Mark Decroo

As he stood beside a stream casting his fishing line, Mark Decroo of New Kensington heard a noise in the brush. He was stunned when a grizzly ran across the road in a full run and took off into the woods. No, this didn't happen in New Kensington, Mark was actually at Glacier National Park in Montana.

Mark had gone on vacation with his wife Luanne and son, Shaun. Earlier in the day they had gone off on a horseback trip leaving Mark behind because he wasn't feeling very well. A couple of hours later he seemed to be recovered so he decided to trek out on his own and scope out the fishing spots. The stream where he had stopped at was about twenty miles back a dirt road. Coming that close to a grizzly is scary enough but when Mark went back into town he found out something even more frightening. He found that in 1993 two people were killed and six injured by grizzlies two miles away from where he was standing. He decided not to go back there again.

This is just one of Mark's adventures. He travels twice a year to places like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, California, Oregon and Washington to fly fish. His wife usually goes with him or a friend. They usually stay about one week and fish for trout. His dad got him into fishing when he was only five years old and twenty-one years ago he got into fly-fishing. Years ago when he was fishing in Canada he met a man there who taught him how to cast and the basics of fly fishing.

And, of course Mark ties his own flys. The hardest fly that he has tied is the Atlantic salmon fly, which he is still learning how to do. He caught his first Atlantic salmon in New Brunswick about two years ago. It was probably 10-12 lb. They aren't very easy to catch and this fish ranks biggest in his fishing history

Mark works at Allegheny Ludlum in Brackenridge and lives in New Kensington with his wife. He also has a daughter named Leeann.