As we begin our approach to fall, highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams include steelhead trout and smallmouth bass. Despite the rain this week the Rocky River water level is currently on the low and clear side, although there is rain in the weekend forecast. To monitor the most recent river water level and temperature you can check the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data> <Chagrin River flow gage data>. Lake Erie anglers are targeting yellow perch, walleye, steelhead, and smallmouth bass, and inland lake/pond anglers are primarily pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish.
The Rocky River was picked among the top ten steelhead streams in the Great Lakes in the October 2015 issue of Outdoor Life magazine! This week I received a handful of reports of steelhead from the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, Lake Erie shoreline (at Edgewater, E55th, and Wildwood parks), and Euclid Creek. Early steelhead tend show up around the river mouths and off the rocks on the lakefront. Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations early in the morning, or in the evening, are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout. ODNR has invited anglers to take an <Ohio Trout Angler Survey> through the end of October. Please consider taking a moment to do this and give important feedback to those who make this great fishery possible. Smallmouth bass have been biting in the rivers, as well.
The yellow perch bite around Cleveland has decent this week, but foul weather could shake that up. Perch have been biting in around 50-54 FOW off E72nd and 40-49 FOW off Wildwood Park. Anglers are using perch spreaders and live or salted shiners, although most local bait shops have had golden shiners and fathead minnows in place of hard to find live emerald shiners lately. Salted emerald shiners and live golden shiners are available at E55th Marina, which will be on fall hours starting September 27 (through November first), which will be 9:00am-5:00pm daily. Perch are starting to bite from the north facing breakwall at E55th, as well.
Rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, freshwater drum and sunfish species are also found along the Cleveland shoreline in late summer/early fall and can be caught on offerings such as tube jigs, dropshot rigs and live bait. Walleye schools are primarily still in deep water offshore, although a few locals have reported walleye caught at E72nd St after dark the past few weeks. A highlight has been an abundance of juvenile walleye this year, which promises a continuation of our great Lake Erie walleye fishing into the foreseeable future. The ODNR Division of Wildlife weekly Lake Erie fishing report can be viewed <here>. Anglers/boaters can view current lake conditions off Cleveland at the following link: <City Of Cleveland Water Intake Crib Cam>.
Steelhead Expo at the Rocky River Nature Center this Saturday October 3rd. A great way to kick off the steelhead season is to attend the 22nd annual Steelhead Expo will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center on Saturday October 3, 2015. This event is a collaborative effort between the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland Metroparks and will offer a full day of expert speakers and seminars, vendors, and other related information to kick off the fall steelhead season. There is no charge for the event but OCBS, a non-profit sportman?�+s group which is very active in the local fishing and conservation communities, is offering a raffle as a fundraiser so donations or participation in the raffle is encouraged. You can check out the OCBS website and find out details regarding the event at this link: <Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders website>.
An Evening with Greg Senyo on Tuesday October 13th. On Tuesday October 13 Greg Senyo will be offering a presentation, fly tying demo, and book signing from 6:00-9:30pm at Merwin?�+s Wharf. 100% of the $20 entry fee will go into our Fishing Fund. Greg is among the most noted fly fishers in America right now, so you won?�+t want to miss this! More info <here>.
Fall Family Fishing Fest on Saturday October 10th. The inaugural Fall Family Fishing Fest will be held at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation on Saturday October 10 from 9-1:00pm. Thank you to the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders for Details on this free event can be found <here>.
Fall Dockage Specials at E55th Marina. As an FYI to late season Lake Erie fishing boaters, we are offering some fall specials on dockage at E55th Marina. Dockage from November 1-30 is available for $150. There will be electric, but no water, during this time. For dockage all of October and November the cost is $350 (although only four spaces are currently available for October). If interested call Lisa Buie (216) 431-3280.
If you have a photo that you would like to contribute to the fishing report, or if you have any further questions regarding fishing in the Cleveland Metroparks, you may contact Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec at (440) 331-8017 or [email protected] .
Tight Lines,
Mike
Remember Bob and his big largemouth bass from last week? Well, he followed up with this quality Rocky River smallmouth caught this past Sunday on a red/gray fluke. His daughter Rachel notes "My dad is on a roll!". They also saw an angler breaks his rod while fighting a steelhead by the marina! (photo courtesy of Rachel Kemp).
Ryan caught this chrome steelie along the lakefront this week on an all silver Little Cleo spoon. He notes that he's seen a bunch of others caught, too (photo courtesy of Ryan Simmons).
Tony shared this photo of his best Rocky River smallie of the year (photo courtesy of Tony).
Yellow perch have been biting off the Linda Mae this week in 49 feet of water off Euclid (photos courtesy of wildwood Marina).
Remember all those fish from the Middleburgh Heights kid's fishing derby last week? We rounded up the remaining 250 and transferred to them to a quieter new home in Beyer's Pond.
We recently assisted another park district in conducting fish surveys in two lakes on almost 400 acres up the East Branch Rocky River watershed. And we got some beauties! The lakes are not currently open to fishing, but I proposed fisheries regulations based on our surveys and they will offer public fishing at a yet to be determined time in the future. They asked that the location not be shared yet until fisheries regulations are adopted and posted.
Over the past two weeks I worked with our survey crew to conducted mapping at Hinckley and Wallace lakes using survey grade GPS and single beam echo-sounder. The data will be used to make updated bathymetric (depth contour) maps for public use in the near future.
The top three images here show the elevation readings from the Hinckley Lake survey in red. You certainly can't read them, but you get an idea of our coverage. The heavy red area near the top was more intensive mapping around the underwater drain structure for the lake. There were 2,600 data points collected. The bottom map shows the elevation contours in the lake modeled using this data. The elevations will be converted to depths next to map publicly available maps. We plan to do this at all our lakes over the next year.
For this week's Know Your Fish challenge, can you name this mystery specimen? Please be specific with your guesses in the comments section below.
A bald eagle overlooks Hinckley Lake from a favorite perch (photo courtesy of Jeremy Peppeard).
Note: The fishing report is updated monthly in June, July, and August and weekly every other month
***Note: All photo submissions must first complete the Cleveland Metroparks photo waiver.***
2024 Cleveland Metroparks Registered Fishing Guides
(name, company, contact)
- #24-001 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, [email protected] (216) 235-5056
- #24-002 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, [email protected] (440) 781-7536
- #24-003 Monte Casey, The Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064 www.steelheadguide.com
- #24-004 Anthony Montagnese, Covered Bridge Outfitters, [email protected] (440) 320-105
- #24-005 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, [email protected] (724) 841-1564
- #24-006 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, [email protected] (724) 433-2315
- #24-007 Nate Miller, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com (440) 796-6105
- #24-008 Jim Lampros, [email protected] (216) 513-6011
More information on Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Guide Permit requirements, including the permit application, you may check the following link:
<Fishing Guide Permit Program>
Learn how you can support recreation opportunities through a donation to the Cleveland Metroparks
Fishing Fund.