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'Splash' Lives Up To Name
Oct. 4, 2004
ATHENS, Texas — When Cody Mullennix pulled the new world record blue
catfish from Lake Texoma in January 2004, she threshed around in the water
so much he dubbed her "Splash."
The 121.5-pound fish's name is doubly appropriate, for she has made a
giant splash at her new home, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center here.
Largely due to people coming to see Splash, attendance at TFFC during the
year ended Aug. 31 was 73,447, the second highest since the facility
opened in 1996. Revenue for the year did set a new record.
Perhaps dreaming of the day when they, too, might see their name in the
record book, 38,460 visitors fished in TFFC's 1.5-acre casting pond, and
469 people caught their first fish ever. Visitors ranked fishing as the
activity they enjoyed most while at the center. Watching Splash and other
fish eat from a diver's hand during the daily dive show ran a close
second.
Splash recently added a new item to her usual diet of frozen smelt. "Smelt
are small for a fish her size, and they
don't have a lot of smell or
juice," said exhibits coordinator Wayne Heaton. "We put a big piece of the
chicken we feed the alligators in a plastic bag, and when the diver opened
it up in front of her and she smelled the juice, she took the chicken
right out of the diver's hand. That was a really good sign."
Whether Splash thinks chicken tastes like fish, or vice versa, is not
known.
The largest of the three Budweiser ShareLunkers in the dive tank also has
a healthy appetite, said Heaton. "It probably weighs 16.5 or 17 pounds,
and it eats seven or right koi every dive show." The big bass positions
itself near the diver and stares at him until fed.
Other fish in the dive tank include a flathead or yellow catfish, spotted
bass, black crappie, small-mouth buffalo, longnose and alligator gar,
bowfin and hybrid striped bass. While the individuals of those species are
permanent residents in the tank, the five or six kinds of sunfish are a
constantly changing cast of characters. "They are there mainly to provide
snacks for the bigger fish," Heaton explained. "The yellow catfish usually
sleeps during the day, but it is the big feeder on sunfish when it comes
out at night."
TFFC is at 5550 F.M. 2495, four miles east of Athens. Fish in the dive
tank may be viewed any time the center is open. Hours are 9 a.m.-4p.m.
from Tuesday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sundays. Dive shows are at
11 a.m. on weekdays, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on
Sundays. For more information call (903) 676-2277.
-TPWD
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