Steelie Blue: ADDING THE LAKE RUN BROWN

WE NEED ONE MORE....

As pictured above, this is the complimentary piece to a what could be even better trout fishery. This picture is worth a million words and dollars. The seafaring Brown Trout. Or, the Lake Run Brown. And the story behind how this was caught is another story in itself.


             Behind our little world of being lost in a stream is another door, Big business. After all they say money talks. And their right. My good friend Adam Zakarowsky and his best friend Ray enjoy fly fishing in general like most of us do. Probably more than usual. So much they travel almost 6 hours to PA., and N.Y.- Those states including Michigain as well have something we don't. And we have something they don't. What they have is a pro-active division of natural resources who utilizes what they have, and don't. If you ever have visited their websites, you would know exactly what I'm talking about. It's all facts. They rake in astonishing revenue that hardley declines because of good management, awareness, and again their pro-active approach. We benefit from it getting strays of their product.
                  PA Boat and Fish Commision stocks a sea run strain of Brown trout which I have mentioned already. This is not the domestic strain of Browns you see in C.W.H.'s. This is a similar fish that runs from September through early winter like the Chambers creek strain of Steelhead, or our former London strain. It's a perfect combination of Little Manistee spring run Steelhead to add. And it generates millions of Ohio dollars spent in another state. Litteralry, millions. As the post began those two young men travel their because something has happened in lake erie. Walleye numbers are dwindeling due to several reasons as we know. Kids, and adults both are not saving their hard earned money anymore to purchase boats like they used to. They are going to fly shops and buying waders, fly rods and terminal tackle. Fly fishing is Ohio's fastest growing sport and the revenue from that alone is astonishing. And why not add another peice to the puzzle. Go with the numbers. It's an easy read, and far cheaper than maintaining a boat.
              In 1996, PA's revenue from fishing was 1.34 billion dollars. 64% of that was stream fishing .(estimated). An additional 690 million from contributed, related activity.
                Gas, sales tax, lodging, food consumption and of course tolls are a damn good reason to act on the issue and pursue. I failed to mention jobs and total income taxed as well. And this is exactly why we lag behind. The lake is a gold mine, so why not utilize what we have and keep going with the trend. It's working in other states,why not here as well. That trip our good friends took to PA costed us loss of income and PA got the rewards. Estimated trip spending was roughly 250 dollars without the hotel added.

  Our beloved Rocky River is a gem. I've talked with Aquatic Fish Biologets in the Cleveland Metroparks and the idea is one they definately want to act on. This is going to happen in the near future in their eyes . And thank god we have a great management team like them. To me, they solely are responsible for our beloved steelhead in this state with their pro-active approach. And their land purchasing is second to none like the park district itself. Cleveland Metroparks are the second largest urban area park district in the United States next to Seattle. And it shows. Everything they have touched like Oprah, has turned to gold. And you should be thankful we have them. So if theirs any faith at all, I'd say we are in good hands with them. Most notably as you probably know, Mike Durkalec. Are trout stocking program has jumped from, ok returns of Coho to a legacey of runs from Steelhead. And you can thank Cleveland Metroparks for that,and other groups such as Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders. Our Steelhead run has been written about in many books around the world including books from Kamchatkan Penninsula were these fish are native, to the west coast where the rivers of the Sandy, Olympic and the Skeena are famed for their Steelhead runs.
       To add to the theory of this, our once prolific walleye run has dwindled to a point that fisherman have caught notice around the Great Lakes. It's no coincidence our fishing license revenue has dropped to over 1.5million dollars. And with the re-return of algea-bloom from our fertilized rivers in the western basin I expect this to get worse. A 41% fish kill of walleye doesnt help as well.

On the bright side of this, Lake Erie is a perfect suited lake for Browns to reside. They are like Bass and Northern Pike and like the not to deep waters . With hundreds of millions of baitfish, the Brown Trout would thrive. The Lake Erie return rates in PA are amazing year after year. These sea run monsters by the way can put a nice dent in your 7-8 wt. fly rod. As they can reach 30 plus lbs. and regulary reach steelhead size without question. It would be one way to add a little spice and attract even more anglers to the area and keep that Ohio money here.