Steelhead fishing is big business and lots of fun on Lake Erie in this region. As Bob Jarzomski pointed out in his report in the Erie Times-News last Sunday, steelhead fishing pumps $10 million into the local economy. On many weekends, it's hard to find a room in the region -- so many anglers visit this area from Pittsburgh, Ohio and other regions.

Jarzomski's story, which was well researched and well reported, was marred by a rather embarrassing error. The front-page layout of the story, which looked attractive, included a large photo of a fish, which was identified as a steelhead. It wasn't a steelhead. In fact, several readers have questioned whether the fish in the picture is a trout at all. Some claim that the steelhead is not exactly a trout, although that's a debate for another day.

To illustrate the package, the designer on the copy desk took a stock photo from a service to which the newspaper subscribes. The photo in the service is marked "Trout," and trouble started when the designer tried to get verification if it was a steelhead. There was a mixup in communication, and the trout photo ended up appearing in the steelhead package.

How can we avoid making the same mistake on future story packages? Well, you can bet we'll check out our fish pictures with anglers who absolutely know the difference between steelhead, lake trout, arctic char and sunfish. I'm kidding about the sunfish.

To those who pointed out our error, thanks for letting us know. It's painful to confront your mistakes -- especially the stupid ones -- but it's the only way we'll get better.

-- Kevin Cuneo