January 16, 2020

In winter steelhead trout are the highlight in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers.  Stream levels have been ideal the past several days and has ushered in excellent steelhead opportunities.  There is precipitation forecasted into the weekend, though, so wise anglers will keep an eye on the flow data at the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  A total of 3,000 lbs of trout were stocked at five Metroparks lakes in mid-December, as well, to expand winter fishing options and another 3,000 lbs is scheduled to be stocked next week.

Local streams have dropped into great shape for steelhead the past several days following the rain over the weekend.  Steelhead fishing has been excellent this week, with good numbers of fresh run fish spread throughout the Rocky and Chagrin rivers.  The Cuyahoga River at the Rt 82 dam in Brecksville has also been producing catches.  As a nice surprise, some of the larger fish I've seen in several years have been in the mix, with an impressive number of fish reaching the magic 30" mark being reported.  As a nice bonus for a pair of anglers, a brown trout and coho salmon were also caught in the Rocky River this week (see photos below).  There is quite a bit of precipitation in the forecast into this weekend so wise anglers will keep an eye on the river flows at the links above.  Steelhead in stained water earlier this week were biting dime to nickel size spawn sacks in bright colors, and as the water has cleared small marabou jigs (black with orange head and white with flash have been producing well) tipped with maggots, live or salted minnows, 3" rubber worms (pink and white have been good) and salmon egg mimmicking beads drifted near the river bottom under a float have all been taking a share of the fish.  Increased flows throughout winter will allow fresh steelhead to continue trickling into local streams following a fairly slow fall season.

In mid-December we stocked 3,000 lbs of trout at Wallace (1,400 lbs), Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (600 lbs), Judge's (150 lbs) and Ranger (100 lbs) lakes.  We tentatively plan to stock another 3,000 lbs this coming Tuesday and Wednesday as long as the weather cooperates for delivery.  This will be our second and final winter trout stocking.  The size of the trout averages about a pound and a half each, although there are a few trophy fish of several pounds mixed in.  Along with the predominantly standard rainbow trout are fair number of colorful golden rainbow trout, brook trout and brown trout (see photo below of a nice brook trout caught this week).  These trout bite on jigging spoons, brightly colored PowerBait, and small jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm.  NOTE: the limits on these trout at 3/day at Wallace, Ledge, Judge's and Ranger lakes and 5/day at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area (there is no size limit, unlike the river where trout need to be minimum length of 12" and you can harvest 2/day). 

Cleveland Boat Show & Fishing Expo = Aquatic Invasive Prevention Reminder.  The Cleveland Boat Show and Fishing Expo starts this Thursday, January 16 and runs through Sunday the 19th. The show is a good reminder for boaters to keep habits that prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Link to tips on stopping spread of AIS: <StopAquaticHitchHikers>. The Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Report will highlight aquatic invasive species prevention efforts in the park district and beyond in 2020.  Speaking of the show, for anyone interested, I'll be giving steelhead talks at 1:00pm on Thursday the 16th, 6:30pm on Friday the 17th and at 11:00am on Saturday the 18th.  I will be covering the basics of the Ohio steelhead program, a bit on steelhead biology and run timing, and where and how to catch them in the greater Cleveland area.

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
 

Ken caught this beautiful fresh hen steelhead in the Rocky River on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Ken Harper).



Bryan was fishing the Rocky River on Tuesday near the split and caught a surprise brown trout (photo courtesy of Bryan Rose).





Speaking of surprise catches, this coho salmon was caught in the Rocky River yesterday (photos courtesy of Andrey Gutsulyak).



Mike caught this trophy brook trout at Wallace Lake on Sunday (photo courtesy of Mark Fascione).




Kelsey and Ross had a great outing on the Rocky River by the marina yesterday (photos courtesy of Kelsey Armstrong).



Brian shared yesterday "I'm Dave in Berea and caught my first steelhead today on a jig I got from Bill Mantle. Thanks Bill! Caught at Emerald Necklace Marina" (photo courtesy of Brian).
 


John had a good day swinging flies on the Rocky yesterday.  John manages the Orvis shop in Westlake (photo courtesy of John Brochue).





Max got some quality steel this week in both the Chagrin and Rocky rivers (photos courtesy of Max Madden).




Mikale had a good week on the Rocky.  These are just a few of his fish.  He does things a bit differently, float fishing with a baitcaster reel (photos courtesy of Mikale Mosack).





Buddies Ray (not pictured), Travis, Eric and Mark (in that order) had a great day fishing the Rocky River together on Tuesday (photos courtesy of Ray Lancaster).




Aaron has been catching steelhead drifting colorful rubber trout worms (photos courtesy of Aaron Honaker).




When the main rivers were up and muddy Brad shifted gears and caught several steelhead in a smaller local creek on beads (photos courtesy of Brad Gardner).



John caught a thick, colorful buck steelie in the Rocky River this week.  John manages the new Burntwood Tavern in North Olmsted- a long standing supporter of our  public fisheries program (photo courtesy of John Burkhart).




John hit the Rock on his lunch break on Tuesday and it paid off (photos courtesy of John-Paul Duff).



Greg caught this very chunky hen on the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Greg Palka).




Chuck had a good day on the Rock on Friday- going 5 for 7 on Mad River rubber worms (photos courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).




Ed shared from the Rocky yesterday "After work from 4:00-5:15, I landed 4 out of 6, all on a Brad's 1/16 Olive Mini Marabou jig tipped with maggots.  The fish were big stacked up in the river, and the biggest one in these 2 pics was 29 inches." (photos courtesy of Ed Schmitt).














Nick had his best two days ever on the Chagrin River, landing 17 steelhead on jigs between Monday and Tuesday (photos courtesy of Nick Kosiba).



A local angler does some fishing with her little buddy at the ready (photo courtesy of Sam Horn).