Although the scenery may look familiar, no, I’m not in Virginia. This is still in China. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go fishing at a private reservoir just outside of Shenzhen. Our day started by driving with family friends to a small resort. At first, I thought this was our fishing location. We had a tasty lunch at this resort which also offers fishing in their private pond as well as other outdoor activities like hiking on their trails. After lunch we drove to a friend’s private reservoir. The reservoir is stocked with various fish species. Prior to our trip to China, I had packed a small tackle box of various lures and fishing tackle thinking that much of my time would be around the ocean. I didn’t think I would actually use any of the tackle but today I borrowed a spinning rod and reel setup and used my own tackle. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this reservoir has an abundant population of largemouth bass. Apparently, the bass had been stocked a few years ago and virtually nobody here had the equipment, knowledge, or experience to target largemouth bass for fishing fun. The local Chinese here enjoy fishing but their variety of fishing is very different than that of the States. They usually use a spinning rod or a long fiberglass rod that isn’t equipped with a reel. Then you setup along the shore and use a flavored dough bait on a hook with a small stick bobber. Loose dough bait is also thrown into the water to chum the water with scent. The local species of fish will then approach the scented water and bite on your bait. It appears that carp and some other species that looks like large shiners are caught regularly. Fortunately for me, the bass here probably have never seen an artificial bait before. Unfortunately for me, most of the ones biting were very small and not worth keeping as I must have had to release about 20 or so baby bass. I ended the day with two keepers measuring about 12-13 inches. After our trip, our friends brought us to a seaside restaurant. Our caught fish were then given to the chef to prepare. Largemouth bass is a delicacy here in China. Our hosts told us they regularly eat bass at restaurants and find it to have excellent flavor. As a matter of fact, you can actually go to Walmart and buy live largemouth bass to take home and prepare yourself! Overall, the day was a relaxing getaway from the hustle and bustle of inner city Shenzhen. We are especially grateful to our hosts who gave us this special opportunity to share a Sunday at their private getaway!