite still depends on luck, and sometimes you might go half a day fishing and come back empty-handed.

Anyway, time is never a problem when living alone in the wilderness. Recently, Su Jerry's patience has become better and better, and he even occasionally starts to get used to life without a smartphone.

Seeing the pike swim away, he continued to try his luck at other fish spots. Different fish have different habits, and the fishing methods also vary slightly. After fishing for more than two months, Su Jerry was already quite experienced in this area.

After spacing out for more than ten minutes, I finally remembered that I didn't have enough material for today.

Su Jierui picked up the action camera mounted on the raft again and muttered to himself:
"After the temperature dropped, fishing did become more difficult. Smoked dried fish and smoked venison lose some nutrients, so fresh fish is very important to me and can help me avoid getting some diseases."

"It's already day 80. Some contestants haven't caught any big prey yet, so there shouldn't be many competitors left. Every fish I catch now could help me win that million dollars and give me the freedom to choose my life path after graduation."

"Even the most unlucky person will encounter a few opportunities in their life to completely change their destiny. I feel that participating in this 'Living Alone in the Wilderness' program is one of the precious opportunities that I must seize."

I continued to try my luck everywhere, but not a single stupid fish took the bait.

Thinking that the dim-witted fish nearby had probably already been caught by him, and that the remaining ones were all quite shrewd, Su Jerry felt helpless.

It's not that I'm worried about going hungry, but I really don't want to eat boiled smoked fish or boiled smoked venison again today. Just thinking about the taste makes me feel nauseous. It's barely enough to sustain me, and it has no flavor whatsoever. It's even worse than the white food in the school cafeteria.

Continuing to ramble on while fishing.

“If someone offered me a Chinese meal right now, I would even be willing to give them a $5 bonus.”

"Did you know that chain Chinese restaurants in North America are actually not authentic? They have been modified to suit local tastes. For example, 'Panda Express' has dishes like General Tso's Chicken and fortune cookies that are not found in traditional Chinese food."

"I'm starting to miss braised pork belly, braised chicken with edamame, braised beef brisket with potatoes, and even cola chicken wings. Soaking rice in the sauce of these dishes is simply heavenly."

He swallowed hard as he spoke, making himself hungry by his own wishful thinking.

Su Jierui quickly changed the subject and muttered again:

"Human beings have only one real main task in life: to find a suitable habitat and supplement their diet with 2000 calories a day. Everything else is just a side task that is dispensable."

"Even if a beautiful woman were standing in front of me now, I would only think about whether she had brought any delicious food. I wouldn't have the energy to think about anything else. Survival is the most important thing."

"The wind is so cold today, my hands and feet are freezing. I'll only fish for two hours to avoid frostbite. I hope I catch a big fish, otherwise I'll just have to go back and eat smoked fish again."

I tried to lure several fish with lure bait, but none of them showed any interest in biting.

After setting up the action camera, Su Jierui sat cross-legged on the raft, took a deep breath, and said:
"All of fate is in my favor, all good luck is coming my way, big fish, big fish, take the bait!"

Don't ask, it's all about mysterious Eastern metaphysics. Even he himself thought it sounded ridiculous after saying that.

But under the influence of subtle psychological suggestion, negative emotions are relieved, and one gets a boost of energy.

While others like to stay in one place to fish, he has a clear goal and rows around chasing fish in the lake.

After trying his luck several times, he soon caught two yellow bass, each about 20 to 30 centimeters long.

Yellow perch, also known as golden perch, has a yellowish color with dark black stripes and can often be found in Great Slave Lake.

Each time a fish is pulled out of the water, the other hand uses a homemade landing net woven from vines to scoop it onto the raft. Then, a stick is used to hit the fish on the head before the hook is removed.

This prevents the fish from escaping and also avoids being pricked by the spines on the fish's dorsal and anal fins. In the wild, where medication is scarce, even a small wound can easily lead to infection and fever, so it's always better to be careful.

Seeing the two yellow perch on the raft, Su Jerry was overjoyed; he could have delicious grilled fish for lunch again.

Although there is smoked fish and smoked venison in the camp, it is best not to eat them yet. Judging from the temperature and the speed at which the lake freezes, it will probably be completely frozen in two or three days. At that time, he will not have any handy tools to break the ice and cast nets or fish, and he will lose another stable source of food.

If you try to fish in an ice cave, you're relying entirely on luck, and the chances of catching a fish are extremely slim.

In the freezing cold, who would want to go out and freeze if they could stay warm in a shelter?

Seeing that the fish were still biting, he decided to strike while the iron was hot and catch a few more.

With the current temperature, the outdoors is a natural icebox. Fish can be stored for a long time by simply putting them in a wooden smokehouse.

At night, the temperature drops to -15 degrees Celsius, enough to freeze even mice that go out to forage to death, so there's no need to worry about them being eaten by other animals.

Then they rowed the boat to try their luck at finding fish.

A casual glance left Su Jierui momentarily stunned.

Because somewhere on the shore, there were several lines of information—

Name: Alligator Snapping Turtle (Male)

[Age: 13 years old]

[Health Status: Near Death]

Having lived here for nearly three months, this was the first time Su Jerry had ever found an alligator snapping turtle in this lake. He guessed it had accidentally migrated from upstream along the river before the weather turned cold.

Great Slave Lake is frozen for several months each year, making it unsuitable for alligator snapping turtles. They prefer warmer places, and even if they hibernate by digging burrows on the shore, they still cannot survive the long winter in the area.

The 13-year-old snapping turtle is already an adult. This type of snapping turtle is very large, like a heavily armored, violent "underwater tank", and has a particularly high meat yield. In places like Louisiana and Florida in the United States, there is a tradition of eating snapping turtles.

Moreover, during the pre-competition training, the staff of the "Living Alone in the Wild" program never said that it was forbidden to catch snapping turtles. These creatures have almost no natural enemies in the wild and their numbers are so abundant that they are rampant.

A strong sense of surprise swept through my mind!

Realizing that good luck had truly arrived, Su Jierui almost drooled with envy!

He has eaten a lot of natural wild game recently, and he also tasted braised soft-shelled turtle at home a few years ago, but he has never eaten alligator snapping turtle meat.

It's no exaggeration to say that if you manage to catch a large snapping turtle, the meat yield is no less than if you catch a beaver. The local weather only turned cold last month, and the snapping turtles, which have only recently entered hibernation, should have a lot of meat and fat on their bodies.

To appear normal, he pretended nothing had happened, but in reality, he was already itching to find a landmark and memorize its location, preparing to carefully search for the alligator snapping turtle after getting ashore.

During a moment of distraction.

The white-spotted pike that had been wandering around the bottom of the lake returned to the vicinity of the lure at some point and suddenly launched an attack with remarkable speed!

From its fry to adulthood, this white-spotted pike has hunted countless times, and it's rare for any prey to escape its jaws.

But this time it's different.

The pike took the lure in one bite, and the hook pierced its upper jaw instantly. Startled by the pain, the pike tried desperately to escape, causing the fishing line to taut!
With his mind completely focused on the alligator snapping turtle, Su Jierui didn't notice anything happening in front of him until he felt the fishing rod sink in his hand, realizing that the fish had taken the bait.

What does it mean to have double happiness?

Beneath the scarf covering his face, Su Jierui's mouth was agape in a wide smile.

The moment it is hooked, the pike charges forward with all its might, pulling the drifting raft several meters away. However, while it has great explosive power, its endurance is not as good as some migratory fish.

After a few seconds of calm, the large fish suddenly launched itself like a torpedo, dragging the raft and spinning it around in a circle on the lake.
(End of this chapter)