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!
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.
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 caught his first one and I thought I was next but it appeared the shrimp had taken my bait and eaten it and swam away. I was out of luck!
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!
To cook them just grill them on both sides and it's fast - between 10 and 20 minutes. They were quite big and of course we shared them and ate them with just salt but you can get all sorts of dishes and side orders to eat them with. All in all this is a fantastic way to spend a Friday evening in Shinying - 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!
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!
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.
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 caught his first one and I thought I was next but it appeared the shrimp had taken my bait and eaten it and swam away. I was out of luck!
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!
To cook them just grill them on both sides and it's fast - between 10 and 20 minutes. They were quite big and of course we shared them and ate them with just salt but you can get all sorts of dishes and side orders to eat them with. All in all this is a fantastic way to spend a Friday evening in Shinying - Taiwan!!
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