In July I will be, for about 4 weeks in Taiwan. Every year I go back to Taiwan, and I will think of go out fishing (but not for shrimps in a basin! 
). Last year I was in Taiwan, I bought some magazines but still don
Saltwater or fresh? July isnāt too good for the rivers due to the typhoon season. They go up and down like yo-yos and anyway, the fish are tiny unless you hike up the creeks for many miles.
Thereās sea fishing all along the north coast not far from Taipei, both off-shore in charter boats and shore-based, either off the beaches or off the rocks.
Thanks sandman, good info!
I like fresh water fishing more. But I noticed that the fish they show in the magazines are very small. If that is the size I can expect, than I prefer saltwater fishing. Will āDanshuiā be a good place to go? And is there a place I can rend some fishing gear, otherwise I will buy some. I donāt like to bring my own rods to Taiwan: to much trouble. Oh almost forgot to ask: Do you need a license?
Many of Taiwanās mountain streams are totally off-limits to any type of recreational fishing starting this year. Itās about time and the initial results are promising. We did a river hike up on Bei-hen last weekend and Iām happy to report seeing some 6-7 inch fish in one of the streams we swam in. Two years ago it was completely empty.
The best salt-water fishing would be on the north-east coast between Mao-ao and Luo-dong, about 2 hours from Taipei. Iām not sure about the regulations, but it seems merely to be if you have a rod and reel you can fish all you want. This section of the coast faces south into oncoming waves, so be careful. Rocky, wet and slipperyā¦Buy yourself some felt-bottomed diving booties before venturing out there.
They are serious about the stream-fishing banā¦150,000NT or six months for one fish!
Michael thatās great about the general ban on river fishing. I knew they were doing that around Pingxi but not the whole island. Where did you here about this?
The only place Iāve seen largish river fish is in the Jingmei river in Mucha near Jenda University. You get schools of fish under the bridges all around 6-8 inches long. But Iāll be damned before I would ever eat one though. 
They had a moratorium on river fishing up around Fushan village area a few years back ā big red and white signs at all the trailheads ā but I donāt know how well it was adhered to, as we nearly always would see anglers all over the rivers.
Theyāre probably tilapi. At Bitan there are a lot of big ones ā 3-4 lbs ā but youāre right, I wouldnāt eat them. I used to see this other kind of fish in the creek at Muzha ā great big catfish-looking things of maybe 5-6 lbs that would swirl up out of the mud occasionally. Actually, I donāt know exactly how filthy the water there is ā I mean, lots of fish, turtles, kingfishers, dippers, dragonflies, blah blah blah. I wouldnāt swim there, butā¦
Also, if you put on a mask up past Wulai in some of the deeper pools youāll see many decent-sized native river fish up to about 3/4 lb, but you donāt often see people catching them ā they 'aint stupid! (I mean the fish, not the people.)
Ever been to Daneyigu near Shanmei in the Alishan area? They started protecting the stream about 12 years ago and now the schools are as dense in some ponds as on a healthy coral reef.
I think the Jingmei is a lot cleaner than it was when I first moved here. Not as clean as when my wife was a child and they could swim in it but itās getting better. I see a lot more egrets and cranes every year now feeding in the spring. I suppose if the fish were seriously polluted the birds wouldnāt be coming back every year in greater numbers. But still Iām not going to eat them (the fish, well, not the egrets either).
I was walking on the dike one night a few years back and saw a guy fishing with a net. I sure hope he was just doing research.
Sandman wrote:
Probably another invasive species, the snakehead fish.
[quote]I was walking on the dike one night a few years back and saw a guy fishing with a net. I sure hope he was just doing research.
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You and your damned invasive species. As one foreigner to another shouldnāt you show a little sympathy? 
Not snakeheads (I prefer the name Asian Walking Deathfish) but more like those black & white spotted things you sometimes see in fishtanks that look a bit like sturgeon. And some of them are catfish, which are pretty common.
Shrimps in a basin hahaā¦ good for you man.
I had two good catches before the cold settled in towards the end of last year. Anyone want to take a stab and guess where I caught this one, type and size?
Iāll only tell you if you can convince me you catch and release.