All they had to do was to throw their knives into the lake, and they would end up with numerous fish. Such rich natural resources were also one of the reasons why the Thao people decided to move here. However, all of this happened in the distant history.  If you try to copy the Thao people, and do the same thing today, you won't get much in return.  However, if you take some time out and do some serious fishing, I can assure you that you will have a rewarding catch. Why not find yourself a nice, quiet fishing spot? You don't even need to worry about paying any fees, just indulge yourself in a wonderful afternoon of fishing.

Fishing can be done at anytime of the year. The breeding period for chili fish takes place yearly from March to October. Chili fish are about 8-10 centimeters long, and are very easily caught. According to the fishermen, chili fish do not pay much attention to the lures used, and as long as you've got a fishhook, you can catch them easily. Interesting, isn't it?  Another type of fish is the so-called “president fish” (Culter erythropterus Basilewsky). They are named as such because the late president of Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek, especially enjoyed this particular type of fish. Hence, it was nicknamed “president fish”. This kind of fish is about 30 centimeters in length; however, its increased popularity has made it much harder to catch.

Generally speaking, the majority of fish that inhabit the lake are fresh water fish, such as carp and Chinese catfish. Sometimes wuchang fish can also be caught, although not in huge quantities. There is an interesting fact concerning the black carp. Power companies here used to propagate large amounts of black carp in the lake in order to control the number of conches. This had to be done because the larger the number of conches in the lake, the harder it was for the power company to carry out its work properly. And how did it go? Well, it's an unknown fact. However, this unique process carried out by the power company did attract a huge amount of visitors and fishermen to this area. It is said that winter is the best season to catch black carp and Chinese catfish. Do you remember the September 21 earthquake that occurred in Taiwan in the year 1999? It caused a huge decline in the number of visitors to Sun Moon Lake, and during that period, only a few fishermen came here. Consequently, the number of catfish in the lake increased dramatically. What good news for today's fishermen!