The Van Hornesville Fish Hatchery is located in the town of Stark in Herkimer County, and stocks New York’s Capital District.
The hatchery raises rainbow trout – roughly 97,000 yearlings (8-9″) and 80,000-100,000 fingerlings (3-5″), for transfer to other hatcheries or stocking.
A well was dug for domestic water and it turned out to be an artesian well that flows at 35-55 gallons of water per minute. The excess water is piped to the fish ponds for fish production.
Although springs provide crystal-clear water through underground channels at a total of 440 gallons per minute, the water source remains a mystery. The water is a constant 47°F year round since it comes out of the earth.
The Van Hornesville Challenge is not a marathon or bicycle race, it’s an educational experience for school kids to see who can hold their hand in the 47°F water for the longest time. The kids get to experience “first-hand” cold water fish culture.
The hatchery is open to public from 8 am to 3:30 pm, seven days a week.
For more information on the Van Hornesville Fish Hatchery, click here.
Photo: Van Hornesville Fish Culturists Craig Dubois and Rebecca Rogers stock tiger muskellunge at Canadarago Lake in Richfield Springs, NY.
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