The river runs through it!

Many of my trail walks are centered in Chagrin River Park because it is within walking distance of my home. Not surprisingly, the park is named for the river that runs through it, but there is some uncertainty about where the name of the river originated. Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

The Chagrin River is located in Northeast Ohio.[1] The river has two branches, the Aurora Branch and East Branch. Of three hypotheses as to the origin of the name, the most probable is that it is a corruption of the name of a Frenchman, Sieur de Seguin, who established a trading post on the river ca. 1742.[2][3][4] The Chagrin River runs through suburban areas of Greater Cleveland in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage counties, transects two Cleveland Metroparks reservations, and then meanders into nearby Lake County before emptying into Lake Erie.

Whatever the origin of the name, the Chagrin is a great river for fishing, and at this time of year, when the salmon are running, fishermen come from far and wide (even from out-of-state) to try their luck. One afternoon recently, I spotted a flurry of activity along the river bank. Upon closer investigation, this is the event I witnessed:

I learned, after the fact, from the two bystanders (on the right in the pictures), that the man with the rod is an avid retired fisherman who dedicates all his time to fishing the river. The bystanders, friends of mine, told me he had regaled them with amazing “fish tales.”

Just as they were leaving the scene to continue their walk, he hooked this fish and called them back to watch the drama play out. The man with the net was another fisherman who entered the fray when the fisherman called out, “Does anybody have a net?” They landed the fish, measured  and admired it, and ultimately released it, as required by law. The last two pictures show the release with the one bystander, at the request of the fisherman, snapping a few pictures of his catch of the day (The fisherman apparently didn’t know that I was standing at the top of the bank, capturing the entire scene).   Sometimes you just get lucky, and that afternoon the fisherman did, and so did I!

Thanks for joining me along the trail today. See you soon!
Trail Walker