ATLANTA -- There were snickers across the state when Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced a major plank of his economic development strategy: a $19 million project to make the state the most popular fishing destination in the country.
The administration recently began construction on a $14 million "Go Fish Georgia Center," featuring a fish hatchery, visitor's center, and public fishing ponds about 12 miles from Mr. Perdue's hometown of Bonaire. The 15,000-square-foot building will feature interactive exhibits, including fishing simulators where visitors in a fake boat can struggle against computer-controlled fish. Outside, a wooden path will lead visitors through simulated Georgia topography -- from mountains to piedmont to swampland -- as trout, bass and bream swim in aquariums and pools along the way.
Georgia officials claim fishing already generates $1 billion dollar a year and nearly 17,000 jobs in Georgia. They note that the world record for the biggest largemouth bass ever caught -- 22 pounds, 4 ounces -- was set in 1932 on a Georgia lake.
Largemouth bass
Still, the state has never become a major center of fishing. The two biggest pro fishing tournaments, the FLW Outdoors Forrest Wood Cup and ESPN's Bassmaster Classic, had long snubbed Georgia.
Mr. Perdue says the Go Fish initiative will change all that. Making Georgia a "fisherman's paradise" is at the top of the political agenda for his last term. In addition to $5 million in state funds to erect new ramps and docks -- designed for the biggest and most advanced fishing boats on 18 lakes -- the governor has secured matching funds from local officials, too.
On Dec. 16, Gov. Perdue convened a triumphant news conference: the Forrest Wood Cup had finally chosen Georgia's Lake Lanier as the site for the 2010 competition. The governor said the tournament, featuring 156 professional and amateur fisherman competing over four days to catch the largest aggregate weight of fish, will generate a $30 million economic impact. Much of that will come from the tens of thousands of spectators expected to attend as well as valuable television exposure.
In an interview, Mr. Perdue said professional fishing could take off like Nascar has over the past two decades -- referring to the professional racing circuit that exploded from southern rural roots into an industry that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.
"Some have laughed at Go Fish, some even in the media have laughed at this program," Mr. Perdue said during the December news conference. "This is the first example of Georgia having the last laugh." Television broadcasts of the tournament also will provide a boost to tourism, he said. "The exposure," the governor noted, "is incalculable."
Jerry McCollum, president and chief executive of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, said landing the Forrest Wood Cup vindicates the Go Fish proponents. "It doesn't look much like a joke now, does it?" he said.
The governor -- who fondly recalls a childhood in which his grandfather took him fishing with a cane pole along the banks of Big Indian Creek in Middle Georgia -- said critics must not be fishermen. "They haven't seen a kid's eyes light up when he catches his first fish."
Sounds good, take kids fishing and make memories that will last a lifetime.
What are you waiting for??? Go Fishing!!! Happy Hookin Gary
p.s. Georgia is also the home of Gone Fishin Club.
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