October 14, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   Anglers are catching steelhead in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, as well as along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie.  Rain is in the near term forecast so anglers would be wise to 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 are also biting in Lake Erie anglers and inland lake/pond anglers are pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish. 

Anglers reported catching steelhead in the northern stretches (closer to Lake Erie) of the Rocky River, Chagrin River and other local streams this week, but rain is in the forecast so anglers should check in on the flow trend at the links above before embarking on a fishing outing.  Anglers by the Rocky River marina, in particular, had success 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.  Another good bite for steelhead this week has been off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd and Wildwood Park.  An all around good offering has been a 2-3 inch blue and silver spoon.  A modest number of smallmouth bass have been mixed in with the lakefront catch, too.

White and yellow perch, channel catfish, rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, freshwater drum and various sunfish species can be found along the Cleveland shoreline in early fall and can be caught on offerings such as live shiners, tube jigs, and dropshot rigs.  Yellow perch have been caught at shoreline spots like E55th breakwall, Edgewater Park and Wendy Park recently, at times in decent numbers, and have been biting on live minnows and bits of worm fished on the bottom on a crappie rig.

Fall Family Fishing Fest this Saturday October 16.    Come out and join us for Fall Family Fishing Fest at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation this Saturday October 16th from 10-2:00pm  This event is free and we will have a limited number of fishing poles to loan out, as well as bait.  We will be stocking 600 lbs of channel catfish and 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout at the Ohio & Erie Canal in anticipation of the event.  Although anglers of any age can participate, prizes in several categories will be reserved for kids 15 years old and under.  Thank you to Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders for supporting this great event with grant funds.  More details here:  <Fall Family Fishing Fest>. PLEASE NOTE: the canal fishing area is currently posted as closed to fishing until the event begins at 10:00am on Saturday. 

The Steelheaders Ball presented by Cleveland Museum of Natural History Trout Club.  When: Friday, October 29, 2021- 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM  Where: The LaSalle Theater, 823 E. 185th St, Cleveland, OH 44119  What: Live Music by The Interstate All-Star Band, BBQ Food Truck, cash bar, assorted raffles, door prizes and more!  Why: Fundraiser to support a variety of local fisheries projects.  Tickets- $20.00 online, $25.00 at the door. Purchase tickets online at: <Steelheaders Ball tickets>

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
 

This chrome bright steelhead was caught casting a blue and silver Little Cleo spoon from the breakwall at Wildwood Park.



A lucky angler scored a doubleheader of yellow perch along the Cleveland shoreline using a crappie rig and minnows on the lake bottom.






Brad scored the gold and silver (walleye and steelhead) trolling Lake Erie around the mouth of the Rocky River from a small boat (photos courtesy of Brad Gardner).



Owen was casting for walleye after dark by E55th and was surprised when this chunky channel catfish bit his walleye lure (photo courtesy of Owen Lockhart).





Larry went out looking for Lake Erie walleye this morning, but instead scored the "Poor Man's Gold Silver Bronze Challenge"- a channel catfish, sheepshead and round goby! (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).




Last week I hosted a fish collection outing at Wallace Lake with a Baldwin Wallace University ecology class.  The young lady holding the catfish is Maura.  Her brother Graham volunteered with me for several years in the past and got his Master's in fisheries and is now working as a fish biologist in Oklahoma, and her oldest brother Gil who also volunteered with me years before that is now an engineer who has worked on projects with Elon Musk was involved with.  But I am mainly wondering how the brother who got into fish wasn't the one they named Gil (gill).




Jimmy scored the gold and silver (walleye and steelhead) while fishing Lake Erie this morning (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).



Nick was fishing a local creek this week and stumbled across this dead brown trout with a big live sea lamprey (a non-native parasite).  He promptly killed the non-native parasite (photo courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).







This morning we stocked 1,000 lbs of beatiful rainbow trout in the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area and will follow up with 600 lbs of farm raised catfish tomorrow in preparation for Fall Family Fishing Fest.  We get our trout from Hooked on Trout Farm LLC, which is a NW Ohio family owned and run operation.  Pleae note:  this area is clearly postede as closed to fishing until the event begins this Saturday morning at 10:00am.









Cleveland Metroparks just printed a new Fish of Cleveland Metroparks book.  The 60 page book features 30 fish species with locally taken photos and information about each, as well as a bunch of additional related information.  It even has a checklist so folks can tally what they've seen.  It will be available in the very near future at Metroparks gift shops for only $6 and is a great offering for kids or any newer angler who wants to learn his/her fish.