September 2, 2021

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   As we begin our approach towards fall, highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams include smallmouth bass, carp, panfish, and channel catfish-  with a watchful eye looking for the first returning steelhead trout as temperatures cool. 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 walleye and inland lake/pond anglers are primarily pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish. 

As the weather cools, early steelhead first show up around off the rocks at Edgewater and E55th, Wildwood Park and in the northernmost river sections by the lake.  Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout.  These same areas are beginning to produce a few walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.

Rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, freshwater drum and sunfish species can be found along the Cleveland shoreline in late summer and can be caught on offerings such as tube jigs, dropshot rigs and live bait.  Although not consistent from day to day, white perch and even a few yellow perch have made appearances at the shoreline at spots like Wendy Park at the old Coast Guard station the past two weeks, at times in good numbers, and have been biting on bits of worms or small minnow fished on the bottom on a crappie rig.  The best bite has been in the morning and late afternoon lately.

Anglers are pursuing a mix of warmwater species in the streams  Smallmouth bass are the most sought after among them and bite best at the heads of deeper pools in the mornings and evenings.  A dark olive or brown tube jig 3-4" length is one of the best producers of bass in the river.  "Smallies" also bite well on live bait (ie: minnow, crayfish, and leeches), lures (ie: spinners and minnow plugs), and flies (ie: crayfish patterns, Clouser minnows, dark brown or olive sculpin or muddler minnow patterns). 

Channel catfish, carp, sheepshead and several sucker species are also present in some of these same areas in the river, especially around the marina on the Rocky, and fishing for them can be a laid back and relaxing way to enjoy some time on the water.  Catfishing is usually best during lower light conditions using baits such as nightcrawlers, minnows, chicken liver, and processed dough baits.   Catfish often bite best following a rain when the water is a bit murky.  Carp can often be caught throughout the day on such bait as canned corn, carp dough baits, worms or crayfish tails.  For the angling generalist, any of the species thus far can be effectively targeted by fishing a nightcrawler worm right on the river bottom with a sinker.

Anglers at our inland lakes and ponds are catching catfish, largemouth bass, and panfish.  Wallace Lake, Ledge Lake, Shadow Lake, and Beyer's Pond are just a few other spots worth poking around in late summer.

Steelhead Expo at the Rocky River Nature Center Saturday September 25th.    After a year hiatus due to the pandemic I am pleased to report that the Steelhead Expo is back and bigger than ever! The event is a great way to kick off the steelhead season and will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center on Saturday September 25th.  This event is a collaborative effort between the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland Metroparks and will offer a full day of expert speakers and seminars, vendors, and other related information to kick off the fall steelhead season. There is no charge for the event but OCBS, a non-profit sportman's group which is very active in the local fishing and conservation communities, is offering a raffle as a fundraiser so donations or participation in the raffle is encouraged.  Location info here: <Rocky River Nature Center>.

Thank you to John Naples for his Generous Donation.  A big thank you goes out to John Naples for a generous donation of a bunch of new/like new fishing tackle to be used as raffle prizes for future Fishing Fund fundraiser events.

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] .

Chuck shared on 8/31 "My son Gabe and I checked out the Ohio and Erie canal reservation today and landed a 25" catfish. We caught it using a worm under a small bobber..was a nice,fun experience" (photo courtesy of Chuck Zerman).




Brayden recently caught a fine channel catfish and big buffalo sucker (photos courtesy of Brayden Palus).



This walleye was caught from the pier at Edgewater Park.



Matt caught this trophy northern pike while targeting bass along the Cleveland shoreline (photo courtesy of Matt Hanlon).



Ryan shows off the perfect eating size of Lake Erie walleye (photio courtesy pf John Burkhart).




Carl and friends are catching some nice catfish lately (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).



Danny and friends made this limit catch of walleyes out of Gordon Park boat launch (photo courtesy of danny McDonnell).





Nando and friends have been catching channel catfish as well as white and yellow perch at Wendy Park on Lake Erie (photos courtesy of Nando Fanta).






Kelsey and Ross have been enjoying the late summer largemouth bass fishing along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie (photos courtesy of ross Bailey).



Zach was fishing Big Creek in Parma and was surprised to catch this big grass carp.  it most likely escaped from a lake in the watershed upstream (photo courtesy of Brian Zaptocky).



Field personnel at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District recently sampled a nice steelhead in Euclid Creek (photo courtesy of Mark Matteson at NEORSD).




I recently found a common rudd at Gordon Park on Lake Erie during sampling.  This fish is a eurasian species that is similar to our native golden shiner, only larger.  The specimen was donated to the Ohio State University Museum of Biodiversity for their collection.



With the scorching heat last week, a few of the early steelhead that ventured into local streams perished (photo courtesy of Dana Daugherty-Klonowski).



At Camp Forbes the kids culminated their activities with fish sampling- which was a hit!




The "touch pool" has been a kid favorite this summer.  We typical put in a few non-native species (like carp and goldfish) and it's a great way to get youngsters interested on a hot day.  Several times we had parents shocked that their kids were so willing to do it ("it's not like him/her!"), which demonstrates the power of live specimens to get folks engaged.



Congratulations to Anthony on recently breaking the former state record pink salmon.  More on the catch <here>.