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!
We got our beers in and my goal was simple - I only wanted to catch one shrimp - that was it. I hoped I could do it - it was my first time. David and Binh, my friends were flying - they already had caught a few. I added bait to my rod and hung about - I put two fish as bait and waited!
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.
I heard a yank from Neil and he had caught his first shrimp! He pulled it out and the trick is to squeeze the shrimp and stop it from moving. It will put up a fight when you first ctach it. Then you need to pull the hook out of its mouth. Just after this I realised my bait had gone, a shrimp had eaten it but not been caught on my rod. It was just my dream to catch even one, and I was confident I could, especially when Binh was catching them for fun. She caught a total of 5 the whole night.
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!
You just place them uder the grill and cook them on both sides. After 20 minutes or so (maybe earlier) they were looking crispy and ready. We took it in turns to remove the shell and go straight for the large bit of white meat in the middle. Neil felt it tasted like chicken. I felt they just tasted like generic salty seafood. That was the only ingredient to the killed shrimps - salt. Soon our shrimp fishing night was over, and what a random enjoyable way to spend a Friday evening! I'd recommend 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!
We got our beers in and my goal was simple - I only wanted to catch one shrimp - that was it. I hoped I could do it - it was my first time. David and Binh, my friends were flying - they already had caught a few. I added bait to my rod and hung about - I put two fish as bait and waited!
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.
I heard a yank from Neil and he had caught his first shrimp! He pulled it out and the trick is to squeeze the shrimp and stop it from moving. It will put up a fight when you first ctach it. Then you need to pull the hook out of its mouth. Just after this I realised my bait had gone, a shrimp had eaten it but not been caught on my rod. It was just my dream to catch even one, and I was confident I could, especially when Binh was catching them for fun. She caught a total of 5 the whole night.
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!
You just place them uder the grill and cook them on both sides. After 20 minutes or so (maybe earlier) they were looking crispy and ready. We took it in turns to remove the shell and go straight for the large bit of white meat in the middle. Neil felt it tasted like chicken. I felt they just tasted like generic salty seafood. That was the only ingredient to the killed shrimps - salt. Soon our shrimp fishing night was over, and what a random enjoyable way to spend a Friday evening! I'd recommend it.
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