Chiayi Snakehead Sets New IGFA Record

Gerhard with his IGFA record breaking chevron snakehead and a little souvenir for his efforts (note the treble hook buried in his index finger).Big things are happening down in Chiayi these days as a handful of expat anglers are indulging in some record-breaking snakehead action. Last October, South African Gerhard Terblanche caught a 3.6 kg. chevron snakehead (haruan) at Tsengwen Reservoir that set a new IGFA All Tackle World Record. Just this week he received the official certification confirming his record-book status.

A month later, fellow South African Duane Christie landed a massive giant snakehead (toman) that at 9.775 kg. was just shy of the IGFA record of an even 10 kg. Duane asked that I keep the location of his catch a secret for now. He and his fishing buddies down south are still on the hunt for that record-breaking monster toman, and though they have come close, one on the scale of the November 2011 monster has so far eluded them.

It’s safe to say that there are big snakeheads in several of Chiayi’s reservoirs—Tsengwen, Paihe (White River) and Renyi Tan—not to mention local streams, ponds and canals. The next record-breaker is just waiting.Almost there. Duane Christie with his monster 9.775 kg. giant snakehead. Just shy of the 10 kg. record.

Red Drum at Nanliao Saltwater Ponds

Austin on an earlier Nanliao trip in May landed this monster red drum. Photo by GK.Last weekend I had a chance to check out a new (to me) saltwater pond in the Hsinchu area that some of my fishing buddies in that town have been raving about. The pond is just across the river from Nanliao Harbor on a little peninsula near the river mouth. It’s stocked with variety of game fish including jack, groupers, Japanese sea bass, pompano and red drum (redfish).Austin's small red drum from this weekend.

By far the drums seem to be the most numerous and frequently caught species at this particular location. Native to the U.S. Gulf Coast and South Atlantic seaboard, they are imported to Taiwan for the aquaculture industry and have made their way into the recreational fish ponds.

Red drums have controversially been released into the wild locally by a few misguided Buddhist groups. These religious organizations frequently buy up stocks of farm-raised fish and set them free hoping for a karmic boost for their members. The environmental damage may be difficult to gauge, but red drums have been showing up in the catches of local anglers along the coast for the last few years.GK with a nice red in May.

There are actually two ponds on the premises—a catch-and-release pond and a catch-and-keep pond. Both are open 24 hours and NT$500 gets you a whole day of catch-and-release fishing. The catch and keep pond is a bit more expensive. You are restricted to using artificial lures in the catch-and-release side.

Big reds put up quite a battle, especially on light tackle.On my recent visit we didn’t catch much, but it was the middle of a hot and windy day. Austin did manage a small drum just as I was getting ready to pack it in. Other visits by Austin and his friends have produced some big and beautiful reds, which are tough fighters known to straighten out cheaper treble hooks. Below is a map to the pond location. 

View Nanliao Saltwater Fishing Ponds in a larger map

Sunday at the Jhunan Saltwater Pond

I took the kids down to Jhunan on Sunday and met up with GK (seen catching all the groupers in the video), Austin and a couple of their fishing friends for an afternoon of salt pond fishing. I didn't have much luck personally, but GK caught several groupers and other friends caught black porgy and a drum of some kind. 

Chiayi County Township Expands Fish Conservation Program

Shoals of shovelmouth carp in the Danaiku Ecological Park.The Chiayi County township of Danaiku is expanding its successful local conservation program by boosting fish stocks in other area streams. The township banded together a few years ago and created a very successful grassroots program to protect the township's traditional fishing grounds from illegal electrical and cyanide fishing. The resulting Danaiku Ecological Park is now showcase program and the town's streams teem with fish--mostly striped dace and shoveljaw carp--which tour groups can tour and view. The township is now launching an combined tree planting and fish stocking program to improve conditions in other area streams within the Zengwen River drainage.

Friends Seek Donations for Family of Drowned Hualien Rescue Swimmer

Hualien rescue swimmer Du Jinfu. Images on right show him just before he was swept into the rocks during a rescue attempt on April 1.Fishing the rocks along Taiwan's coast is not without its hazards. Anglers are frequently swept into the water by unexpectedly large waves and often it is volunteer rescue swimmers who are called on pull them to safety. It was in just such a situation that took the life of a Hualien rescue swimmer on April 1. Du Jinfu attempting such a rescue when he he was suddenly swept into the rocks in heavy surf and drowned. You can find a full description of what happened here as well as background on the local hero who was responsible for saving many Hualien area anglers. Friends are seeking donations to help Du Jinfu's wife and elderly parents (see above link for info).

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.