The fish experience: from the rod to the table

If you just want to escape the stress of your day-to-day life, you can go on an adventure and follow the aroma of smoked fish or sample freshly-caught fish. Whether you want to fish, explore, or simply enjoy eating fish, here are seven tips for you.

It is a unique experience for kids when they are finally allowed to fish. At the small fish pond at the “Kärnten Fisch” fish farm in Feld am See, fishing is a family adventure. But there is much more to discover: the Hofer family’s pond complex now includes 70 natural ponds and 30 breeding tanks in which primarily rainbow trout, brook trout, lake trout, speckled trout, salmon trout, and grayling splash about.

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At the Schloss Lichtengraben farm in Carinthia’s Lavanttal Valley, farming fish has a long tradition. Even the present owner’s great-grandfather, Calvary Captain Baumann, bred brook trout at this palace farm. Visitors fishing at the two large natural ponds near the castle ruins of Painburg can get very close to the fish and even catch trout weighing up to three kilograms. If you are more interested in eating fish, the palace offers smoked fish fresh from the oven as well as “Slow Fish” fish tasting with an introduction to smoking fish and a visit to the fish ponds.

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There’s always something going on at the Peraus family’s Bruckschlögl Hof in Upper Austria: Three generations live and work here at this farm in Niederneukirchen. The history of the ancient Bruckschlögl Hof dates back to the year 1230. As a “seminar farmer”, Anna Peraus now also teaches fish-cooking classes in Linz, and the Peraus family has received numerous awards for their fish specialities. “To me it is very important to cook regionally and seasonally. Fish is becoming increasingly important in our diet, which is why it is my goal to get the trout into every household,” says Anna Peraus. You can buy the Peraus family’s fresh trout right at their farm store.

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Do you crave hand-made, Native-American-inspired “candy sticks” or char ceviche, a staple in Peru? Immerse yourself in the exciting world of fish when you visit the pioneer of organic fish-farming right in Vienna’s Hernals district. “Natural, organic, regional – these are our most important principles,” says Marc Mößmer. With great sensitivity and in traditional manual labour, at his Biofisch Manufaktur he takes freshly caught fish from the Teichgut Haslau in the Waldviertel region in Lower Austria and processes them for his creative recipes. If you want to try the recipes yourself, just attend one of Mößmer’s cooking classes or purchase fresh fish from the Biofisch farm shop.

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Here in Carinthia, at the foot of the Nockalmstraße at an elevation of 1,300 metres, you will find Austria’s highest fish farm, SIGI’S Natursaibling. This is where Siegfried Gruber has turned his hobby into a career. His breeding facility now comprises 13 ponds, in which he raises his char in fresh mountain water. “My fish have ample space, plenty of time to grow, and we use the oxygen-rich, cold spring water here for raising the fish,” explains Gruber. In the adjacent Fischerstube you can enjoy the freshly caught char prepared by Birgit Gruber, or purchase a char fillet at the farm store to take home with you. 

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The ponds of Gut Dornau in Leobersdorf lie in the middle of a park filled with ancient trees and have a total of some 70 hectares of water surface. Since 1660 the ponds have been largely home to carp. Later, a 1.5-hectare facility with flowing water was added for trout and char. But the ponds also contain wels catfish, Danube salmon, graylings, and sturgeon. Gut Dornau, a family-run business, has been in operation for generations and is completely devoted to fish farming. You can buy fresh fish at the farm store here or pay a visit to restaurants supplied by Gut Dornau, such as Steirereck in Vienna or the Mühlsteinstube in Leobersdorf.

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Caviar from Austria? Yes, and you can find it in Upper Austria, at the edge of Kalkalpen National Park. In 2011, Helmut Schlader took the bold step of trying his hand at raising sturgeon and sterlets specialising in the production of caviar. “Our Siberian sturgeon and sterlets, from which we derive caviar, swim in crystal-clear mountain spring water,” stresses Helmut Schlader, “and it is precisely this water and the very mild salting that give the ‘Alpine caviar’ its nutty flavour.” Many delicatessens and gourmet restaurants all over Austria, such as Restaurant Rosenbauchs in Ebreichsdorf, Lower Austria, the Astoria Resort in Seefeld, Tirol, and the Waldschänke in Grieskirchen, Upper Austria, have already discovered the extraordinary flavour of this regional caviar from the Steyrtal and offer it to their guests. Helmut Schlader’s farm store has not only caviar but also sturgeon fillets and even whole fish. It’s open every Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. from October to June.

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