Going Shrimp Fishing In Taiwan

Going Shrimp Fishing In Taiwan

by Jonny Blair

So on a Friday night in Taiwan we got our group together and there is an excellent activity you can do for only 150 Taiwan Dollars! Go shrimp fishing - we were in the city of Shinying for it.

Its a less than obvious building on a side street. You wouldn't know there was shrimp fishing happening here unless you could read Chinese Mandarin. Although I did neglect to see the large lit up sign with a picture of a shrimp on it, which was by the entrance. In we went, the only foreigners in town, with Eva our local lady. Once inside, we saw David and Binh on the other side of the small pool with their fishing rods, going for it. It was a cool air conditioned and tidy room, with a pool, lots of seats, a mini bar, the pay point, and the cooking area at the back. This is the sort of random Friday night that Neil and I love. I was so grateful to be invited to such an unusual hobby.

At the counter we paid 150 dollars each for the pleasure of shrimp fishing. There are no hidden costs or extras. If you catch 20 fish, you can cook and eat them there and then, or even take them away with you. This cost included a fishing rod (pick your own), a small bag of bait (wee fish), the seat where you want to sit, a net to put the ones you catch, and as much time as you want sitting by the pool trying to catch shrimps. Whether you catch one or 31 its the same price. And after that you put them on a skewer and grill them yourself before eating them!

The Taiwan beer was flowing as it did in most of my time in the country. 2 of our mates, David and Binh were already there and had caught a few shrimps already! The trick is not to use too much fish for bait and the shrimp can also sometimes eat the bait without becoming fodder.

As Neil and I sipped on beer we realised this was some kind of random night that would be remembered. I knew it was special. I had never been fishing before, of any description and here we were fishing for Shrimps in the city of Shinying! Looking into the murky green water you could see the shrimps. The owner of the centre obviously fill the water up with shrimps to ensure we catch them. Where there were bubbles there were shrimps basically and we moved our rods accordingly.

When one of our rods bent down towards the water, you knew a shrimp was chewing the bait and it was a case of choosing the right moment to pull your rod up, hoping the shrimp wouldn't fall off. Hoping the shrimp was caught, Hoping the shrimp would make it into the fish net, which already contained quite a few shrimps. Ugly white and pink creatures these. I certainly had never seen or eaten one before. Soon I'd be doing both.

Neil got a yank and pulled up his first shrimp. It puts up a bit of a fight but soon you'll have it in your net. I noticed that my bait was gone at one point - a shrimp had eaten it but not been caught yet.

Then a shrimp was tugging on the bait and I pulled it up, but felt the shrimp get away. It was exciting stuff. A bit of skill and luck is needed. Soon though a shrimp was tugging again on my rod and I slowly pulled it up to see a large pinky orangey white ugly sea creature on the end of my rod. I pulled it in and was very happy to have caught one. The job wasn't done yet though. I then had to hold the shrimp and remove the hook. It proved tricky to hold the shrimp, it was fighting with its pincers and I dropped it on the ground, though it was still attached to the hook. I had no problem pulling the hook out of its mouth - it came straight away with a short tug. Then I held on without dropping the slippy shrimp and placed it in the net. On that note I retired! I had done what I wanted - CAUGHT A SHRIMP!

We caught around 10 between us in the end which was good for first timers - but the locals seem to catch a lot more - it's like a local sport or obsession and they're good at it! Now that was out of the way,we settled on another beer and cooking our shrimps!

Simply put them under the grill and after less than 20 minutes they are done (remember to cook both sides). You can have them with a range of food side orders or just eat them with salt as we did. Decent sized shrimps and nice! What an excellent Friday evening in Taiwan!



To read tons more stuff like <a href="http://tinyurl.com/d3aeknw">Shrimp Fishing in Taiwan</a> head to Jonny Blair's excellent website <a href="http://tinyurl.com/d739bzx">A lifestyle of travel</a> for more travel stories and advice.. This article, <a href="http://www.uberarticles.com/home.php?id=1769016&p=68737">Going Shrimp Fishing In Taiwan</a> is available for free reprint.


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