November 11, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky River is currently flowing low and clear but based on the weather forecast we should be getting some needed rain into the weekend.  Anglers can monitor the most recent river water level and temperature at the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye, steelhead and yellow perch have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish were also stocked in mid October at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation. 

The Rocky River and other area streams are currently flowing low and clear with a growing number of fallen leaves, which all add up to make for more challenging steelhead fishing.  Fortunately, the weather forecast into the weekend is calling for rain because a rise in flow will help improve conditions.  In the meantime anglers are having the most success fish low (north) in the river closer to the lake where steelhead are staging waiting for increased flows and feeding on baitfish.  In these areas casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) and drifting 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs under floats are taking the bulk of the fish.  A modest number of fish have moved well upstream, too, and adventurous anglers willing to walk may get lucky and find pods of them in the deeper holes while flows remain low. Salmon egg mimmicking beads, small jigs (as already outlined) and live minnows drifted under floats (or flies that are similar to any of the aforementioned) are working best in the deeper holes upstream under the current clear water conditions.

The bite for steelhead has remained good off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd and Wildwood Park.  Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are a good for connecting with fall lakefront 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.  Be especially careful of slick conditions along the shoreline rocks and breakwalls, with ice cleats and a long landing net being good investments.

The walleye bite has really perked up after dark along the Cleveland shoreline when lake conditions permit.  Anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark along the Cleveland shoreline.  On windy days Wendy Park pier and E55th breakwall are more protected than Edgewater and Wildwood park shorelines.  Boating anglers are finding surprisingly good numbers of jumbo yellow perch along the outer city breakwall and by the Cuyahoga River outer lighthouse with some decent catches also coming from shore at the E55th breakwall on emerald shiners fished on crappie rigs and spreader rigs on the bottom.  Anglers take note that the remember perch limit in this region of Lake Erie is currently 10 per day/angler (but you can use 3 rods/angler on Lake erie now).

In mid October we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street for Fall Family Fishing Fest and plenty of those fish remain to be caught.  The trout average 1.5 lb each and the catfish average 1-2 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish and a few albino catfish to spice things up.    If you are happy catching either species you can try a nightcrawler worm or peice of shrimp fished on the canal bottom.

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

 

Barry shared regarding his trip up from southern Ohio this week "Had a nice weekend in Cleveland up from Lancaster, Ohio. Off Edgewater Saturday afternoon, was floating a 1/32 oz jig about 5 feet deep with live maggots off the rocks when I got this bruiser (first pic).  I missed the hook-set and within a second of my disappointment I saw it shoot like a torpedo just under the surface to chase it down and grab it. I had no idea how truly fast they are. It also put on a 4 jump aerial show for the others there.  Then, was throwing a Little Cleo spoon by the Emerald Necklace boat ramp on Sunday and got this bruiser (second pic).  My oldest son moved to Cleveland a few years ago and it's been a pleasure to discover the Metroparks system and the great fishing opportunities." (photos courtesy of Barry Cohen).



Dwayne caught this nice steelhead just off Edgewater Park on Saturday (photo courtesy of Dwayne Amelung).



Angela shows off a jumbo yellow perch from among a catch she made with her husband on Sunday off Cleveland (photo courtesy of Dave Ritter).





Pete shared "Love your column and all of the great pictures. We had a terrific night on Friday walleye fishing and wanted to share some pictures for you to use for this week's column.Thanks for you all you do - we are HOOKED!" (photos courtesy of Pete Carroll).



Crosby shared "Hello, I’d like to submit this photo for the fishing report. Tony Perrin and his buddy Kevin let me run a couple drifts in the hole they were fishing and I hooked into this dandy of a fish." (photo courtesy of Crosby Hill).




The Arensberg family had a fun outing chasing perch off Cleveland over the weekend (photos courtesy of Bill Arensberg).



Andrew shared "Caught this steelhead on a pink and black maribou jig with a minnow. It fought good. Took about 10 minutes to get him in. I was fishing near E72nd." (photo courtesy of Andrew Kursh).



DeAngelo scored a walleye fishing at E72nd on Tuesday evening (photo courtesy of DeAngelo Williams).



Martin shared "My arm wasn't long enough to get a full picture.  About 30 inches and ten pounds caught by the mouth of the Rocky River on beautiful day Tuesday. Caught with a Berkeley Flicker Shad" (photo courtesy of Martin Wrenn).




Owen set out with walleye in mind on Friday night and got a pair of nice largemouth bass as a conlsolation.  He was bumping a P10 crankbait along the shoreline rocks by E55th (photos courtesy of Owen Lockhart). 







Chuck had a great week kayak fishing oround the mouth of the Rocky River with clients, catching walleye, steelhead and even a bonus trophy white bass that taped in at 16.75".  They were trolling and casting various crankbaits- including Bandits, Rattlin Rogues and Kwikfish (photos courtesy of Chuck Earls).



Dustin shared from Sunday " Here's some photos of the fish we caught yesterday in 60' north of the crib." (photo courtesy of Dustin Forgac). 







Carl and friends caught some tasty walleye, as well as a bonus big white bass, trolling mini Wiggle Wart crankbaits off Cleveland this week.  Their biggest walleye was 7.5 lbs (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).





Andrew and a buddy caught some nice walleyes as well as a bonus smallmouth bass casting from shore at Edgewater Park one recent evening (photos courtesy of Andrew Mundt).



Adam caught this northern pike in a local tributary.  The upper Cuyahoga River and nearshore harbors around Cleveland offer pike opportunities during the cooler months (photo courtesy of Adam Oren).





Michael and friends are making some great catches of walleye out of E55th Marina (photos courtesy of Michael Ruffo).






Thde jumbo perch bite has been great with lots of fish over 12" and the big one in top pic above taping in at a whopping 14.5".  Also, Elizabeth landed a surpise steelhead that bit on a perch rig on an ultralight rod.  Talk about a handful!  The perch have been gorging on a nearshore buffet of spiny water fleas which are a crustacean like tiny shrimp (in one close-up picture), emerald shiners, small gizzard shad and one even had a 4" largemouth bass in its belly.  Please note: this zone of Lake erie has a new 10 perch/angler limit this year.




A few smaller muskies were caught (and released) by walleye trollers around Cleveland this week (photos courtesy of Primo Morales and Adam Angelone).



Speaking of muskies, I landed this bruiser in the Detroit River on Sunday.  Here is a video of the fish being released: <muskie release>.