March 24, 2022

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers elevated and muddy from rain, but just beginning to drop and weekend steelhead fishing prospects will depend on how much more rain we recieve.  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>.  Note: The NEORSD sensor has been pulled for calibration.  Trout were stocked in the East Branch Rocky River last week on Monday (details below).

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are both elevated and muddy from rain and just beginning to drop, and steelhead fishing opportunities into the weekend will be dependant on how much rain we recieve in the coming days.  Anglers should keep an eye on the flow trend at the links above before heading out.  Anglers on all streams reported good to excellent success this week.  Best bets include dime size spawn bags, salmon egg mimicking beads and soft rubber eggs (8-12 mm), small (1/32-1/64 oz), jigs tipped with maggots and live minnows under a float for anglers fish noodle rods or centerpin rigs.  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.  Lake-run white sucker numbers have increased notably and will bite well on small flies, jigs or a worm on the river bottom with a sinker.

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 and panfish.  Boat launches are open with each having a year round permanent loading dock, although the additional wooden docks are not in yet.  Boat Launch Annual tags for the 2022 season can be purchased online <here>.

Many of our lakes and ponds offer stocked trout.  This winter a total of 6,000 lbs of trout were stocked between Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Judge's and Ranger lakes (Wallace recieved almost half of the total fish) and plenty of these trout remain.  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some tiger trout were in the mix.  Note: 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.  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 first spring stocking of the East Branch Rocky River kicked off last Monday with 900 lbs of mostly 14-16" rainbow trout.  The stocking zone is largely in Strongsville and extend from Royalton Road (Rt. 82) heading north to across the parkway from Wallace Lake.  Note: traditional stocking spot at Bonnie Park will not be stocked this year since the restoration project to remove a dam and interconnect a wetland complex to the floodplain.  Stocked trout in the river bite the same types of offerings mentioned in the paragraph above.  We hope to stock this stretch of river again next week.

The Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby Online Registration is now Open!  You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($30 vs $35) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online.  You may do so at the following link: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online registration>.

Regarding the event, the always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year and scheduled for Saturday April 2nd.  The sixth annual event was held in 2019 so we will pick up where we left off and call this our seventh annual event.  Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event this year and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit) will be hosting the raffle.  Trophies for three largest steelhead, raffles (see a few teaser packages in the photos below), and a cookout are all part of the day's festivities for this fun event where anglers must fish for steelhead with a kiddie fishing pole!  100% of proceeds from the fundraiser event go to support the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.  The event headquarters will be at South Mastic Woods Picnic Area (immediately south of the Putritas Road bridge), a central location on the Rocky River that offers lots of space.  Mark your calendars for this fun event for a great cause!  More on the event here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby info page>.

Thank You to Slyman's Retaurant and Jason's Automotive, Inc for your Support!   Many folks who have visited the iconic Cleveland deli Slyman's on Saint Clair Avenue know that Moe (one of the owners) is a big-time angler.  Photos of catches made by family and friends are pinned to the wall as you walk in.  We extend a big THANK YOU to Slyman's for being our Presenting Sponsor of the upcoming Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby fundraiser.  Next time you stop in to pick up the biggest and best corned beef sandwich in town please be sure to thank Moe and his crew for supporting public fishing programs.

We would also like to thank Jason and Amy Lawson of Jason's Automotive, Inc. for signing on as a Friend of the Event level sponsor!  Please consider this local full service auto repair shop and their team located at 4201 W. 130th Street in Cleveland for your vehicle repair needs.  Please tell them we sent you!

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] .

Father and son Brad and Caleb had a father and son day on the Rocky River this week that they will long remember (photos courtesy of Brad Gardener).




Jerry shared "Here's a couple pictures of some trout caught by Raegan and Logan at Wallace Lake last week" (photos courtesy of Jerry Friedhof).



MacKenzie caught this fine steelhead in the Chagrin River while fishing with her dad this week (photos courtesy of Randy Smith).





Grace and her husband scored some tasty rainbow trout from the East Branch Rocky River (photos courtesy of Grace Alspach).




Jon got very lucky and caught two of the sought after tiger trout at Ledge Lake- one in winter and the more recent on St Patrick's Day.  He released both for other anglers to enjoy (photos courtesy of Jon Hoover).



Jake and his had had a great day fly fishing the Rocky River late last week, with this buck being the biggest (photo courtesy of Jake Martinez).




Christian caught this hefty rainbow trout at Shadow Lake and reported it jumped a couple times during an exciting fight.  It also made for a fresh meal later that day (photos courtesy of Walt Gedeon).




Roland has been scoring some rainbow trout at Wallace Lake. Our lakes and ponds that were heavily stocked with trout this winter offer an option when the rivers are up and muddy (photos courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).




Joe shared "Joe from West Virginia and friend local fisherman Kevin had some great catches on the Rocky this week" (photos courtesy of Joe Goodman).



Daniel shared "Spent a morning on the Chagrin River on Thursday with my son Evan, 11 yrs old.  I hooked the fish, he reeled it in.  His first steelhead experience but definitely not his last!!!" (photos courtesy of Daniel Hurtack).



Scott from Cinncinnatti shared "Had a great few days up on the Rocky River. Big, Quality fish were digging white jigs. Thanks for having access to an amazing fishery." (photo courtesy of Scott Witte).




Santo and Ted had a great week on the Rocky River, catching a limit of rainbow trout and releasing a few and even catching a few steelhead (photos courtesy of Ted Choukalas).






Father and son Brian and Zachary also enjoys the spring bounty ranging from steelhead to stocked rainbow trout. The trout eagers chewed their jigs to peices! (photos courtesy of Brian Zaptocky).



Mike caught his personal best steelhead in the Rocky River this week- a chrome missle! (photo courtesy of Mike Hwodeky).







The Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders will offer a great raffle at the upcoming Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby!  Here is just a sampling- from huge steelhead and walleye gear packages to custom built rod (to the winners preference) and a top notch Majestic Prophecy Cleveland-made centerpin reel!  And even if you choose not to compete in thye derby you can stop by puchase tickets to take place in the raffle anytime before 3:15 (the cookout starts at 2:00pm and the raffle drawings start at 3:30pm).  See the report above for more info on the event.