April 28, 2022

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering very good fishing conditions this morning and the forecast leading into the weekend looks good for that to continue. Anglers can check the flow and temperature data at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  The last bunch of rainbow trout were stocked in the East Branch Rocky River on April 18 and was split between Wallace Lake.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are both offering good fishing conditions right now and the weather forecast looks promising for that trend to be continue into the weekend (althougfh later into the weekend there is more rain n the forecast).  The majority of steelhead being caught at this point are post-spawn fish, and although the steelhead run will quickly taper off from this point forward the cooler temperatures could prolong things a bit.  Under our current conditions dime size spawn bags, salmon egg mimicking beads and soft rubber eggs (8-12 mm), small jigs (1/32-1/64 oz) tipped with maggots and live minnows under a float for anglers fish noodle rods or centerpin rigs are all taking a share of the fish.  Fly fishers are doing well with eggs flies (ie glow bugs and sucker spawn), streamers (ie Clouser minnows and wooly buggers) and beadhead nymphs.  Anglers can also keep it simple and cast a medium size Little Cleo spoon, Roostertail spinner or similar on a standard medium action spinning rod spooled with 8 pound line.  Also be aware that the Ohio Division of Wildlife is releasing juvenile steelhead (called smolts) in our streams now and these fish are well under the legal minumum of 12 inches in length.  If you begin catching them please handle gently and release quickly (they are the future of this fishery) and either upsize the size of your offering to avoid them or just change locations (moving further upstream can be effective as these fish are stocked in our lower rivers closer to Lake eEie).

Lake-run smallmouth bass are also running well in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers.  Smallmouth bass will strike artificial lures similar to steelhead- such as medium size crankbaits, spinners, tube jigs (dark brown and olive are good) and marabou jigs under floats.  This time of year offers a great opportunity to score the "silver and bronze", which is catching a steelhead and lake-run smallmouth bass in the same day, often from the same pool on the same offering!  A lucky angler this week added a walleye, too, and accomplished the Gold, Silver and Bronze (photos below).  Lake-run "smallies" are typically available in the streams until early June.

The Cleveland area shoreline of Lake Erie walleye bite has heated up.  Casting stickbaits (ie Husky Jery and Pefect 10) from shoreline rocks after dark at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd breakwalls and Wildwood Park are good bets.  Lake Erie harbors, such as Edgewater, Wildwood and E72nd boat ramp area offering mixed catch opportunities for steelhead, northern pike and pre-spawn largemouth bass, yellow perch, rock bass and sunfish species.  Courtesy docks are in at Gordon Park and Edgewater boat ramps as well as Emerald Necklace Marina on the Rocky.  The launch fee pay kiosks have been reinstalled and be aware that if you save your daily launch fee receipts you can put what you paid towards an annual launch tag at a later time.  The fish cleaning station at Gordon Park was just re-opened today, as well.  Boat Launch Annual tags for the 2022 season can be purchased online <here>.

On April 18th Cleveland Metroparks stocked 500 pounds of rainbow trout at Wallace Lake and the Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked 600 trout on April 22 at Shadow Lake.  Additionally, on Friday April 8 the Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked just over 1,500 rainbow trout in Hinckley Lake at the boat house.  The state stocked trout are smaller averaging a half pound, about half the size of the trout stocked by Cleveland Metroparks, and are perfect for kids.  Some trout stocked over the winter are still available at Shadow, Ledge, Judge's and Ranger lakes, as well.  TNote: 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.  In the river, the combined rainbow trout/steelhead limit is 2 trout/angler of minimum size 12 inches.  Trout often bite well on small to medium size spinners/spoons/crankbaits, a small marabou or tube jig tipped with a waxworm or a few maggots, canned corn kernals fished on the lake bottom or a dime size ball of colorful PowerBait. 

