Trout Fishing Farm , Ooty

Ooty allured me to visit it, but my fascination turned to disappointment when Ooty turned as a tourist packed destination, brimming with shops and exhibiting itself to the height of commercialism. My mood went more sullen when the unannounced rain and a local bandh kept me from discovering Ooty.My third day at Ooty came as a hope. We decided to visit the Trout Fishing Farm & Avalanche Dam.

Way to Trout Fish Farm

Avalanche Dam is 25 kms. from Ooty town. The way unfolds mystical landscapes, sun kissed valleys, sprawling lawns of green rich tea estates. Once out of Ooty, we lose the hang of the colonial era and enter a un-wandered, un touched era from the past. The place reminded me of the song – Rimjhim rinjhim from - 1942 a Love Story. True to the word only wanderers come here.

Wilson Trout Fish Farm

The Avalanche dam reservoir is bordered by thick shola forest , which hinders sunlight. The ground remain damp most of the time. We made our way to the Trout fishing farm, crossing a gurgling stream, we came across numerous water tanks, but found not a single soul around. The forest here is very dense and spotting wildlife is next to impossible. This area is inhabited by black panthers.

The farm campus

After going around the farm we spotted a caretaker. We were more than happy to see a human and the caretaker too was obliged to take us around the farm. Trout fish is not native to India, but are only bred here. The small farm had a deficient amount of fishes, but we were not the one to conclude anything. We expected the farm to be a full fledged venture, but were a little disappointed on seeing its condition.

A preserved Trout fish

The forest around is very thick, the caretaker had spotted a black leopard around the campus and we were very vigilant to every small noise around. A family of Nilgiri langoors kept us on alert. The place is very promising and will definitely leave you spellbound.

Trout fish breeding tanks

On our return journey it started drizzling and the scent of the nilgiris made us stick around the place for more time. The avalanche dam sight seeing & fishing in the reservoir is only possible with prior permission from the authorities and therefore we left a little dejected, but the scent of Nilgiris is still fresh in mind and I am hopeful to discover Ooty full fledged next time.

Emerald Dam wall

Places Near Trout Fish Farm --- Avalanche Dam , Emerald Dam
For more photos visit - http://www.myodysseys.com/Trips/Tamilnadu/OOty/Trout%20fish/Trout%20fish.html

6 comments:

  1. been to ooty several times never heard of this.thanks

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  2. I remember visiting this farm during M.Sc. (Fisheries) training days....way back in 1989. The farm used to have people around then.

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  3. Hi Jyoti,
    Thanks for sharing this fabulous article! I've grown in Ooty for almost 11 years until my school and then moved to Chennai for further studies and work!
    This article just fell in my sight, when I just started to search about Trout Fish which I got to know, when I was in England for my projects few months earlier. After all, searching this fish existence in India, I got a chance to view your blog, which made me to know such an amazing information on this effort from the British greats' to build a Trout farm after lot of efforts and risk!
    Its also made me bit disappointed that I couldn't get this info when I was near.
    But I promise that I will make some efforts from my side to get the farm get better and maintained by some sort of pushes through the local known bodies and myself!
    Thank you!

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