© J.N. Urbanski
Go swimming in Big Pond. Make a detour on the way home and get the most juicy, tender and delicate smoked trout this side of, actually anywhere. Mark Twain wrote extensively about America’s trout with reverence calling it “the masterpiece of the universe”.
According to Andrew Beahrs, who wrote Twain’s Feast, throughout Twain’s life the simple phrase “trout dinner” was synonymous with simple enjoyment, with the pleasure at once luxurious and comforting. Whether he was in Germany or stage coaching across the Nevada Flats, when Twain wrote something to the effect of “we had trout dinner”, you can be sure that whatever had happened before, he ended the day contented. Apparently, Twain loved his trout, straight out of the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe, fried with bacon.
Beaverkill Trout Hatchery, in Catskill State Park, was started by Fred Shaver in 1963 as a hobby and continues to this day over fifty years later, managed by his descendants. The Shaver Farm features a large pond and several adjacent holding ponds containing fish. The water quality is important to the trout, which are sensitive creatures, and the water at Beaverkill Hatchery is cleaned regularly. Blue Heron, bears and bald eagles all prey on the trout, but it’s the Blue Heron that are the greediest and the bears that wreak the most havoc, breaking machinery and ripping up the pond structures.
Beaverkill Trout Hatchery is open on weekends from 8am to 5pm. You can also fish in the large pond for a charge and by permission. Treat yourself to some of the Catskills finest food.
22 Alder Creek Road
Livingston Manor
NY 12758
Phone: (845) 439-4947
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski