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.
It cost 150 Taiwan Dollars - no extras or hidden costs - you catch a shrimp you eat it - so if you are good at it you will be able to eat a feast!! You get a rod, a small bag of bait and you pay extra for a beer.
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!
As Neil and I sipped on beer we realised this was some kind of random night that would be remembered. I knew it was special. I had never been fishing before, of any description and here we were fishing for Shrimps in the city of Shinying! Looking into the murky green water you could see the shrimps. The owner of the centre obviously fill the water up with shrimps to ensure we catch them. Where there were bubbles there were shrimps basically and we moved our rods accordingly.
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 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!
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.
It cost 150 Taiwan Dollars - no extras or hidden costs - you catch a shrimp you eat it - so if you are good at it you will be able to eat a feast!! You get a rod, a small bag of bait and you pay extra for a beer.
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!
As Neil and I sipped on beer we realised this was some kind of random night that would be remembered. I knew it was special. I had never been fishing before, of any description and here we were fishing for Shrimps in the city of Shinying! Looking into the murky green water you could see the shrimps. The owner of the centre obviously fill the water up with shrimps to ensure we catch them. Where there were bubbles there were shrimps basically and we moved our rods accordingly.
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 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!
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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