Handicapped pier on 20 mile.
Gentlemen,
I recently journeyed back up to Erie, (after 5 years) with my grandsons, and I was VERY disappointed with the way the handicapped fishing platform was made on 20 mile. I am handicapped, confined to a wheelchair, (lost my left leg), but I wanted to try to fish for steel again.
The design and execution of the "tower" is not good from the handicapped point of view.
First, the thing is about 10 feet above the water? Since most steelhead fishing is a matter of drifting a small fly or lure toward fish it requires light line and some degree of accuracy and with the wind coming off the lake that is almost impossible from 10 feet in the air. Secondly, the guard rail. I am a big man and even I had difficulty reaching over the rail to position the lure even close to where it needed to be. Hate to see some kid trying to use it.
2d Point: Since the platform is wayy above the water, it requires a heavy line to get the lure down, and to hoist a fish (if magically one is hooked) all the way up to the platform. I haven't seen a whole lot of 15 foot long nets that can be used by a person in a wheelchair when they have to reach over a 3 foot tall railing.
My basic conclusion is that the platform was designed by a bunch of people who were NOT handicapped, to fit a bunch of rules, devised by people who have never dealt with a handicap. Why couldn't the platform be made as a ramp, leading down to about 2 feet above the mean water level with a 12" rail? There is no rail on the wall at Walnut, or by the lagoon on Walnut. Most of us with disabilities know our limits and wouldn't go down on a ramp during a flood, or climb over anything.
In conclusion: The "tower" was a waste of money, as built, and is really a waste of money as designed and built. A much better use of money would have been to improve the falls on Manchester, to allow better fish migration. Or to construct a low pier at Trout Run.
Just my opinion.
post edited by indsguiz - 2019/04/22 10:31:41