It was another random Friday night in Shinying and surely this one has to be one of the most enjoyable Friday nights of all time. We went Shrimp Fishing in Taiwan! Really! It was suggested to us on the Thursday night, whilst at the night market with two of Neil's workmates - Binh and David. They said something like "did you know that you can go Shrimp Fishing any time you like, round the corner from here for 150 dollars?" I was initially sceptical as I'm not a great fan of seafood, but then was loving the idea in the build up to it, and especially when we were sat there, relaxing, with a beer, fishing for shrimps.
It was hard to find the venue initially but once inside as the only foreigners in town we found it easy to organise - a shrimp marked a sign on the entrance and the place was busy - there were seats by the pool where you go fishing.
Price was 150 Taiwan Dollars which includes your rod and your bait (small fish). Grab a beer and sit and relaxing waiting to catch some shrimps! It's the same price no matter if you catch 2 or 29!!
Neil and I also had a Taiwan Beer in there, this alone cost 100 dollars, almost the same price as unlimited shrimp fishing. My goal at the start of the night was simple - I just wanted to catch at least one shrimp that was all. When we arrived at the seats next to David and Binh, they had already caught 2 shrimps. Binh was doing well and caught another one while I was getting my bait ready. Basically there are two hooks, and you can attach as little or as much fish bait to each hook as you want. The problem is, if you put 6 on there, the shrimp may be able to eat the bait without getting caught on the hook. I put two fish bait on each hook and using the holder put my rod into the water near the others.
It's a great night out - very worthwhile and you will almost certainly catch at least one shrimp. I found that you can see the shrimps in the green water and if you keep your fishing rod still you have a good chance of catching them!
You could feel the shrimps chewing on the bait on the end of your rod and sooner or later you will catch one! Once I caught one you had to pull it up making sure it didn't fall off then put it in a net and then cook it.
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!
In total we had managed to catch about 10 shrimps which wasn't too bad - it was our first time doing it. The locals are excellent at it - they seemed to catch a lot. Must be a trick to it and a case of practice makes perfect. Now we had the shrimps it was time to cook and eat them!
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!
It was hard to find the venue initially but once inside as the only foreigners in town we found it easy to organise - a shrimp marked a sign on the entrance and the place was busy - there were seats by the pool where you go fishing.
Price was 150 Taiwan Dollars which includes your rod and your bait (small fish). Grab a beer and sit and relaxing waiting to catch some shrimps! It's the same price no matter if you catch 2 or 29!!
Neil and I also had a Taiwan Beer in there, this alone cost 100 dollars, almost the same price as unlimited shrimp fishing. My goal at the start of the night was simple - I just wanted to catch at least one shrimp that was all. When we arrived at the seats next to David and Binh, they had already caught 2 shrimps. Binh was doing well and caught another one while I was getting my bait ready. Basically there are two hooks, and you can attach as little or as much fish bait to each hook as you want. The problem is, if you put 6 on there, the shrimp may be able to eat the bait without getting caught on the hook. I put two fish bait on each hook and using the holder put my rod into the water near the others.
It's a great night out - very worthwhile and you will almost certainly catch at least one shrimp. I found that you can see the shrimps in the green water and if you keep your fishing rod still you have a good chance of catching them!
You could feel the shrimps chewing on the bait on the end of your rod and sooner or later you will catch one! Once I caught one you had to pull it up making sure it didn't fall off then put it in a net and then cook it.
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!
In total we had managed to catch about 10 shrimps which wasn't too bad - it was our first time doing it. The locals are excellent at it - they seemed to catch a lot. Must be a trick to it and a case of practice makes perfect. Now we had the shrimps it was time to cook and eat them!
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!
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