| Ohio bill naming walleye the state fish flounders in the Statehouse | |
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Credit: Getty Images photo |
Ohio enjoys a symbiotic relationship with a creature native to its waters: the walleye.
Thriving in the cool waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio River, the white-bellied, olive- and gold-colored sportfish generates $1 billion for the Buckeye State each year. A lead weight scandal at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship threw anglers into a fury, and Port Clintonians celebrate the time-honored tradition of dropping a 20-foot, 600-pound fiberglass walleye adorned in LED lights to mark the New Year. |
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Yet state lawmakers’ efforts to pass a bill crowning the walleye as Ohio’s official state fish – inspired by Nexstar’s WCMH’s viewers and readers – floundered in the General Assembly last week.
“We have our battles with football with Michigan-Ohio,” Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) told fellow legislators in February. “We need to get over the battle of what should we have our state fish to be named. And I think it’s very clear that it needs to be the walleye.” |
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