Spring Valley Trout Farm — Attraction in Dexter Township

Drove over an hour to get there (twice now) and it was definitely worth the trip.

The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, the grounds are clean and neat, there's more than plenty accomodations in terms of seating, fishing, grills, and shelter.

You're welcome to bring your own food to grill on one of their many, many, charcoal grills. No alcohol permitted as this is a kid friendly business.

The farm provides everything you need (covered by the $5 entry fee) but also allows you to bring your own gear, with a few stipulations.

If you bring your own gear, only single point hooks are allowed (no trebles) and no soft plastics.

The fish here have vibrant colors and fight hard, signs that they're from a healthy source. The owner has a video available on YouTube speaking about how all their fish are farm raised, hence the slightly high cost per pound (roughly $9 average between catfish and trout) but you really can taste the difference in their catfish.

He made a comment about it in his video and I can see why he was so confident.

The staff will process the fish as you request as the end and will even bag it up with ice for your trip home. This service cost under $1 per fish to process and for those who aren't used to it, is absolutely worth the cost.

Amazing place to bring your family and friends for a day!

Keep in mind, I would suggest slotting out at least 3-4 hours for this outing and to bring a cooler with drinks and snacks to get the whole experience. On average, I've spent about $80-100 on the day for my wife and I, plus 6-8 fish.

Please do not be surprised or upset about the price as I really feel like it's fair for how well the facility is run and maintained.

Truly hope the owner's son carries on with this amazing farm that's been operating for more than 50 years.

Will absolutely be back once their season opens...

Spring valley trout farm is a great place to spend the day. I have been taking my son for years. We start with the trout then end with the catfish. There is nothing like fresh fish for dinner. You get the fun and excitement of catching the fish and the convenience of walking out with filets on ice. The staff is super helpful especially for the kids. They want to make sure e everyone has a good time. Worms, dough balls and shrimp are provided as bait as part of your admission. I highly recommend bringing your own rod. They do have cane poles but you cant get out deep where the big ones are with theirs. They set up corn hole next to the cabin where you get your fish and pay, nice way to pass the time. My one observation where they can do a bit better is at the kids trout pond. The sign says 10 years and under. Everytime I have been there are some "kids" that look a lot older than 10. I have not seen any staff say anything to those "kids" unless they are blatantly break some other rule such as trying to net out a fish. Keeping the kids pond for kids, helps their enjoyment especially for the littlest ones. Other than the minor thing with the kids pond; this place is great. The grounds are kept clean, no random fishing line laying around, no trash, even the bathrooms are clean and well supplied. Thanks Spring Valley, we...

oh my land, we had an excellent experience. The owners and staff were simply great , the fish were beautiful and the fishing was fun--just enough anticipation to make it exciting. The staff were very quick and efficient with cleaning the fish and putting on ice, and the provided recipe for rainbows on the grill was the best I've ever had. We'll be back. often

Update, Sept 2018. As noted, we went back for more fun, with friends in tow. I neglected to note that the trout fishing here is excellent--many are impressive size, but not all are unreasonably large--but there is some challenge to it. I was worried that for a first-time fisherman he would think that he could catch fish with a bare hook and on every cast. Granted, with a little practice casting, and patience it was a sure thing, it just wasn't instant, thankfully. This more recent trip the catfish portion of the farm seemed to present some relatively difficult fishing conditions. One of the visitors caught 3 catfish, while we were watching so not overly challenging, yet we didn't see others in this same brief period having the same luck. Again, in my view, at least a little anticipation really helps make fishing fun. And the fishing...