Pinglin Fishing Ban To Be Lifted for Six Months

Taiwan shovel jawcarp are common in the Pinglin drainage.The river through Pinglin will be open for fishing from May 1 through October 31. Anglers must apply for a fishing permit from the local tourism office in Pinglin. Most native species within the watershed may be taken on a catch and release basis. Common species in the river include Taiwan shoveljaw carp and ayu, among others. For more information, anglers can contact the Pinglin Tourism Office at 26658020. You can find the full article on the Taiwan Fishing Facebook pages (Chinese with Bing translation).

Taipei Area Bass Pond Map

View Bass Ponds in Taipei Area in a larger map

Spring and Spinnerbaits

Spring is the perfect time of year to tie on a spinnerbait in Taiwan. The flashy blades are the perfect enticement for a strike when the water is stained or slightly off color from rain, as it often case during most times of the year. For bedding bass, the fluttering blades are particularly irritating and will usually trigger satisfyingly hard strikes.

I tend to be a creature of habit when it comes to bass, and lately I've been relying more heavily on finesse baits at local ponds, like shaky worms or Texas and wacky-rigged worms. I recently decided to give my spinnerbaits a workout and ended up using them all day long. The cast-to-strike ratio may not have been quite as high as with a worm, but because you tend to retrieve a spinnerbait more quickly, this didn’t affect the number of fish hauled in on this particular morning.

Some local anglers may not have spinner baits in their tackle boxes because they can be hard to find in local fishing shops and when they do turn up they are inexplicably pricey. I avoided this problem by picking up a few while back in the U.S. this winter.

The usefulness of a spinnerbait is not limited to the bass pond. They can be productive in canals, around heavy weeds and other cover, making them a nice change of pace for snakehead anglers tired of the ubiquitous topwater frog. You can also toss them in estuaries for barramundi and red drum.

One of the tricks to using a spinnerbait is tying them on correctly. Here is a simple knot I use that works great.

Rigging Soft Plastics (Worms) for Bass

I have made a lot of references to different ways to rig soft plastic baits for bass--Texas style, Carolina style, wacky style. I'm always on the lookout for a good guide that shows what these various rigs look like and how to tie them. I found a pretty good one on the Gary Yamamoto Web site. For those that don't know Yamamoto, he is a California-based angler and soft bait maker that revolutionized plastic worms with his much imitated Senko stick worms, that are the preferred style for wacky worming. I hope you find these useful.

Jeremy Lin Bass Fishing

...in case you needed another reason to like Lin.

Species Profile: Seer fish, Spanish Mackerels and King Mackerel

Looking for some hot inshore action in Taiwan? Consult a seer.

Within the family of mackerels, bonitos and tunas known as Scombridae, the genus Scomberomorus includes a wide range of species commonly known as seer fish (sometimes seerfish), Spanish mackerels or king mackerels depending on geography and specific species. Taiwan’s waters are home to five varieties of seer fish—a term I’ll use generically for the genus.

Seer fish are among the more commonly caught near shore game fish on the island, and can be fished both from shore and boat. Fast and aggressive, they are both challenge and a delight on light tackle, whether one is throwing lures or fishing with bait. Seer fish can be found from inshore waters to the continental shelf including coastal reefs, bays, estuaries and lagoons.

Here is a quick breakdown of the common local species:

Scientific name: Scomberomorus commersonScomberomorus commerson

Common names: narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, barred Spanish mackerel

Chinese names: 康氏馬鮫, 土魠, 馬加, 馬鮫, 梭齒, 頭魠, 鰆

Size range: Up to 240 cm.

Scientific name: Scomberomorus guttatusScomberomorus guttatus

Common names: spotted seer fish, spotted seer, spotted Spanish mackerel, Indo-Pacific king mackerel, Indian Spanish mackerel, Indo-Pacific Spanish mackerel

Chinese names: 斑點馬鮫, 白北, 白腹仔

Size range: Up to 76 cm

Scientific name: Scomberomorus koreanusScomberomorus koreanus

Common names: Korean seer fish, Korean mackerel

Chinese names: 朝鮮馬鮫, 破北, 闊北, 闊腹仔 

Size range: Up to 150 cm

Scientific name: Scomberomorus niphoniusScomberomorus niphonius

Common names: spotted Spanish mackerel, Japanese Spanish mackerel, Japanese seer fish

Chinese names: 藍點馬鮫, 正馬加, 尖頭馬加, 馬嘉

Size range: Up to 100 cm

Scientific name: Scomberomorus sinensisScomberomorus sinensis

Common names: Chinese seer fish 

Chinese names: 中華馬鮫, 馬加, 大耳, 西達, 中華鰆 

Size range: Up to 218 cm

A wide variety of techniques can be used for catching seer fish, kings and Spanish mackerels. In Taiwan, most are caught on lures and jigs fished both from shore and boats. Trolling is also productive, though not as popular on the Island. Bait, both live and dead, can be used as well. Our friends over at Sport Fishin’ Asia have a nice write-up on rigging live bait for Spanish Mackerel.

