A giant leaping trout outside the Big Trout Motor Inn in Oberon, built by the McGrath family in 1989 and tied to the district's trout-fishing identity.
Before you stop
Respect the operating accommodation business and keep clear of driveway and guest access.
Venue entrance
31 m walk
Private to your Passport.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Recommended arrival available
Attraction entrance · 31 m walk
This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
A free Explorer account reveals the exact recommended arrival point.
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
33.70618° S, 149.87202° E
FIELD GUIDE
The story
The trout arrived a few months after the motel did, which tells you what it was for.
The McGrath family built it in 1989, during a period when motel accommodation in Oberon was expanding, and it stands at the entrance to what is now the Big Trout Motor Inn on Duckmaloi Road, alongside the adjoining Chinese restaurant. A new motel in a small Central Tablelands town needed a reason for drivers to pick it over the alternatives, and a giant leaping fish with a memorably flabbergasted expression did the job.
The subject is sound. Oberon sits high in the tablelands west of the Blue Mountains among cold, clear streams, and the district is genuinely known for trout fly fishing – the Duckmaloi and Fish Rivers and the Oberon Dam draw anglers through the season. A trout on the Duckmaloi Road is naming the water it came from.
It has been maintained rather than merely tolerated. In 2012 the motel's owners went looking for someone to refurbish it and settled on the local artist Mark Taylor, who repainted the fish and added a mural behind it – turning a single object into a composed setting. The businesses changed hands a few years ago, with Chandra and Pav Ratnam taking over in 2020, and the trout stayed put.
That continuity through two ownerships and a repaint is the difference between a landmark and a sign. Oberon Council's own history records the trout, and the village has effectively adopted it.
Oberon sits at over a thousand metres, high enough for regular snow, which is precisely why the streams here stay cold enough for trout. The fish on the sign and the climate of the town are the same fact.
Photograph
This is a photograph, shown separately from the illustration artwork.
Oberon Council history records the Big Trout as built in 1989. The adjoining Big Trout Motor Inn remains active in 2026 at 3 Duckmaloi Road, while current specialist and recent visitor evidence confirm the giant trout is still present at the entrance.
ACCESS
The Big Trout is an exterior landmark at the Big Trout Motor Inn, 3 Duckmaloi Road. Navigate to the independently mapped motel venue and use its off-road access/parking; the trout is about 30 metres from the mapped venue point.
