September 30, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The cool rain last week has drawn in a seasonally impressive number of steelhead into our northern river stretches, as well as along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie. 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>.  Lake Erie anglers are targeting walleye and inland lake/pond anglers are pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish. 

The cooler temperatures and rain last week has drawn a seasonally impressive number of steelhead into our northern river reaches closer to Lake Erie.  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.  There are a lot of baitfish where the river meets the lake.  While out electrofishing the marina area last Friday to collect a few live specimens to display at the Steelhead Expo (which had over 900 attendees throughout the day on Saturday), we witnessed a great diversity of sportfish, including steelhead (several dozen of all sizes), walleye, smallmouth/largemouth bass and even (one each) jack chinook salmon and a buck pink salmon!  See photos below for examples.  Other good spots that have produced are off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd and Wildwood Park.  Along the Cleveland shoreline the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd access and Wildwood Park were also producing steelhead catches along with the occasional walleye and smallmouth bass.

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 as late summer transitions to early fall and can be caught on offerings such as live shiners, tube jigs, and dropshot rigs.  Although not consistent from day to day, yellow perch have made appearances at the shoreline at spots like E55th breakwall, Edgewater Park and Wendy Park recently, at times in decent numbers, and have been biting on small minnows and bits of worm fished on the bottom on a crappie rig.

Thank you to Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders.  OCBS teamed up with Cleveland Metroparks to offer a very successful Steelhead Expo at the Rocky River Nature Center on Saturday.  We had over 900 attendees and heard excellent feedback from attendees and vendors alike.  OCBS also acquired $7,370 in funds from the Ohio Division of Wildlife to support Cleveland Metroparks fall 2021 and spring 2022 children and family fishing events.

Fall Family Fishing Fest will be held Saturday October 16.    Come out and join us for Fall Family Fishing Fest at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation on 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>.

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

 

Tony shared on Tuesday "Dean showing off this White Bass he caught today near the Coast Guard station" (photo courtesy of Tony Mansoor).




Congratulations to Sarah on catching her first steelhead ever on Tuesday by the Rocky River marina.  Jarred also caught a beauty along the Cleveland shoreline.  Orange and silver spoons were the ticket for them (photos courtesy of Jarred Bugg).



Congratulations to Jen on catching her first steelhead ever at Wildwood Park on a Little Cleo spoon (photo courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).




Pat shared on Tuesday "Hit the RR for a couple hours today not expecting much action but was surprised with 2 back to back steelies twitching a jig under a float. Earliest I've gotten anything out of the River beating my old record of October 1st. Big hen had to be pushing 10lbs." (photos courtesy of Pat Jurco).




Reytheon struck silver at E55th breakwall casting Little Cleo spoons this week (photos courtesy of Reytheon Johnson).







Perch are being caught here and there along the Cleveland shoreline along with a smattering of other panfish species.  In the bottom pic is the modified Radio Flyer wagon I got for $5 at a garage sale over a decade ago that still serves me well for hauling gear to the piers.  It's always cool to see other folks' ingenuity when designing "pier wagons".  One of the regular anglers down there uses a motorized bike to haul a custom made wood trailer with a special spot for each item of his fish gear.



This jack chinook salmon (aka king salmon) was electrofished by the marina on Friday while collecting a live display fish for the Steelhead Expo.  Initially I thought it was a king, but I sent pics to a fisheries collaegue in Michigan who helps raise coho salmon and she said it was a tough call, but thought it was a coho.  On Saturday at the Expo I asked Kevin Kayle (recently retired head of ODNR hatcheries) and he was confident it was a jack king.  So I'm going with the majority in a 2 to 1 slpit decision of fisheries professionals!  We also just missed netting a beautiful buck pink salmon on that outing, as well.





Alan caught this chunky largemouth bass in the Rocky River, and upon filleting in he observed that it had a very substantial last meal (a crayfish and 5 gobies) prior to Alan making the bass his meal.  And the circle of life continues (photos courtesy of Alan Tomko).



Christian caught this fine buck steelhead in a local creek (photo courtesy of Christian Furlong).




Sean caught the silver and bronze casting crankbaits along the Cleveland shoreline by E72nd this week (photos courtesy of Sean Johnson).






The Gold Silver Bronze Challenge (catching a walleye, steelhead and smallmouth bass in the same day) can be accomplished in the lower rivers and along the lakefront right now.  I turned these up on Friday afternoon by the Rocky River marina while electrofishing- but a persistent and lucky angler could have done it with a fishing rod.  More on the challenge here: <GSB Challenge>.



Nichole displays a healthy largemouth bass from Oxbow Lagoon in Rocky River Reservation.




A big thank you goes out to Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and the Ohio Division of Wildlife for supporting Cleveland Metroparks fall 2021 and spring 2022 kid and family fishing events to the tune of $7,370.