May 9, 2019

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions today today, but there is a lot of rain in the forecast in the next 24 hours that may change that.  Lake-run smallmouth bass and some steelhead will continue to be available as fishing conditions permit.  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 available in the East Branch Rocky River, Wallace Lake, and Ledge Lake and a variety of species, including walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass and yellow perch are being caught along the Lake Erie shoreline.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions at the moment, although rain forecasted over the next 24 hours could change that.  Anglers should check the flow gage trend before making a trip to the river.  A fair number of post-spawn steelhead were still being caught this week, but as is typical this time of year their numbers in the streams will dwindle quickly as many head back to Lake Erie.  The cooler weather lately, though, has extended the season a bit.  Stealing the spotlight from steelhead this time of year 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 few weeks.  Note: as of 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.  Lake-run channel catfish and common carp are also showing up in the streams.

When the lake conditions haven't been too rough the Cleveland shoreline breakwalls are offering a hot post-spawn night bite for walleye.  Perfect 10s, Husky Jerks, and glow swimbaits are a few of the offerings that produce. The breakwall at E55th, pier and breakwall at Wendy Park (old Coast Guard station) and rocks at Edgewater Park and E72nd are good spots for walleye and also offer a shot at yellow perch, steelhead and variety of other species.  Harbor areas at Edgewater, Gordon, and Wildwood parks in spring are a good place to find largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, as well as panfish.  A white spinnerbait with silver blades or shad crankbait are good choices for both bass and pike. 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 online.

Opportunities for catching trout are very good at our stocked inland lakes.  On Tuesday we stocked 400 pounds of trout at Ledge Lake and on April 29 we stocked 600 pounds of trout in Wallace Lake, which included some brook and 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, 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.  Most of these fish at the latter locations have seen a good amount 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 stocking in the East Branch Rocky River has concluded for the season. There are plenty of trout to go around as we have stocked 2,400 pounds in the river 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 have concluded our river stocking for 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.

Cleveland Metroparks Boat Launch Passes Now Available Online!   Due to public feedback, we are now offering an online puchase option for annual boat launch passes.  The passes can be puchased at this link: <Annual Boat Launch Pass>.

Spring Childrens Fishing Derbies Are Coming on May 18 & 19.  Our popular annual kids fishing derbies are coming up on Saturday May 18 to Wallace Lake and Sunday May 19 at the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area. The event is free, fish will be stocked for the event, and fishing gear and bait will be provided for those in need at no cost. For more information, you can check the following link: <May 18 Fishing Derby Info>  <May 19 Fishing Derby Info>.

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

 

Nadia had a great week fishing with her dad.  She caught a nice brook trout in Wallace Lake on a blue/silver KO Wobbler spoon, some trophy Rocky River smallmouth bass on GT360 rubber swimbaits, and largemouth bass in a local pond with her friend Riley (photos courtesy of Moe Slyman).




On Saturday Tony caught his limit of Wallace Lake trout and a bonus crappie (released) on flies tipped with maggots (photos courtesy of Tny Modic).

Mike and his son had a memorable day on the Rocky River on Tuesday catching some nice smallmouth on Sexy Shad crankbaits (photos courtesy of Mike Petruska).




Brad caught a big walleye kayak fishing the CLE shoreline (photo courtesy of Brad Gardener).



Joe, a Case Western Reserve University student on a class outing to Wallace Lake during free fishing weekend, caught a nice rainbow trout on a white and silver RoosterTail spinner (photo courtesy of Owen Lockhart).



Jarred caught a fine smallmouth bass along the Cleveland shoreline (photo courtesy of Jarred Bugg).



Steve caught a fine largemouth bass at E55th Marina on a spinnerbait on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Andy Young).





Tudor set out seeking steelhad and smallmouth from his kayak on the northern Rocky yesterday, but instead was pleasantly surprised to get a 29" walleye and pair of fat channel catfish (photos courtesy of Tudor St Stephen).





Dean had fun chasing rainbow trout on his fly rod in Cleveland Metroparks (photos courtesy of Dean Sauer).




On Saturday Mikale caught 6.25 lb and 7.5 lb channel catfish in the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Mikale Mosack).





Chuck had a great day at Edgewater Park-  getting largemouth and smallmouth bass as well as a trio of tasty walleye (photos courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).



Yesterday Tom caught a 16" largemouth bass at wallace Lake using a worm on a jighead under a bobber (photo courtesy of Tom Barnhart).





Ray has been doing great using huge tube jigs for Rocky River smallmouth bass.  On Wednesday alone he landed two at 18" and 20".  Although he questions whether Michigan uses the same measuring system as Ohio! (see photo of Michigan made tube jigs above) (photos courtesy of Ray Vargo).



Dakota took a family member new to steelhead fishing on the Rocky River on Saturday morning and this 23" buck was the only steelhead they caught.  But the funny thing is how it happened.  He was setting up to cast his flyrod and let the fly hit the water behind him.  When he went to cast he felt tension and quickly realized that a fish had grabbed the fly- behind him! (photo courtesy of Dakota Rippeto).





Pete caught a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth bass at Gordon Park this week (photos courtesy of Pete Surace).



Daryl fishjed the Rocky River Sunday and caught three fine smallmouth bass while targeting steelhead (photo courtesy of Daryl Radcliff).



Be aware that smolts (immature steelhead) were just stocked in the lower reaches of the streams.  Please handle these little fish with care and i suggest avoiding fishing smaller baits where they are aggressively biting (photo courtesy of JP Webb).







During a Watershed Volunteer Program fish education outing at Wallace Lake on Saturday morning we turned up some nice fish, as evidenced by the photos.



Due to public feedback, we are now offering an online puchase option for annual boat launch passes.  The passes can be puchased at this link: <Annual Boat Launch Pass>.