February 4, 2021

In winter steelhead trout are the highlight species targeted by anglers in area rivers. The Rocky River and other streams are currently exhibiting low flow and clear water conditions and anglers should expect the river to be especially slushy on mornings that dip significantly below freezing.  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>.  Note: river flow readings can show inconsistencies due to ice and slush interference.  Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes have been stocked with a combined 3,000mlbs of trout over the past 2 weeks (see details below). PLEASE NOTE: an angler fell through the ice on a Metroparks lake this week (fortunately he got out OK).  Please wait for at least a solid week of very cold weather before considering ice fishing locally.  Remember, a minumum of 4" of clear ice should be present for ice fishing.

The Rocky River and other area streams are offering low and clear water conditions and anglers can expect slushy flows following nights that dip below freezing.  Anglers continue to employ finesses techniques in the clear water and persistent anglers are catching a few steelhead.  Most fish have been caught in deeper holes spread throughout the watersheds. In our current clear water conditions downsizing to lighter 6 pound flourocarbon leader and drifting salmon egg mimicking beads and soft rubber eggs (8-12 mm), small (1/32-1/64 oz) jigs tipped with maggots or live minnows under a float catch the most fish, as do nymph and streamer flies.  Repeated drifts through the same pool are often the norm to entice lethargic cold water steelhead into biting.  As another tip, the Cuyahoga River has a big watershed and maintains a good flow even under dry conditions and exploring it is ideal at such times.

On January 27 we stocked 1,500 lbs of trout at Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (600 lbs) and Judge's (150 lbs) lakes.  These complement the 1,400 lbs stocked on January 21 in Wallace Lake and 100 lbs in Ranger Lake.  These add to the total of 6,000 lbs of trout stocked in these 5 lakes since mid December and concludes our winter trout stocking.  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and trophy rainbow trout were in the mix.  A few trout remain at Ohio & Erie Canal from stocking in October, as well.  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.  Winter trout often bite well on a dime size ball of colorful Power Bait dough and small marabou or tube jig tipped with a waxworm or a few maggots and medium size jigging spoons. 

The forecast into next week is projecting some temperatures cold enough to form more ice and many anglers are chomping at the bit to get on the frozen lakes and ponds right now, so I offer some very important safety advice to keep in mind.  Most state conservation agencies recommend at least 4" of solid clear (not cloudy) ice before anglers should venture out to ice fish, and in Cleveland Metroparks it is the angler's responsibility to check that.  One method is to use a spud bar near shore and check the ice thickness, and if it is > 4 inches then walk out a little further and check again.  Ice is often thinnest right at the water's edge and around inlets and outlets of the waterbody.  A pair of emergency ice picks held at the ready on a cord around the neck are are a safety must, as is bringing a length of rope.  A floating "survival suit" is something you may consider, as well.  Other safety tips are to always fish with a friend, let someone know where you'll be, and focus on areas near where other anglers are already fishing.

Photo Release Waivers for Fishing Blog Photos (fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers can easily be completed online through Smart Waiver (takes only about 30 seconds to complete) at the following link: <Smart Waiver link>. 

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

 

Tim relayed the following success story with a great safety messge "I wasn’t comfortable taking the boys out on Wallace Lake with only 2.5” of ice so we drilled holes from a platform.  Grant pulled this 16” brook out of 2 ft of water & demonstrated that you don’t need to leave the safety of shore to catch fish" (photo courtesy of Tim Fischer).
PLEASE NOTE: an angler fell through the ice on a Metroparks lake this week (thankfully he got out OK).  Please wait for at least a solid week of very cold weather before considering ice fishing locally.  Remember, a minumum of 4" of clear ice should be present for ice fishing.




John took his grandson Levi trout fishing on a Metroparks lake and they had a two person limit within an hour and a half.  The fish were caught on a Swedish Pimple jigging spoon tipped with a peice of worm (photos courtesy of John Hall).





Dale was targeting trout at a Metroparks lake this past weekend and was shocked to catch the trophy 16.25" crappie in the top image.  Being a true sportsman, he released the giant crappie and plans to get a fiberglass reproduction (photo courtesy of Dale Mattox).



Buddies Carmen (pictured) and Ross were steelhead fishing a local stream this week and Carmen landed the bruiser buck steelie pictured among their catch (photo courtesy of Ross Bailey).



Josh caught this beautiful 30 inch hen steelhead in the Rocky River this week (photo courtesy Joshua Sommers).






Mike headed out to to a small Metroparks pond and caught some colorful pumpkinseed sunfish, bluegill and bonus largemouth bass on small jigs tipped with waxworms and jigging spoons (photos courtesy of Mike Sekerak).



Luther always seems able to hook a steelhead, even in an icy Rocky River in the dead of winter (photo courtesy of Luther Williams).



Josh recently caught this surprise brown trout while targeting steelhead in the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Josh Beichner).





Ken has a unique approach to steelhead fishing the Rocky River.  He does quite well slowly working Rapala crankbaits through the pools.  Above are a few of his catches from this week (photos courtesy of Ken Stein).





Walt and his son Christian caught a mighty fine limit of rainbow trout with a bonus brook trout at Shadow Lake this week (Metroparks trout limits vary by lake so please see report above for details on that).  Spectrum News did a feature story about their outing this week which can be viewed <here>. (photos courtesy of Walt Gedeon).







Nick had a good day trout fishing at Wallace Lake this week (photos courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).