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.
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.
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!!
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.
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 I got it - a shrimp was eating the bait and I slowly pulled it up! It fought with its pincers but I got it into the net! I had caught a shrimp! It was my first time and it wasn't too difficult!
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!
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.
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!!
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.
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 I got it - a shrimp was eating the bait and I slowly pulled it up! It fought with its pincers but I got it into the net! I had caught a shrimp! It was my first time and it wasn't too difficult!
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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