Monday, January 17, 2000
Smallmouth bass petition reels in support for state fish
BY JEFF CARLTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ohio has an official state beverage (tomato juice), an official state rock song (“Hang on Sloopy”) and an official state insect (the ladybug).
The absence of a state fish is an oversight Mike Utt intends to correct.
Mr. Utt came to town this weekend from Bellefontaine, Ohio, to staff a booth at the 40th annual Cincinnati Travel, Sports and Boat Show at the Albert B. Sabin Convention Center.
There, he collected signatures for a petition asking Ohio legislators to adopt the smallmouth bass as the state fish.
Using plaster models of smallmouth bass, colorful photographs and a raffle for a free fishing rod as bait, Mr. Utt lured hundreds of people to the Ohio Smallmouth Alliance booth.
Once he had them hooked, Mr. Utt reeled them in with a practiced speech about the virtues of the smallmouth bass.
It should be “the state's "OH-Fish-All' fish” because it's found in all 88 counties, it's a favorite of fishermen and its vulnerability to pollution makes it an indicator of water quality.
“If we can use the smallmouth as an educational role model, we can teach people
about water quality,” Mr. Utt said. “What we do to our rivers is obscene. And unless we teach the next generation about the impact pollution has on water, it's only going to get worse.”
Mr. Utt, president of the smallmouth alliance, began the campaign last January.
Since then, he has collected a bulging white binder he calls the “Smallmouth Manifesto” stuffed with crayon-colored drawings of the fish sent to him by middle-school students, letters written by students urging state representatives to adopt the smallmouth and thousands of petition signatures.
He has brought together a coalition of fishing and travel groups, farming and conservation organizations, teachers and fishermen united in their support of the smallmouth bass.
Mr. Utt said he lacks an endorsement by state Sen. Richard H. Finan, R-Evendale, who was given a copy of the Smallmouth Manifesto.
“Since he is the president of the senate, he will be the stepping stone or the stumbling block,” Mr. Utt said. “His office told me he's up to his ears in state symbols.”
Mr. Utt collected more than 200 signatures Sunday, but not all comers were convinced.
Jeff Reverman of Colerain Township and friend Dave Baker of Lebanon, Ohio, said the walleye would be a more appropriate state fish.
“Port Clinton drops a 15-foot walleye on New Year's every year,” Mr. Reverman said. “If you were to go to California and talk about fishing, ev eryone there would ask you about Ohio's walleyes.”
Such opposition did not sway Mr. Utt.
“I seriously doubt if the ladybug had competition from the Grasshopper Coalition,” he said.
“But people in Ohio are passionate about their fish. And even those who aren't have no trouble endorsing the smallmouth because they support clean water.”
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