Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery
Established in 1929, the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery near Tishomingo, Oklahoma, is a unit of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior. It is 235 acres with 52 surface acres of water and 62 ponds. It features three fish-holding houses used as nurseries where paddlefish, catfish, alligator gar and alligator snapping turtles are raised. There is also four 20-foot diameter fiberglass circular tanks and six large concrete raceways. Water is fed into the hatchery from the Pennington Creek, which has many waterfalls and granite rock outcroppings that are some of the oldest rock formations in the mid-continent region.
The Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery is like a big fish nursery that helps provide fish for places where there aren't enough naturally or species are endangered. The hatchery also helps produce and release different species like paddlefish and alligator gar into public waters in three states. This not only gives people more opportunities to fish, but it also helps protect these species from disappearing.
Stop by the visitor center to see aquariums, color photographic exhibits and aquatic ecosystem displays. The display pool has various fish species, a scenic area with fishing access, a hiking trail and a historic functioning wooden water wheel. You can also do some fly fishing for smallmouth bass and sunfish, which is also a popular activity to do there.