It was once dubbed the country’s most polluted river, but now it’s a fishing magnet and proof that reasonable environmental policies can breed new life.
The Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. It made national headlines in 1969 when it caught fire. Indeed, the river was named America’s most polluted waterway. It was the 13th time the river had caught fire.
“The river that burned” became the trigger for formation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and, eventually, the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Remarkably, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has now released a few-dozen lake sturgeon into the Cuyahoga. Each of these armor-plated fry, about the size of a human hand, is outfitted with a transmitter that will chart its progress. It’s a pilot project with a much larger goal of reintroducing the fish into the river next year. Sturgeon can live as long as 50 years and grow to 8 feet. A successful planting could be a bonanza for boat dealers and anglers alike.
The largest sturgeon on record was caught in Lake Erie in 1929 and weighed a handsome 216 pounds, proof that this could succeed. All Lake Erie fishing fans, including my wife, Kay — we fished that wonderful lake for nearly 40 years — are relishing this latest program.
But equally important, the decision to begin reintroducing sturgeon deserves recognition because it represents the continuation of many efforts and is a milestone in environmental recovery. For Ohio dealers, especially those who sell fishing machines, success of this effort will shine a bright light ahead, as such success would add to the lake’s superb walleye fishery.
If adding Sturgeon weren’t enough, the Cuyahoga was also stocked with steelhead trout for the first time, in April 2024. The fish were expected to migrate downstream to Lake Erie, where they’ll live for a couple of years. After maturing, they’ll return to the river to spawn, but while they’re in the lake, they’ll be exciting targets for anglers. Steelhead have been successfully planted in other Ohio rivers and are already abundant in the lake. I’ve caught many of these brawlers.
You say you want more? In December 2022, the Cuyahoga was stocked with more than 1,000 rainbow trout. The release was a collaboration between the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Western Reserve Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and the city of Cuyahoga Falls.
All of this calls attention to the half-century of national success in clean water efforts that benefit our industry. While there’s still a long way to go in improving water quality in many other places, this notable accomplishment deserves a tip of our cap.