Lure anglers prefer bright flashy jigs, spoons (particularly Clark spoons) and plugs that can be worked quickly through the water, whether vertically or near the surface. One may be tempted to rig a wire leader—these species do have notoriously sharp teeth—but keep in mind that these large mackerels have equally sharp eyesight and may shy from heavy wire. It’s a choice between more hookups vs. fewer strikes but more hooked fish landed.

Video Share: Spanish Mackerel Caught Shore Jigging

Not sure exactly where this Youtube video was shot, but guy featured pulls in a what looks like a nice little spanish mackeral shore jigging near a harbor entrance. From the size of the ships in the background, I'm guessing this is in Keelung or Kaohsiung. 

Four Fishing Shows Worth Watching

A combination of weather and fatherly duties has slowed down my fishing lately. In times like these, I am forced to turn to the Internet to feed my fishing habit. Call it fishing porn, if you like (No, not that kind, you sick little monkeys). I’m talking about online fishing shows where you can at least see other people stalking and landing fish when you can’t do it yourself. It’s a great way to visit an exotic localem and learn about new target species and techniques, all from the comfort of your computer desk.

Here is a short list of some of my favorite online anglers in no particular order. Feel free to add your own picks in the comments below. 

Addictive Fishing
Blair Wiggins’s Florida-based angling show one of the more professionally produced of fishing programs online because it is technically a syndicated cable television show with a big Internet presence. As such, it pumped up with of plenty of action, a driving soundtrack and jarring jump cuts. Wiggins is an enthusiastic host who truly seems to enjoy his job—and who wouldn’t when you get to fish for a living. Most episodes focus on Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts with occasional forays to other Gulf Coast fishing grounds and even the occasional freshwater outing. Nearly every episode can be found on the Addictive Fishing YouTube channel or the show’s own Web site. Get ready for endless of product plugs, but hey, they have to pay the bills somehow.

Sport Fishing with Dan Hernandez

This show has a special place in my heart because it focuses on my home fishing grounds—the coastal waters of Southern California. While not as energetic as Blair Wiggins, Dan Hernandez has a friendly charm that’s hard to resist. While not as slickly produced as Addictive Fishing, for me that’s part of the appeal. Let’s face it, I enjoy watching anglers engage in the kind of fishing I grew up on—party boats going after calico bass, yellowtail and white sea bass around the Channel Islands. Again, get ready for plenty of product plugs, but that’s the nature of the beast.

Babs Kijewski’s World of Fishing

OK, I’ll admit that I don’t understand a word that German blogger, outdoor journalist, video host and avid angler Babs Kijewski is saying in her fishing clips, but I sure enjoy watching them. Is it the pure joy she expresses with each catch? Certainly. Is it the pleasure I get from the picturesque settings and the exotic (to me) species she fishes for? Mmm, maybe. Is it that Babs is very easy on the eyes and frequently fishes (on warm days) in a bikini and little else? Well…er….cough. (I’m so ashamed).

Uncle Steve Fishing

Finally, you probably won’t find a fishing videographer more different than those previously mentioned above than Uncle Steve. Laid back and low-tech, starting each clip with his signature greeting “hello boys and girls….of all ages,” Uncle Steve can best be described as the Mister Rogers angling video hosts. As he tromps through the woods and backwaters around his native Raleigh, North Carolina searching out new fishing holes, you feel a bit like a kid again. No fish is too humble for Uncle Steve; he gives equal attention to bass and bream, catfish and chub, delighting in catching even a palm-sized bluegill. No fancy equipment here either, he usually favors a pair of inexpensive spincasting rods. The simplicity of the show makes it almost hypnotic. Everything is shot from a stationary camera while the host provides running commentary, occasionally striking up a conversation with a passing hiker or couple paddling by in a canoe. I can pour myself a glass of wine, sit back and lose myself for hours Uncle Steve’s adventures.

What’s your favorite online fishing show?