If you're looking for a place to bring the family (with little kids) or somewhere where you're…read moreguaranteed to catch a fish without completely feeling like you're at essentially just netting some fish out of an aquarium, this is a GREAT place to go. It can be expensive, since you're paying by the pound ($8.95/lb) and you're not allowed to throw any back ($5 fee for every fish you throw back). But the experience is worth it if you're in town for a weekend or looking for something a little different to do, but not wanting to be disappointed going home empty-handed.
This place was made up of 2 ponds where you could fish, and they were both stocked with trout. Because it's nestled in the forest, you do feel like you're in a legitimate place to fish, and not necessarily at a stocked pond. The pond itself is also murky, like you'd expect nature to be, so you don't really see all the fish in there, but if you catch a glimpse of the fish by the shore, you get the feel that you're pretty much surrounded by fish. Not complaining though!
When you arrive, you can rent fishing rods for a $1 each. One of ours broke and he replaced it with another complimentary. He also provides you with worms as bait for $0.50. The owner isn't the friendliest but I don't think means anything by it. We were there for a couple hours and caught four trout, our last one being the biggest, twice as large as the others! We caught three trout that were all around 1-1.5lbs each and then the last one was about 3 lbs! So the pond has a wide variety of sizes to catch from.
The owner cleans the fish for you, and you get the choice of cleaned/gutted or filleted. Keep in mind that filleted doesn't necessarily mean fillets like you see at the grocery store, where things are boneless, and you just have the meat. Here, the fillets are essentially cleaned, the main spine is removed, head and tail removed, and split in half but still has the skin and is essentially one piece of fish with two sides. He puts it on ice so it helps keep it fresh on your way home. I'd highly recommend bringing a cooler and your own ice to keep it fresh for longer, in case you were going to do other things in the area after. We left it in the truck, in the ice, in the cooler overnight, and by the time we got back home it had been a little over a day before we got to it. The fish themselves tasted so much better than you get from the store though! It was orange flesh, which means they've been feasting on some good grub like crustaceans, grub, etc., rather than fish food. And the meat was tender, mild yet flavorful, incredibly fresh and delicious.
