Do I need a fishing license to fish.
Are these rivers fresh water or salt water?
What can I expect to catch?
bait or fishing lures?
Im just looking for something fun to do on the weekend. Catch and release.
There is an out of place fishing tackle place in Yonghe, but due to my lack of mandarin I have yet to venture inside… Only seen it from the bus.
Can I fish at the parks? The big ones… sorry… no name comes to mind at the moment… yamming mountain ( a horrible butchering of the proper name.)
You may find something of use in this thread: Angling in Taiwan
Have a look and I’ll merge the two later.
are there any edible fish in danshuei or keelung rivers??last time i checked, they had nice landscaping around parts of them, but those funky bubbles that appeared in the mid day heat turned me off…
While I probably wouldn’t eat anything coming out of most of the waterways around municipal Taipei, there are fish to be caught.
In the freshwater streams, canals and estuaries that feed into the Dansui River you’ll find plenty of tilapia. These can be caught on bait (dough, worms or corn) and small artificial lures. Further downstream in brackish and freshwater areas you can catch juvenile Indo-pacific tarpon and mullet. These can be fun on light spinning or fly gear. April to October is the best time for tarpon around Taipei.
Some of the park ponds around town attract anglers. I’ve been told you can catch tilapia, carp and the occasional largemouth bass in Dahu Lake Park and Nangang Park. You might also try one of the many pay-to-fish ponds in Taipei or Taoyuan county. It will run you about NT$200-300 for day of fishing at a freshwater pond. Salt ponds tend to be a bit more pricey, but the owners will often buy back what you catch.
I was greatly surprised to see a fishing boat in the Keelung River the other day, casting out a net and pulling in fish, apparently for people to eat. I wouldn’t knowingly eat fish from that river.
I have no idea if it is legal or not but many people fish in the rivers. They are a mixture of fresh and saltwater - you can see the water level rise and fall with the tide. When little fresh water enters the system, and when the weather is warm, fish kills are common due to low oxygen levels. I don’t fish but the most common species I see (in very in large numbers) is Tilapia.
I saw some huge fish yesterday - 3 feet or so - but I have no idea what they were.
There are definitely many rivers you can’t fish in, especially in reserves or national parks, so check before you had out.
Yowza, those were some big fish. Was that in the Danshui River?
Mucha Man is right about mountain streams. Many are closed to fishing. Downstream at lower altitudes is usually a safer bet. Usually they are posted, but not always, and just because you spot other anglers doesn’t always mean its legal to fish there. Most tackle shops know which local streams and lakes are open to fishing. The Keelung River through Neihu to its confluence with the Danshui River is open to fishing as far as I know. Upstream near Pingxi is popular for fly fishing.
Hi,
Was fishing at the Keelung on Sunday with bread. Current was too strong for float fishing, and bottom with a split shot didn’t work out too well too.
Any idea what bait is to be used? I saw a lot of huge catfish breaking surface and swimming against the current.
Oh, and is there any good tackle shop in the Neihu area??
Regards
Damien
[quote=“Madgix”]Hi,
Was fishing at the Keelung (Jilong) on Sunday with bread. Current was too strong for float fishing, and bottom with a split shot didn’t work out too well too.
Any idea what bait is to be used? I saw a lot of huge catfish breaking surface and swimming against the current.
Oh, and is there any good tackle shop in the Neihu area??
Regards
Damien[/quote]
Just to be clear, you mean Keelung River and not the canal in Keelung city, right? Catfish aren’t too picky with regards to bait. Small shrimp are a good all-around bait for an estuary. You might try a dropshot rig with the weight at the end of the line and the hook above the weight, but you will want something a bit heavier the average split shot. I don’t really know Neihu for tackle shops, but I do know a couple good shops in Nangang with English-speaking staff if you’d like to message me.
Hi guys, please, really looking for some guys to go fishing with, i love fishing and i promise, i am not that bad company… hehehe.
I have fished for catfish in durban, was using a bottom trace with a fish bait, so maybe something along those lines, also seen people use small fish as live bait for cat fish. Hope that helps. 
Lots of people use a paternoster style rig, which is basically a sinker at the bottom of the line with your hook line coming off of a swivel further up.
I try to get out fishing at least a couple of times a month (when I can get past the wife). I usually end up bass fishing at one of the ponds in Taoyuan County. Anyone is welcome to come along. If you are not into tossing lures for bass, some of the ponds stock other species as well, like catfish, carp, tilapia and even the occasional barramundi. Just message/e-mail me.
Thanks a lot man, much appreciate it… will definitely drop you a message when i can get passed my wife… hehehe.
Yeah, Keelung River, the section near Jihu Road.
I’m actually new to this part of the world. Left most of my gear back home from my country of origin.
So I really do not mind some fishing buddies to go along for a trip!
Btw, is there any saltwater ponds near Taipei?
I need to buy some more equipment, approx how big were those catfish that you saw? i have a light setup with me at the moment, so maybe need to do some shopping… would love to target catfish, they give an awesome fight…
Madgix, let me know when you wanna go fishing again… i haven’t been fishing in ages, keen to go again.
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Hmmm, I saw a 3 footer swim against the current. Then several breaking surface. None took my bait (bread) tho. Prob because my bait was floating down the stream.I didn’t have the necessary weights for the current!! Lol.
3 footer would bend my rod in half… hehehe. I need to go shopping!
Same. Although I think my gear is alittle heavy for the rivers. Well, lightly on the drag and let em rip
I sent you a pm, see if you keen.