It always amazes me that trout have been introduced in so many places across the globe. When I was in Tasmania a few years ago, I visited Salmon Ponds, built in 1861 and the oldest trout-rearing facility in the Southern Hemisphere. There’s a little museum there that explains how the English managed to transport brown trout so far.
They’d pack salmon and trout eggs in ice in the hold of a ship, which had to make the months-long journey around Cape of Good Hope and halfway around the world. The first time they tried it, all the eggs perished en route, so they tried again. The second attempt also failed. But so desperate were the English in Tasmania to recreate their home angling experience that they wouldn’t give up. Finally, on the third attempt, the ship arrived in time, and the fishery was born. Check out the video above to see what Tasmania offers today.
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It reminds me of the King of Swamp castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up.”
The trout raised in the hatchery were then carried on horseback to lakes and rivers all over the island. Tasmania now has several incredible and unique fisheries. In the Western lakes, you can even sight-fish to cruising double-digit browns. The salmon, on the other hand, were a disappointing failure: once released, they went out to sea and never returned.
The British Empire has much to be ashamed about, but anglers in many different countries owe their sporting lives to the Brits. You can learn a lot more about the history of trout in Tasmania at the Salmon Ponds Web site.