New fishing center by Conowingo dam

$4 million??? :kooky:


Aug 25, 2008 5:33 pm US/Eastern
New Fishing Center Planned Near Conowingo Dam

Reporting
Alex DeMetrick
CECIL COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) ― The terror attacks of 9/11 and fishing on the Susquehanna might seem unrelated, but as Alex DeMetrick reports, there is a link and it's costing $4 million to set right.

Fishing the Susquehanna below Conowingo Dam may seem idyllic, but it's not what it was. Once, fishermen were allowed access to the middle of the river, dropping their lines from a catwalk on the front of the dam.

Then, fishing was a "blast! You'd catch one after another, maybe 10 or 15 rockfish," said fisherman Michael Butcher.

Now fishermen are kept off the dam's catwalk for security reasons.

"After Sept. 11, we closed the catwalk from which people could fish and access the great opportunities here on the river. This is going to provide much greater access than people now have," said Vicky Will with Exelon Corp.

That access is a $4 million project by the Exelon Corporation to build a ramped concrete fishing area below its dam. It's going in where fishing is currently allowed, but it will no longer mean a steep climb down to the river.

Exelon already spends millions to lift endangered fish like American shad up over the dam to spawn. Breaking ground to spend $4 million more to fish is Exelon's way to try and give back what 9/11 took away.

The new fishing center is scheduled to open to the public next spring.