Kaohsiung Shrimp Catching Thanks Formosa

[Natural Lefty]

Duo-Duo took me to the same shrimp fishing pond as before today from about 2:20 to 5:20 p.m. which costs 350 N.T., about $12 or so. He promptly said somebody wanted to talk to him about computers -- he repairs and upgrades computers for a living -- so he left me there until 5:20. I felt a little odd and self-conscious, but it was okay.

I adjusted the bobber so the bait would just barely reach the bottom, with the bobber sort of standing up at an angle, and it worked. I started catching shrimp quickly. I was outfishing everyone else there, and caught 6 in the first hour. I think the other people averaged less than 1 per person that hour, or 1 per person at the most. I was following the advice of another FNN member, Formosa, who is familiar with the shrimp fishing in Taiwan, I am sure imperfectly, but it was working.

Then some stupid employee came along, asked if I could speak Chinese and started talking to me in Chinese, so I told him "Wo Ting Bu Dong" -- I don't understand in Chinese, although I understood a bit of what he said but not enough. Well, he apparently thought my line was too long and he shortened it by about 8 inches for me which probably made my bait dangle above the bottom out of the reach of the shrimp. I tried it his way for awhile, and nothing bit. Frankly, I think he thought this foreigner (a left-handed one no less) was catching too many shrimp, so he fixed that, which really pissed me. I tried to tell him my setup was good as it was, and showed him my shrimp, but he proceeded anyway. After a while of no bites with the shorter line, I readjusted the bobber, but apparently the employee's bad karma had rubbed off on me, bites were far fewer than before, and I missed the ones I had. In fact, I caught zero shrimp in the second hour. Meanwhile, a young man and woman sat near me and started catching them instead of me. The man didn't look Chinese; I think he was half-chinese half Bai Ren (white) but I am not sure. Anyway, he must have grown up there because he and the gal were speaking Chinese. After about an hour in which they caught about 7 or 8 shrimp between them, two more guys showed up and the gal said she wanted to help me. They put a weight on my line and carefully adjusted the bobber so it would stand upright but the bait would just reach the bottom, and I started getting more bites again. I caught two more shrimp in the last hour plus missed a few, and figured out how they were catching them. What worked best, aside from my initial luck/fishing skill/helpful advice from Formosa/success, was letting the bait sink down, maybe watching for bites for awhile, then slowly and steadily dragging the bait along the bottom, which often prompted bites which were usually obvious (moreso than my previous technique) because the bites would drag the bobber down as I pulled the line. I saw that was what the people who were helping me were doing, more or less. Unfortunately, I ran out of time while I was still getting bites.

Eunice didn't go because it was hot, she felt tired (took a nap when I went), and hates smoke. Well, when I first got there, only one person across the pond was smoking, but more and more smokers showed up later. All four of the people next to me were smoking, although they were nice to me and helped me. Frankly, sorry all you smokers out there, but i hate smoking too. I thought the anti-smoking campaign in Taiwan had been pretty successful, but not with that crowd. I think one reason smokers often have success fishing is that they drive the competition away with the carcinogenic, foul smelling substances they waft through the air. I guess Duo-Duo was correct not to bring Eunice there. Ironically, Duo-Duo said there was a no-smoking sign there. I didn't notice it though, and the smokers ignored it.

One other strange thing that happened was that my bobber one time, shot down like a rocket. I thought maybe one of those big Tilapia got into there, and grabbed my bait, but I guess not. Maybe a shrimp swimming by accidentally snagged my line. I did see an occasional shrimp swimming around, although most of the time they are on or near the bottom. I set the hook of course, but came up empty.

We didn't bring the camera, but my catch consisted of 8 of those large Tiger Shrimp. It would have been a lot more if I had continued to match my success of the first hour, but still, I did a lot better than last time and learned a lot about shrimp catching. I might be able to go again on Thursday, so we shall see. By the way, these shrimp were definitely eating the bait. All but one of my shrimp were hooked in the mouth. Two of them were hooked so deep that it was difficult to remove the little salmon egg hook without pliers. The gal who was helping me actually ended up getting the hook out of the last one I caught. The one shrimp which wasn't hooked in the mouth, was hooked in its large front leg, which I think it was using to help eat the bait.

Anyway, it was a interesting and somewhat successful shrimping experience, and apparently I caught Duo-Duo and A-Fen's dinner. I am being taken out to a restaurant again and they are telling me it's time to go...

[old pudd fisher]

Thanks for all your reports and they were so interesting and fun to read, what an experience you are having over there and a memory that will last forever. Duo-Duo seems like a kind of wild guy, just joking. I bet you will be glad to come home after that long stay.

[formosa]

it's great that you catch those tiger shrimps, but i wasn't the one tell you how to catch it. good luck thursday. looks like you have those shrimp dail in. thanks for the report.

[Natural Lefty]

If you say so Formosa, I guess it wasn't you, but I got detailed instructions from someone. I had them dialed in until that employee got me out of my groove.

Old Pudd Fisher, Duo-Duo is pissed this morning because his computer isn't working. He will have to repair it. We went on a trip to a place called Taitung where I hoped to go fishing, but didn't. That's another interesting story. The person who invited us said they had "fishing ponds" by the hotel, but they were actually "fish ponds" with pet Koi and pretty pink and gold Tilapia you weren't allowed to fish for. We did get to feed them, though. We didn't have a car so we didn't get to drive around there. Mostly, I am worried about the cats, the yard and the house mostly, rather than missing home so much, but at least I will be able to do things as I normally do when I go home, including hopping in the car and going fishing somewhere that I know what I'm doing.