The final spring stocking of the East Branch Rocky River was completed on Monday April 18th with 400 pounds of 14-16" trout going into the river in Millstream Run Reservation (the river stockings are 100% rainbow trout, unlike our lakes).  These complement the 2,700 lbs of trout already stocked in the same stretch of river since mid-March.  The stocking zone is largely in Strongsville and extends from Royalton Road (Rt. 82) heading north to roughly Wallace Lake and at this point the fish should be well distributed throughout the entire stocking zone.  Stocked trout in the river bite the same types of offerings mentioned in the paragraph above.

Support Cleveland Metroparks Fisheries Program through the Orvis Giveback Days Program throughout May.  We are excited that our two local Orvis shops in Cleveland (Woodmere) and Westlake (at Crocker Park) chose Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund to be the recipient of their Giveback Days promotion. Specifically, they will be supporting our spring Children's Fishing Derbies by donating $10.00 for every customer purchase of $10 or more throughout May 2022 at either the Cleveland/Woodmere or Westlake location.  This is a great way to effortlessly support local fishing while also supporting local shops and getting some great new fly fishing equipment and/or outdoor apparel in the process!  If you stop in please feel free to ask for Lee (at Woodmere) or John (at Westlake) and let them know you appreciate their support of local fisheries programs!

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.

Faruq and his baby girl had a fun outing catching sunfish in a small Metroparks pond this week (photo courtesy of Faruq Abdul-Khaliq).



Brad shared "I caught my first steelhead this Sunday right before sunset at Rockcliff Spring on a Strke King mini spinner bait (white head and white skirt). Saw lots of active steelhead jumping and feeding".  Congratulations, Brad! (photo courtesy of Brad Tarr).




Brandon caught some bruiser smallmouth bass in the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Brandon Aspery).




Sam caught some trout in Wallace Lake this week, including a golden rainbow trout left over from our December-January stockings (photos courtesy of Sam Shafer).






Kyle from Berea reported "My buddy Steve had an insane fishing day on 04-23. Steve went 2/3 on Steelhead and 1/1 on a beautiful lake run Smallmouth. The smallie was caught on the second cast of the day on a Rapala. I landed a really nice smallie casting clouser minnows on my streamer rod. I also caught a really nice rainbow in secret spot on the East Branch later in the day. Thanks for all you do and I hope I can meet you in person one day." (photos courtesy of Kyle Radatz).



Ken shared "I had a decent Monday before the rain. I headed to a popular fishing site with deep fast water and caught three nice hens in less than 1-1/2 hours on Rapalas; all in the seam. One of these was a fresh 27” hen that took me on a blistering run. Have a great weekend!" (photo courtesy of Ken Stein).





Jared is in elite company, having scored the Gold, Silver and Bronze Challenge this week.  That entails catching a walleye, steelhead/rainbow trout, and smallmouth bass all in the same day (photos courtesy of Jared Kassouf).




Carl has been making some nice catches of rainbow trout at Wallace Lake.  He suggests using a dime size ball of yellow or rainbow colored PowerBait on a small size 8 hook with split shot about 18 inches from the hook.  If keeping them leave the line loose to give the trout a chance to swallow.  If releasing the fish set hook immmediately upon getting a bite.  Thanks for the tips, Carl! (photos courtesy of Carl Shweisthal).





Kevin, Claire and friends have been catching some nice walleye from shore at Edgewater Park after dark on Pink Lemonade and Marvin colored stickbaits like Perfect 10 and Husky Jerk (photos courtesy of Kevin Kertis).




Elverin and friends put a beat down on the walleyes just off Cleveland out of E72nd boat launch (photos courtesy of Elverin Picou).



Slo-Troll'N Charters caught this bruiser walleye with a client this week (photo courtesy of Slo-Troll'N, LLC).




Mike is finishing up his season with a bang drifting River Roe soft beads in the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Mike Sekerak).



After a successful fishing trip it's alway nice to enjoy the rewards.  Alan cooked up this freshly served white perch for dinner this week (photo courtesy of Alan Tomko).