December 23, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering excellent fishing conditions this morning but more rain is in the forecast on Saturday.  Anglers should check the flow data at the following links before heading out this weekend: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye and steelhead have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and mixed trout were stocked at five locations (details below) over the past week.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are in excellent shape for steelhead anglers, but prospects into the weekend will depend on how much of the forecasted rain we recieve on Saturday.  Anglers are advised to check the flow data at the links above before heading out.  Many anglers over the past few days reported success drifting dime size spawn sacks (hot pink and chartreuse are both stained water favorites), 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads under floats. Anglers without specialized steelhead gear can also muse a medium action spinning rod for casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) in areas with deeper water. Despite not being stocked directly, steelhead are also available in modest numbers in other streams, among them the Cuyahoga River (which shines when other rivers are getting low and clear) and Euclid Creek (which fishes best when bigger streams are elevated and muddy).

Anglers casting off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd, Wildwood Park and Wendy Park continue to have opportunities to catch steelhead during the day and walleye at night.  Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) are a good ways to connect with a 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 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 can also work well.  A longer noodle rod is best for fishing floats.  Walleye anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark.  Be especially careful of slick conditions along the shoreline rocks and breakwalls, with ice cleats and a long landing net being good investments.

On Friday December 17th and Tuesday December 21st we conducted our first round (of two) scheduled winter trout stockings.  This consisted of a total of 3,000 lbs of trout distributed as follows: Wallace Lake (1,400 lbs), Shadow Lake (750 lbs), ledge Lake (650 lbs), Ranger Lake (100 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs).  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some trophy tiger trout (more on this below) in the mix.  A fair number of trout remain at Ohio & Erie Canal from stocking in October.  Note: the daily limit at Wallace, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes is 3 trout/angler and the limit at Shadow Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal is 5 trout/angler.  The trout can bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm ot two on a small marabou or tube jig and smaller spoons and spinners. 

Tiger Trout for Christmas.  Tiger trout, named for their tiger-esque stipes, are a rare hybrid between a female brown trout and male brook trout and for the first time ever  some were stocked in public waters in Ohio!  A few dozen of these cool fish were mixed in with the trout stocking on Friday and Tuesday at Wallace, Shadow and Ledge lakes to offer an opportunity to catch a rare trophy (Ranger and Judge's lakes were also stocked with trout, but not tigers).  We appreciate the efforts of our supplier (Hooked on Trout Farm, LLC), a small family owned Ohio operation, to provide great fish to enhance angling opportunities in Cuyahoga county.

Photo Release Waivers for Fishing Blog Photos (fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers for photos sent in for the fishing report can easily be completed online through Smart Waiver (takes only about 30 seconds to complete) at the following link: <Smart Waiver link>. You only need to do this one time and any future additional photos submitted are covered too.

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

 

Brian shared on Sunday "Vinny caught this nice brown trout along with another rainbow trout casting a small Little Cleo firetiger spoon at Wallace Lake. Thanks Mike and Cleveland Metroparks for doing this. It keeps my son interested in fishing and gives us an opportunity to spend quality time together." (photo courtesy of Brian DiGioia).



Five year old Logan landed this beautiful rainbow trout at Wallace Lake (photo courtesy of Elmer Garcia).



Laura had the ultimate beginners luck and caught her first steelhead on her first drift!  She should probably just hang up her waders now (haha)!  Who else can claim that? (photo courtesy of Michael Weilacher).



Stephen shared "I caught this steelhead from the E.55th fishing platform on Thursday afternoon, December 16 around 1:45. The internet went out at work, so I drove down to the lake in my office clothes to cast for an hour. Caught this nice one on a chartreuse Little Cleo spoon." (photo courtesy of Stephen Haynesworth).



Tim shared on Tuesday "Caught this in the Rocky, thanks for all you do and happy holidays!" (photo courtesy of Tim McDonough).




Juan landed two nice walleye casting a soft perch colored swimbait off E55th breakwall on friday night (photos courtesy of Juan Jeffrey).



Ed caught his personal best steelhead in the Rocky River recently.  The big chrome hen was estimated at over 10 pounds (photo courtesy of Pat Cramer).



Mike shared on Monday "This was my first steelhead of the year. After casting a spawn sack for a while, I switched over to a white Roostertail. That did the trick! 9pounds and 27 inches. The rush never gets old!" (photo courtesy of Mike Sprau).




Ed is on a roll, with his 3 most recent steelhead caught all being between 29-30 inches!  He caught the two above on the Rocky River on Friday and Saturday (photos courtesy of Ed Schmitt).




Ed shared "Here's a picture of Luna, getting ready to help land another walleye out of Cleveland. She lives for being on the boat. Caught our 2 limits on Bandits." (photos courtesy of Ed Oleksy).




Steve shared on Saturday "Hey Mike, got something for your fishing report if you're interested, got into some gold and silver on Rocky yesterday/last night. Steelhead were in the river and the walleye were right at the mouth at night. From the kayak with various crankbaits." (photos courtesy of Steve Crowe).



Roger landed a colorful trophy buck steelhead this week (photo courtesy of Roger Berglund).




Rob and friends have really been catching the walleyes after dark at E55th breakwall.  The bite can vary throughout the night- some days action starts right after dark and others it's in the wee morning hours (photos courtesy of Rob Unger).




Kumbo has been catching some fine Rocky River steelhead this week (photos courtesy of Kumbo Leng).



Glen shows off bright hen steelhead from the northern Rocky River (photo courtesy of Glen Stafford).




Carl and friends are taking advantage of the mild winter bounty of the region- from stocked trout in our lakes to walleye on Lake Erie (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).














Above are some examples of the beautiful mixed trout we stocked at five locations over the past week (details in the fishing report above).  Several of the fish pictured are tiger trout and this marks the first time they have ever been stocked in public waters in Ohio!