It’s more open now, more educational, with bigger bass holding tanks, — everything is bigger and better!

Story and photography by Brian Hughes

Everything old is new again. This was the thought I had upon visiting the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Centers’ recent sneak peek media event. After an extensive renovation, the TFFC invited media, past dignitaries and former employees to see the results. And as Allen Forsage, the original Director of TFFC said, “Everything is spectacular. They’ve done a tremendous job. It’s more open now, more educational. With bigger bass holding tanks, everything is bigger and better!” 

Ed Cox is the former director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. As such he was instrumental in embarking on the journey that created the facility almost 30 years ago. He noted that, “The facility is not really bigger it’s just laid out better. It offers better viewing in the public areas. There’s also plenty of big fish to see. I’ve noticed that it’s not just kids, but adults as well that are thrilled to see these big Lunker fish. And it’s a real pleasure to be involved in something like this.” 

The Texas Parks and Wildlife website tells us, “As home base for the Toyota ShareLunker program, TFFC is known as the “Big Bass Capital of the World”. Annual visitation is more than 40,000, with more than 25,000 participating in fishing while visiting. 

The Edwin L. Cox, Jr., Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center opened in November 1996 and was named after a former chairman of the Parks and Wildlife Commission. The state-of-the-art hatchery production facility was completed in spring 1999 with 45 ponds covering 37 acres. 

************************************************************************
To read more, click here to SUBSCRIBE