History of the farm

In 1846 William Jardine, a Scottish immigrant, established a landholding at Round Plain which he named “Bullenbalong”. The present trout farm homestead, circa 1889, is built near the site of his original farmhouse.

Construction of the Eucumbene Trout Farm was commenced in 1973 by the Craig family. After constructing the main dam, “Stony Lake” a small hatchery was established and trout were grown in large floating cages in the Lake. In December 1980 a flood event, with a 6’ deep wave caused damage to the cage structures on the Lake.
See below: (click on an image to view it fullsize)

An aerial photo of completed dam and shows the first walkway which held cages for the Trout, circa 1975
Looking north from the wall in the snow shows the four walkways for the cages, circa 1978. The inlet is approximately 1 kilometre distant.
Walkway 1 showing a cage in lifted position
This photo taken 30 December 1980, shows the wall of water, from a cloud burst, about to hit walkway 4 and which heavily damaged all the walkways
This was taken in March 2012 when again flooding raings were recorded
The farm today and the picnic grounds

Subsequently the result involved the construction of many small tanks and a large building to house the fingerlings. Finally several large external tanks were built for grow out and broodstock.

In 1988 the farm was purchased by John and Margaret Crago and a major redevelopment was undertaken involving extensive landscaping, picnic and BBQ areas and establishing the Trout farm as a popular regional destination.

At various stages the farm has included a vets clinic and horse riding.

The Eucumbene Trout Farm in the pristine Snowy Mountains of NSW is the only place where you can leave with your own Trout.