April 25, 2019

***Monday April 29 morning update:  This morning 600 pounds of trout were stocked in Wallace Lake instead of the East Branch Rocky River due to muddy/elevated stream conditions.  As a bonus, some brook trout were included (we are allowed to stock these additional species in our lakes, but not the river per our authorization from the Ohio Division of Wildlife).***

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions today and steelhead and smallmouth bass are biting, although rain forecasted in the coming days may change conditions.  Wise anglers will monitor the most recent river flows (and turbidity on the Rocky) at the following links before planning a trip: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Rainbow trout are biting in the East Branch Rocky River and a variety of .species, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and walleye are being caught along the Lake Erie shoreline.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions today and steelhead fishing has been good.  There is rain in the coming days, though, so anglers should check the flow gage trend before making a trip to the river.  There has been a mix of fresh (pre-spawn), spawning, and post spawn steelhead available.  The freshest fish are typically concentrated in the northern river reaches closer to Lake Erie.  Steelhead spawning activity has been occurring in the East Branch of the river, in particular, but also in shallow gravel riffles throuout the Main Branch of the river.  Steelhead in spring will bite a variety of offerings, including dime to nickel size spawn bags, 1/32-1/64 oz marabou jigs under floats (black, pink, and white are top colors), beads that mimic salmon eggs, and flies (egg patterns and baitfish streamers are top producers).  The peak of the steelhead run is just past us and anglers can expect the run to taper off quickly in the coming weeks. 

Complementing the steelhead are very good numbers of lake-run smallmouth bass.  These fish are present in deeper, rocky holes throughout the main branch of the river.  Anglers fishing a jig, wooly bugger, live shiner, or other lures/flies that mimic a baitfish have a shot at hooking "the silver and bronze" (a smallmouth or steelhead) in the same day for the next several weeks.  Note: starting on May 1 the Lake Erie zone smallmouth/largemouth bass combined bag limit changes to 1 bass/day of 18 inches minimum size.  The zone includes Lake erie waters and (locally) the Rocky River to Detroit Road bridge, Cuyahoga River to Harvard Road bridge, and Chagrin River to Route 283 bridge.

The breakwall at E55th, pier and breakwall at Wendy Park (old Coast Guard station) and rocks at Edgewater Park and E72nd offer a chance at yellow perch, walleye, steelhead and variety of other species.  The boat launch ramps at Edgewater, Gordon Park, and Wildwood park are all usable at this time, and the courtesy docks were installed at Edgewater and Gordon park boat launches last week.  These harbor areas in spring are a good place to find pre-spawn northern pike and largemouth bass, as well as panfish.  A white spinnerbait with silver blades worked slowly is a good early season choice for both bass and pike. The post-spawn shoreline bite for walleye typically picks up around Cleveland starting about now.  Beginning this boating season our public boat launch ramps at Rocky River, Edgewater, Gordon Park, and Wildwood will be charging a fee ($5 daily or season pass for $30 for Cuyahoga county residents and $35 for out of county residents) for trailered watercraft.  Please note that 100% of proceeds will go back into Lakefront improvements projects.  See highlight below for details on obtaining a launch pass.

Opportunities for catching trout are good at our stocked inland lakes.  Last Monday we stocked 500 pounds of trout in Wallace Lake, which included some brook and brown trout as well as golden rainbow trout to add spice to the standard rainbow trout.  The Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked pan-sized rainbow trout at Hinckley and Shadow lakes on March 29th.  A few trout are still present at Shadow, Ledge, Judge's and Ranger lakes, as well as at the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area down the hill from CanalWay Visitor Center off E49th Street.  These fish have seen plenty of fishing pressure at this point so the most successful anglers have been diverse in their offerings until they find what the fish want on a given day.
 
Rainbow trout were stocked yesterday the East Branch Rocky River (600 lbs), and there are plenty of trout to go around as we have stocked 2,400 pounds since March 19.  The stocking zone is between Route 82 (Royalton Road) and the river crossing ford about a mile south of Wallace Lake.  We hope to stock again on Monday morning, and this will be the final river stocking of the spring season.

