December 5, 2019

In late fall steelhead trout are the highlight in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers.  The Rocky and Chagrin rivers have vrecieved following a modest bump in flow this week, which enticed a modest push of fresh fish further into those watersheds.  The best steelhead fishing this week remained in the northern portion of the rivers closer to Lake Erie. The forecast into the weekend looks to be dry so anfglers can expect the streams to further recede in flow and clear.  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 nearshore anglers have been doing well this week targeting steelhead and walleye.

The steelhead bite has been good this week from the rocks and breakwalls along the Cleveland shoreline at E55th breakwall, Edgewater Park, Gordon Park at E72nd, Wendy Park pier at the old Coast Guard station and Wildwood Park breakwall/pier.  Of these spots, Edgewater Park breakwalls by the boat launch, Wendy Park and E55th breakwall are most protected by the outer city breakwall during wavier conditions. Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are a good for connecting with fall lakefront steelhead trout that requires no more than a medium action spinning rig spooled with 8-10 lb monofilament line.  A bobber with a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jig tipped with minnow or maggots suspend 3-6 feet below is also a good producer in the aforementioned areas.  A nightcrawler suspended under a bobber on a bare hook has also been working well.  A longer noodle rod is best for fishing floats and a long handle net is required to land fish safely along the lakefront.

Local stream levels recieved a bump in flow this week which has enticed a modest push of fresh steelhead further up the watersheds.  The flows are receding and water is clearing, a trend that can be expected into the weekend given the dry weather forecast.  The majority of steelhead remain most concentrated in the deeper northern reaches of local streams awaiting higher flows before heading further upstream.  This scenario has allowed for good opportunities for staging steelhead at the Emerald Necklace Marina and river mouth area at Lake Erie (access to the latter requires a small watercraft).  Steelhead are hitting dime to nickel size spawn sacks and small marabou jigs tipped with maggots drifted near the river bottom under a float, as well as spoons like Little Cleos and spinners like Vibrax and RoosterTail.  A few bigger fish pushing the hard to beat 30" mark have turned up in the past couple of weeks.

In October the Ohio & Erie canal fishing area (off E49th Street) was stocked with 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout (including a few dozen golden rainbow trout) and 600 lbs of farm raised channel catfish.  Additionally, Wallace Lake was stocked with largemouth bass and big bluegill and Beyer's Pond was stocked with bass, sunfish and channel catfish this fall, as well.  Rainbow trout are tentatively scheduled to be stocked in Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes the week of December 16.

The walleye bite has been very good after dark along the Cleveland shoreline, with the E55th breakwall and Wildwood Park being recent hot spots.   Anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark.  Wendy Park pier and E55th breakwall are more protected from wind than Edgewater and Wildwood park shorelines, but all produce plenty of walleye after dark in autumn. The ODNR Division of Wildlife weekly Lake Erie fishing report can be viewed <here>.

Updates from the Desk of the Rocky River Park Manager.  Rocky River Reservation Park Manager Rick Ditch wanted to let late season boaters know that the last remaining courtesy dock at the Emerald Necklace Marina launch ramp on the Rocky River is scheduled to be removed this Friday December 6.  Boaters should note, though, that permant courtesy docks are available all year at Edgewater and Gordon Park (E72nd) boat ramps.

Also, Rick had his crew install the winter season burn barrel at Morley Ford on the Rocky River last week.  This feature serves as a cold weather social hub and nice place to warm the hands during a winter steelhead fishing outing.  See photo of the burn barrel below.

Emerald Necklace Shop Closed for the Season.  Due to unforseen circumstances the Emerald Necklace Marina shop closed for the season on November 27th (instead of December 19th). E55th Marina shop is closed for the season, as well.

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

 

Miguel reported "My name is Miguel Romero and I'm from Oak Lawn, Illinois.  I wanted to share a picture of my 1st ever steelhead that I caught off the E55th breakwall on Black Friday.  I used a 2/5 oz blue/silver cleo just as your reports have suggested.  Thanks for your weekly reports and I look forward to hitting the water during my next visit later this month." (photo courtesy of Miguel Romero).
  


Ed reported from the Rocky River on Saturday "Only one bite today on a 1/3 all gold Cleo, but my biggest trout this fall at 30 and 10-11 lbs!" (photo courtesy of Ed Schmitt).



David caught this trophy 10 pound walleye (photo courtesy of David Wagner).



Scott caught this fresh run steelhead at the Rocky River marina on a jig tipped with maggots (photo courtesy of Scott Witte).



CJ landed a fine walleye off Cleveland (photo courtesy of Sam Horn).



Lee shared "Hey Mike here's a steelhead I caught last week in the Cuyahoga River.



Brad and friend caught some quality CLE walleyes (photos courtesy of Brad Gardner).





Max reports "Have had some luck catching very colorful fish fly fishing streamers and eggs this past week" (photos courtesy of Max Madden).
 




Mike, Dana and friends are enjoying the late fall walleye fishing around Cleveland (photos courtesy of Dana Daugherty-Klonowski).



Chuck caught a bruiser white bass this week.  He thought he had caught a state record white perch, understandably given the unusually pale appearance, but sometimes white bass can be this pale.  The faint indication of stripes, pointed tail lobes and overall shape are all white bass features (photo courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).





Last Friday on the lower Rocky William landed 3 of 5 steelhead he hooked (photos courtesy of William Mascol).





E55th breakwall is still producing steelhead by day and walleye after dark.  The yellow perch bite has been slow this year, though.  Kenny shows off a lucky perch caught yesterday.  On the plus side the few perch being caught are of good size.











Buddies Justin and Casey drove all the way from Wisconsin for a few days targeting walleye from shore.  Among the successful spots they hit was E55th breakwall.  Their two largest fish were just shy of 30" and they caught them on custom painted stickbaits (photos courtesy of Justin Harmon).



Owen was casting for walleye after dark off the "J" by E72nd and got a steelhead as a consolation prize (photo courtesy of Owen Lockhart).





Carmen had a great morning on the lower Rocky by the marina yesterday, landing 4 of 5 fresh run steelies he hooked on Slick Willy jigs (photos courtesy of Carmen Colagiovanni).



Ken ventured a bit further upstream than usual on the Rocky yesterday and was rewarded with this pretty hen on a black jig with pink head.  He reports the 24.5" fish jumped an amazing 9 times! (photo courtesy of Ken Stein).



The beloved burn barrel has returned to Morley Ford on the Rock.



Baldwin Wallace University adjunct biology professor Tyler Lawson is out in Alaska right now serving as an observer (data collector) for NOAA on commercial fishing vessels.  Here he is flexing his muscle to heft a weighty halibut (photo courtesy of Tyler Lawson).




The Cleveland Fishing Co Joe Thomas Challenge for biggest/best steelhead photo caught within the contest timeframe had 134 entries!  Of those, Brian Tighe (company owner) and I narrowed down to the top 4 entries and Joe Thomas picked the winner above.  Judging was tough on this one because there were so many great entries.  Thanks to all who participated! (photos courtesy of Cleveland Fishing Co). 




Here are a few nice brown trout Liz and I caught on the mighty Niagara River of New York on Saturday.