Friday night in Taiwan meant another amazing chance to do something new and tonight we went for Shrimp Fishing! It was only 150 Taiwan Dollars!
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.
This was certainly a random night that we will remember - first time for shrimp fishing for me and just loving the travel lifestyle of it all! You can notice the shrimps in the murky green water - trick is not to move your rod too much and put them off.
It was a simple process. Feel the shrimp tugging on the bait, pull your rod up, grab the shrimp and put it in the net and you've caught it! Next step to 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.
But alas it didn't take too much longer until I finally caught my shrimp!! I was happy! I felt it tugging, tanked it slowly up and then preceeded to drop it on the floor before securing it into my net! Job done - I caught a shrimp in Taiwan.
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!
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.
This was certainly a random night that we will remember - first time for shrimp fishing for me and just loving the travel lifestyle of it all! You can notice the shrimps in the murky green water - trick is not to move your rod too much and put them off.
It was a simple process. Feel the shrimp tugging on the bait, pull your rod up, grab the shrimp and put it in the net and you've caught it! Next step to 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.
But alas it didn't take too much longer until I finally caught my shrimp!! I was happy! I felt it tugging, tanked it slowly up and then preceeded to drop it on the floor before securing it into my net! Job done - I caught a shrimp in Taiwan.
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!
About the Author:
To read loads more stuff like Shrimp Fishing in Taiwan head to Jonny Blair's excellent website A lifestyle of travel for more travel stories and advice.. Check here for free reprint license: Taiwanese Shrimp Fishing.
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