Salmon Ponds and the Museum of Trout Fishing — Attraction in Plenty

Loved it! Worth popping in if even briefly as you drive between the National park and Hobart.

Although my partner and I don’t quite fit the demographic of people who fish or even enjoy eating fish, we both really enjoyed visiting the Salmon Ponds. It was very informative and although neither of us have any experience in fishing we both took away knowledge from the numerous sections and museum buildings the thane been set up really well. Feeding the fish was great fun, especially as each trout/salmon reacts differently to food being thrown on the water. My advice would be to throw the food with “intent” and also to keep throwing in different places from the previous as the ducks will start to swoop in and fight the fish for food (albeit quite entertaining the fish are more interesting)

The grounds are beautiful and we also saw a PLATYPUS swimming in one of the larger ponds. The platypus didn’t care about us and just floated around scratching itself with the odd duck dive here and there.

The cafe pancakes were delicious and the ciders were fantastic

Worth popping in even if you don’t know or even think...

Feb 2022. I used to love visiting the Salmon Ponds as a child and teen. The venue would always be well presented and well maintained. Sadly it seems to have been let go and forgotten about. The ponds are clogged with algae and water weed, the ponds are lightly stocked and the fish are so stressed that they rarely eat the food and are breathing super heavy. Although they have a traffic light sign above the food dispenser, this doesn't stop you from purchasing more food to clog up the ponds. It's almost as if they're in dire need for cash that they let this happen to increase cashflow.

That said, $8 entry per person is reasonable, but the restaurant/cafe is super overpriced, for the small servings offered. The ponds themselves are in a state of dilapidation, and nothing like they were 20 years ago. The hatchery smalls horribly of stale water. The hatchery has a handful of token fry, on different stages, again, nothing like they once had years ago. I really want to see the Salmon Ponds thrive, but it needs love and attention, something it isn't...

The site: They have a very nice garden with a reasonably maintained historic site. However the site was overrated beyond belief. All there is, are 8 ponds with mainly the Rainbow Trout. No demonstration of the breading cycle, no access to the hatchery. It may be okay for very young kids, they get to feed the fish.

The Cafe: I am a regular visitor to various restaurants around Australia and overseas. Very disappointed with the quality of the pancakes and coffee we ordered. The mocha & hot chocolate were terrible. Flat white was very weak with didn't even have the coffee flavor. Compare to machine made Shell petrol stations coffee could be rated at 5/10, where this one would be a 2/10.

We ordered 4 different varieties of pancakes. The taste 4/10, presentation 5/10, service 4/10, hygiene 2/10. Hair was found in the pancake and the ice-cream. Notified 2 of the waitress, they weren't apologetic. Took the photo and reported to the manager (I believe), he...