October 29, 2020

In autumn the steelhead trout are the highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams. The Rocky River is elevated and muddy from rain with more rain in the forecast all day.  The river needs a few relatively dry days in a row before it offers good fishing conditions again.  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 primarily targeting steelhead and walleye along the shoreline and the Wallace Lake was stocked with trout yesterday (details below).

The Rocky River and other area streams are elevated and muddy this morning with more rain in the forecast all day today.  We need a few fairly dry days in a row before the river offers good fishing conditions again.  Prior to the rain anglers were reporting fair catches of steelhead by the public boats ramps and Emerald Necklace Marina.  There have been lots of emerald shiners and small gizzard shad in that area.  Anglers further upstream have been targeting deeper holes and a few creported very good success this week.  As the water first begins to clear, larger nickel to quarter size spawn sacks in brighter colors will shine, and as water clears smaller dime size spawn bags and small jigs tipped with maggots under a float will gain the edge.  Fallen leaves in the water are posing an increased challenge this week, especially in the slower pool areas, although the increased flow should serve to flush some of those and temporarily alleviate the issue. Anglers can look forward to the best fall steelehad fishing in our streams yet to come.

The Cleveland Lakefront steelhead bite has been good this week with productive spots including off the rocks at Edgewater and breakwall/rocks at E55th/E72nd areas, as well as the pier at Wildwood Park.  Wendy Park at the old Coast Guard station pier has been muddied by the elevated Cuyahoga River this week.  Casting a spoon (ie 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie 1/8 oz Vibrax or RoosterTail), or drifting a 1/32 or 1/64 oz marabou jig tipped with a waxworm or a few maggots under a float at these locations are a good bet for connecting with a steelhead trout.  These lakefront areas are producing good catches of walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.  For the convenience of anglers a commercial grade fish cleaning station was installed at lakefront and opened to the public last week.  More on that <here>.

Yesterday we released 500 lbs out mixed trout at Wallace Lake (these fish were delayed from stockings in May due to COVID).  Most of the fish were rainbow trout averaging a pound, but quite a few trophy rainbows, brook, brown and golden rainbow trout were in the bunch (see photos below).  In addition, in early October we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street.  Note: the daily limit at Wallace Lake is 3 trout/angler and the limit at the canal is 5 trout/angler.  The trout bite well on a hook filled with kernals canned corn, colorful dime size balls of power Bait dough, and smaller spinners.  If you are interested in catching either species you can try a nightcrawler worm or peice of shrimp fished on the canal bottom.

Photo Release Waivers are now Required for Fishing Blog Photos (and are fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers are now required for any fishing blog photos where individuals are identifiable.  The good news is it only has to be done one time per person (and then it's good for any subsequent photos) and there's a super easy and secure online form to do it through Smart Waiver that takes only about 30 seconds to complete.  So please use this link to complete the waiver if you send in any images for there report: <Smart Waiver link>.  Sorry for the slight inconvenience and THANK YOU for all who have contributed in the past to make this report a fun and personal offering!

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

 

Tony reported "I caught this beautiful 20 inch Fish Ohio Smallmouth right in front of First Energy stadium around 1:30pm on 10/22/20. Looking for walleye but got a nice surprise." (photo courtesy of Tony Renfro).



Congratulations to Kelsey on landing her first steelhead of the season casting off the rocks at Edgewater Park (photo courtesy of Kelsey Armstrong).



The walleye have been biting after dark at E55th/Gordon Park area (photo courtesy of Sean Johnson).






Father and son Mike and adam made an outstanding catch of yellow perch, plus bonus walleye) fishing minnows on the bottom at E55th breakwall this week.  Then they put the new Gordon Park fish cleaning station to work!  Perch fishing has been very hit or miss around CLE depending on the day, but obviously some quality fish are around (photos courtesy of Mike Flachbart).





Ken reported from the Rocky River on Tuesday "I hooked into a few steelies today, and missed one fish because I didn’t set the hook fast enough.  When it broke water, I could have swore I saw a brown trout.  I quickly changed the lure (to a Silver Rapala) and worked the same spot for the next several minutes.  The fish hit preety hard and I was surprised to see that it was a brown, a 21-incher.  Well, what a way to start steelhead season!" (photos courtesy of Ken Stein).



Gary caught a northern pike along the CLE lakefront, which clearly surprised him! (photo courtesy of Gary Barnes).



Bob scored this beautiful chrome buck steelie in the Rock this week (photo courtesy of Bob McKeown).



Dana is putting in a strong effort to try and win the Fall Brawl this year (photo courtesy of Dana Daugherty-Klonowski).



Bill reported landing two of four steelhead hooked on jigs on the Rocky River on Monday (photo courtesy of Bill Mantle).



Gary caught this big ole channel catfish using hotdog as bait on Saturday (photo courtesy of Gary Bombik).





Denise shared some of her recent diverse catches from E55th breakwall (photo courtesy of Denise Persinger).




Fred scored a nice pair of Rocky River steelies (photos courtesy of Fred Mieser).



Jason was targeting walleye along the shoreline when he caught this fine largemouth bass.  You never know what will end up on your line at the lakefront (photo courtesy of Jason Blakeney).



David just started steelhead fishing recently and is now hooked!  fter catching his first in the Rocky River last week, he caught this on off the rocks at Edgewater Park (photo courtesy of David White).




Bobby shared these helpful tips "I use these as a substitute for eggs and beads as they require no additional weight to be added as their tungsten heads sink rapidly. I pre-tie them to 12-24" fluorocarbon leaders (8# test) with a VMC or Raven #10 2 eye swivel at the other end as I have a #10 snap swivel tied below my slip bobber rig on my mainline. This allows me to quick change jigs without retying in the field. I tip these jigs (which glow underwater if you expose them to light) with like colored Berkley Alive Waxies (or maggots) and have had super success with them in the Rocky River and Vermilion River. The top 6 are 2 sizes of Northlands Tungsten Punch Fly Jig and the lower 3 are VMC Bull Fly Jigs. They are hard to find at local tackle shops though, but can be ordered directly from their respective manufacturers, or at FISH USA where I have found they carry both. This is just FYI that you may wish to pass along to others." (photos courtesy of Bobby Allison).





Despite reports not being optimistic, Elizabeth and I went after yellow perch near the Browns stadium this past rainy Tuesday and we got into a nice bunch of them.  Not a limit, but all fish were 12-15"!  She displays the bigger ones above, with that monster on the bottom being a hair shy of 15" and 2 pounds (the state record is 15.75".  we are getting that one mounted).  We were fishing live emerald shiners on the bottom. 







Yesterday we stocked 500 lbs of trout at Wallace Lake, most of which were 1 pound rainbows.  But some trophy rainbows as well as plenty of brook, brown and golden rainbow trout in the mix will be sure to make anglers happy.  The daily limit here is 3 trout/angler.