September 21, 2017

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   As we begin our approach to fall, highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams include smallmouth bass, carp, panfish, and channel catfish-  with folks along the lakefront and river-mouth areas chasing early returning steelhead trout. On the afternoon of this report the Rocky River was on the low and clear side, which has been the case for several dry weeks in a row.  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> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Lake Erie anglers are targeting walleye, steelhead, white bass, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, white bass and panfish, and inland lake/pond anglers are primarily pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish. 

Some early steelhead are showing up off the rocks at Edgewater and E55th, around the Rocky River marina, and off the breakwall at Wildwood Park.  Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout, as is drifing a small jig tipped with minnow or maggots under a bobber.  Any cool rain in the coming weeks should serve to entice a more early steelhead into the streams.

Anglers are also pursuing a mix of warmwater species in the streams.  Smallmouth bass being caught in deeper rocky pools of the river.  A dark olive or brown tube jig of about 4" length is one of the best producers of bass in the river.  "Smallies" also bite well on live bait (ie: minnow, crayfish, and leeches), lures (ie: spinners and minnow plugs), and flies (ie: crayfish patterns, Clouser minnows, dark brown or olive sculpin or muddler minnow patterns).  Cannel catfish, carp, sheepshead and several panfish and sucker species are also present in some of these same areas in the river, especially around the marina.

Anglers at our inland lakes and ponds are catching catfish, largemouth bass, and panfish.  Wallace Lake, Ledge Lake, Shadow Lake, and Beyer's Pond are a few spots worth poking around in late summer and early fall.

In addition to early steelhead- rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, freshwater drum and sunfish species can be found along the Cleveland shoreline in summer and can be caught on offerings such as tube jigs, dropshot rigs and live bait.  Some good eater size walleye (15-20 inches) have been found in water from only 16-24 feet deep by Cleveland area boating and even shoreline anglers.  White bass fishing, which is typically good in late summer, has been slow lately.  Yellow perch fishing off Cleveland has also been mostly slow.  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 Saturday September 30th.    A great way to kick off the steelhead season is to attend the annual Steelhead Expo, which will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center on Saturday September 30th.  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 or find out details regarding the event at this link: <2017 Steelhead Expo>.

Coho Salmon Pilot Project    We have an exciting project on the horizon.  Due to the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund doing so well I am coordinating the purchase of coho salmon (1-2 pounds each) to be released for a put-and-take fishery at Wallace Lake.  The fish, which are raised by a private Ohio fish farm (Homestead Farms), bite well, fight great, and are delicious.  There will be a clearly posted limit of one salmon per angler daily at the lake.  I hope to stock these fish sometime in October once the weather cools a bit more- stay posted to the weekly fishing report for updates.  

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

Tillson was fishing at edgewater Park today and caught a steelhead (top photo) on a 1/2 oz silver and chartreuse K.O. Wobbler spoon.  As he was having the photo taken a second rod baited with a minnow was nearly pulled into the lake!  That fish was larger and is displayed in the second photo.  The fish bit only minutes apart (photos courtesy of Mark Forbush).




Jon caught and released a beautiful 21" Fish Ohio largemouth bass at Wallace Lake on Saturday.  He was using a Rebel Craw crankbait (photo courtesy of Jon Ristau).



Eric reports that he was killing the smallmouth bass casting white tube jigs near the Cleveland lighthouse on Saturday (photo courtesy of Eric Fernandez).



Sean and Rich were trolling crankbaits in 25 feet of water off the mouth of the Rocky River yesterday afternoon when Sean landed this chrome steelhead.  They also broke off a larger steelie (photo courtesy of Rich Svoboda).







Tim and friends were trolling 3 miles NW of the Cleveland crib (water intake) in 58 foot of water on Sunday and made a nice catch of walleye and bonus acrobatic steelhead.  He was running perch color crankbaits and Stinger spoons in Monkey Puke color (photos courtesy of Tim Daley).



Joe shares "I've done a ton of fishing lately and I know the fishing report is back to weekly but here's my catch from Monday the 11th. Fished a Shad Rap down in Brecksville at the Route 82 Dam right under the bridge. I've got 178 fish going for 200 this year and I'm ready to hit up the steelhead!" (photo courtesy of Joe Greve).





The Fish Identification and Sampling Workshop we offered on Monday and Tuesday was a lot of fun.  Among the many fish sampled here are a few sportfish from the Rocky River and Wallace Lake.  We hope to offer this course on a weekend in the future.


















On Saturday and September September 16 & 17 we had great weather and lots of fun at the Family Fishing Derby at the Middleburgh Heights comm...unity pool before it was drained for the season. Lots of happy kids caught sunfish, bass, and catfish at the sold-out event.  An event photo album can be viewed <here>.





Following the Middleburgh Heights event 505 farm raised fish purchased by the city were relocated to Cleveland Metroparks Beyer's pond in nearby Big Creek Reservation.  These inclused 391 large sunfish, 91 largemoth bass, and 23 channel catfish.



Tim shared "Caught these in 60 ft of water off Cleveland September 17th 2017 biggest was 23 in got my one-man limit in 2 hours was a gorgeous day on the water thought you would like to add this to your fishing report.  Caught them on Jet Divers with spoons." (photo courtesy of Tim).



A few nice bass turned up (and released) during carp removal at the larger lake at Acacia Reservation this week.




A pond owner in Grafton recently donated 8 large triploid grass carp to Cleveland Metroparks.  We relocated the fish to a lake with nusiance aquatic weed issues so they could help curtail the issue and minimize our use of aquatic herbicide.