I don’t know exactly where this topic should go because I know where to find fishing lures and tackle here - but what I want to know is if there are any Japanese or Taiwanese brands that are cheaper and efficient in Taiwan that I could bring back to the states with me? I love fishing in the US, and more importantly I want something to be able to bring back for my dad and grandpa as a gift and I figured that if I can find some good lures, they’d really like it. Are fishing lures actually any cheaper here? Are there any brands that are more affordable in Taiwan than in the U.S.?
There’s a big sporting goods store at Chilian MRT station… its called EUTOH or something. They sell golfing and fishing equipments.
Pretty much ANY road leading out of town in Taipei has several large tackle shops.
That’s not what I’m asking though… I know where they are, and I’ve been in some of them. What I’m asking is if there are any specific Japanese or Taiwanese lures that are cheaper (and still decent), than the ones I can get in the US.
Probably best if you went to the stores yourself, then. I have no idea what you can get in the US, but presumably you do, and would therefore be the best judge.
I get mine near Fuzhong MRT. Walk toward Chunghua Telecom and there is a great shop with all the stuff just before you get to the telecom store. PM for better directions but you should be able to find Chunghua Telcom easily. Store is just before you get there. Got Coleman small lantern, backpackers gas stove, bait, hooks, lures, poles of all kinds.
Fishing? PM only.
EDIT: Actually, the best fishing I ever had was a cut piece of bamboo with some leader and a purchased fly.
As far as lures are concerned, I’d probably forget about it. From what I’ve seen, the selection isn’t that great here, and I’ve never seen anything that I would bother with. Plus, there’s not really any freshwater gamefishing here, so you can pretty much forget about those kinds of lures. As for pier fishing and jetty fishing, the floats and rigs they use for suspending a bait or lure with a long leader are kind of cool. I only bottomfished off of piers in the states, so I can’t remember if you could get the same stuff for floating rigs.
What’s really great is the large number of collapsible fishing rods. Unlike in the US where a lot of rods are one or two piece models, many rods here are highly collapsible, telescoping models. You can find domestic and Japanese models. The Japanese models are not cheap.You can go fiberglass on the cheap end, or carbon fibre for the lightest, strongest, most expensive ones. There are a lot of light to medium-heavy rods that people use for casting off of piers, rocks and jetties. Many are suitable for casting a couple ounces of lead. There are also the super light action models people use for fishing in creeks or ponds. Rods are available in lengths of up to 10-12 feet. What is very interesting is that a lot of those longer rods are pretty light action, but suitable for casting bait or lures. At high tide in the Dan Shui estuary, you can see guys along the biking trails around Guan Du Bridge fishing with these types of rods. You know all those guys you see scootering around with nets and pool cue cases? Those aren’t pool cues. Those are collapsible rods. Housing and transport being what it is, you can see why collapsible rods would be very popular here and in Japan.
You might want to check the prices for the better Japanese reels. Are they cheaper here or in America? As for myself, I’d be interested in casting reels with high tech mag. control spool braking systems.
Hope you find this useful.
Hi,
I am currently in Taipei and looking to purchase a fishing reel for surf fishing. Can someone advise on the best place to check?
Getting a reel is no problem. Just about any tackle shop should do. I talked to the boss of a local tackle shop. She said they can order a reel for you. They’ll call the Taiwan supplier and see if any are available. You just need the model number. They also have the supplier catalogs. You’ll see mostly Japanese (Daiwa), Taiwan, and Chinese brands in the shops. I didn’t see catalogs for Penn, Garcia, and ABU, so those might be harder to find, and you’d expect to pay a premium for these brands. To find one of those, I’d just contact them through their websites and get the contact info for the Taiwan agent.
I would just keep an eye out for unique handmade lures. Using shrimp as bait here is very popular - so probably unique hooking systems for shrimp. They also sell allot of lures that are banned in the USA or in some states.
Me and my brother collect antique fishing lures and its nearly impossible to find a store that also collects. However, one the largest private collections is owned by a guy in Japan. We pay cash for any antique fishing lures, just an FYI.
Hi. Ty for the reply. I am staying at a hotel near Zongshan. I have no idea where to find a tackle shop. Please can you help?
Check out this link.
purefishing.com.tw/agent_search.php
It’s the search page for Purefishing taiwan. They import foreign western brands. The website lists the products and prices. The site is in Chinese, but hotel staff can help you search and you’ll get addresses and phone numbers of Taipei shops that carry purefishing products. The shops will also carry Japanese and Taiwan brands. There is also a PDF catalog.
You can go to www.purefishing.com. This is their main site and it will explain what they are about.
Thanks again neesh, I have checked the website and there is 1 fishing store nearby which I will go to this weekend. I need some advice. I am buying the reel as a gift for my Dad and I know he has been talking about the Daiwa Saltist reel. The website doesn’t seem to list Daiwa reels. Any idea if this reel is any good and would you recommend anything in particular? It’s mainly for surf fishing in South Africa. Can you give me an idea of what the reel would cost?
No problem. Go to the Daiwa website or other tackle retailers, Copy down the model numbers and name that you want. Go to the tackle shop, Show them the info. They either have it in stock, or can find it in their catalog and then call the distributor to find out if they can get one in Taiwan.
Looks like Purefishing doesn’t handle Daiwa, but the tackle shop will. Daiwa is too popular a brand not to handle.
What kind of reel does your father prefer? It’s pretty important to know as spinning and conventional (multiplier) reels are very different. Daiwa has two kinds of Saltist reels. Spinning reels, and conventional reels. If it’s a conventional reel, does he want a level wind, or non-level wind. A conventional with no level wind is more suitable for long distance casting.
found this review. planetseafishing.com/reviews … ist-stt30h. Figure a couple hundred US dollars. Looks good if your father wants a conventional reel.
Here’s another one. It’s pretty nice and also has centrifugal brakes. fishingstore.co.za/daiwa-sal … onal-reel/
If your father is a hard core distance man, you could consider spending a lot more money and getting him a mag brake Daiwa surfcasting reel. Mag brake will be much more expensive, but nice.
Sorry, no opinion on spinning reels as I used a conventional reel for surfishing.
Thanks Neesh, I did visit a store. The store owner spoke limited english but recommended an Okuma CW303D conventional reel which I purchased 
I hope my dad is okay with it.
Here’s the shop I go to. It’s one of the bigger ones. There’s also a nice one by the Shi Pai MRT station, but this one is closer to you.
台北市大同區保安街58號1F
Bao An Street, #58
Here’s the one near the Shi Pai MRT station.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E6%BC%81%E6%8B%93%E4%BC%81%E6%A5%AD%E8%82%A1%E5%BD%AC%E6%9C%89%E9%99%90%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8/@25.1210308,121.5063314,15z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1z55-z54mM6Yej5YW35bqX!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x947bd732a9bc1be6
[quote=“saintaipei”]Thanks Neesh, I did visit a store. The store owner spoke limited english but recommended an Okuma CW303D conventional reel which I purchased
I hope my dad is okay with it.[/quote]
Cool.