Trout typically bite well on PowerBait, small jigs (marabou, hair, or rubber) tipped with a few maggots/waxworms, and smaller spinners (such as Rooster Tail).  Please note the current seasonal trout regulations:  Lake Erie and tributary streams 2/day minimum size 12" (this includes steelhead), 3/day no size limit at Wallace, Judge's and Ranger lakes, and 5/day no size limit at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal.  The Lake Erie and tributary streams bag limit will bump up to 5/day starting on May 16.

Purchasing Cleveland Metroparks Boat Launch Passes.   Boaters are now able to purchase the annual passes for the Cleveland Metroparks boat launches.  Currently locations that are selling them are the E55 Marina and Lakefront Administration building.  Wildwood Marina (opens April 28), Emerald Necklace Marina (opens May 12), Edgewater Pier (opens weekends in May then daily after Memorial Day) and Edgewater Beach House (opens May 1) will also have passes for purchase once they open for the season respectively.  Only boats with trailers will require a pass and info is as follows:

 

$25 - Seniors (60 and up) & Military Veterans - with valid identification 

 

$30 - Residents of Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township - with valid identification

 

$35 - non-residents 

 

Annual pass is valid for all Metroparks owned boat ramps and are good until 12/31/19.  Daily passes ($5) will be available once the onsite machines arrive and are installed, approximately mid to late May (you will require a credit cards for machine purchase).  Enforcement will only begin after onsite machines are installed at Edgewater, Gordon Park (E72nd), Wildwood and Rocky River (Scenic Park) boat launches.   

Courtesy Docks at Rocky River Boat Launch.  Rocky River Reservation manager Rick Ditch reports that the river by the marina is being dregded right now and the courtesy docks at the boat ramps will be installed as soon as they finish.  He expects this should happen by the end of this month.

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

Vanessa caught this fine rainbow trout in the east Branch Rocky River yesterday (photo courtesy of Allen Reinke).



John caught a beutiful brook trout at Wallace Lake on Monday morning.







On Easter Tudor made a great catch of smallmouth bass with a bonus walleye fishing the Clevelad shoreline from his kayak (photos courtesy of Tudor St Stephen).





On Saturday Adam made a nice catch of rainbow trout fishing from his kayak at Wallace Lake (photos courtesy of Adam Eibling).



Elmer and a friend made a nice catch of rainbow trout this week (photo courtesy of Elmer Garcia).



An example of a bronze bruiser smallmouth bass from Lake Erie (photo courtesy of Greg Young.




Brad caught a big walleye trolling the CLE shoreline on Tuesday (photos courtesy of Brad Gardner).





Mike reports "Caught these on Easter Sunday at Ranger Lake. Ice jig and a night crawler suspended under a float have done fantastic for the stocker trout" (photos courtesy of Mike Brady).






Brandon landed some brute Rocky River smallmouth this week, along with a big sheepshead.  He has been using spinners and rubber baits (photos courtesy of Brandon Aspery).



Jim shared "Please excuse the photo quality, I was so surprised that I was able to hook a rainbow trout. This was caught on a #1 Mepps Black Fury on Easter Sunday at Wallace Lake. As always, thank you for your weekly fishing reports." (Jim McCormick).



If you hook something that pulls hard when perch fishing odds are it's probably a sheepshead, aka freshwater drum, as displayed here by Liz.  This is the only freshwater member of a family of fishes that includes popular redfish.



Duncan swung up another fine smallmouth bass in the Rocky River this week (photo courtesy of Duncan Simpson).



Can you identify this small fish sampled at Gordon Park recently.  It is full grown, but not a minnow.  Answer: brook silversides.



On my way to work Monday I spotted a bald eagle eating a fish (likely a steelhead) on a gravel bar in the Rocky River.



If you see a largemouth or smallmouth bass covered in black patches but otherwise healthy, it is a benign (and common) condition called hyperpigmented melanosis.



Cleveland Metroparks boat launch passes went on sale this week.  See the report above for details.