May 19, 2022

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   Local streams got a bump in flow overnight from rain and when conditions are amenable anglers are pursuing smallmouth bass and the last of the steelhead.  Rain is in the forecast over the weekend, too, so anglers should check the flow and temperature data at the following links before heading out: <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 experienced a bump in flow over the past 24 hours and additional rain is in the forecast over the weekend so be sure to check the flow trend at the links above.  Lake-run smallmouth bass in the streams are in the spotlight, with a shot at the few remaining post-spawn steelhead.  Often, smallmouth and steelhead can be found in the same holes and jigs, spinners or crankbaits that mimic a shiner or small gizzard shad can catch both.  If specifically targeting smallmouth bass a 3-4" dark olive tube jig, as well as driopshot and ned rigs with smaller rubber worn or crayfish can work well.  These bass are on their spawning run and are typically around until early June.  Also, please be aware that the Ohio Division of Wildlife recently stocked juvenile steelhead (called smolts) and these small trout are below the 12" legal size in our streams.  If you begin catching these small trout 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 Erie).

The Cleveland area shoreline of Lake Erie walleye bite has been good this week.  A light chop to disorient the baitfish along the shoreline often leads to the best fishing as predatory walleye cruise along picking them off.   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 largemouth bass, yellow perch, rock bass and sunfish species.  The boat launch fee pay kiosks are up and if you are having trouble processing your payment please read the directions closely.  The fish cleaning station at Gordon Park has been reopened (after being temporarily closed) to repair an issue. Boat Launch Annual tags for the 2022 season can be purchased online <here>.

There are still opportunities to target stocked trout around Cleveland Metroparks, although things will taper off throughout May as water temperatures rise.  On April 18th Cleveland Metroparks stocked 500 pounds of rainbow trout at Wallace Lake and the Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked just under 1,000 trout on May 6 at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street, 600 trout on April 22 at Shadow Lake and just over 1,500 trout on April 8 at Hinckley Lake at the boat house.  The state stocked trout are smaller than 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.  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.  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 are well distributed throughout the entire stocking zone (and beyond).  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 at the mid-way point for the Orvis Giveback days May promotion and are on track to break the record in donations- so let's keep the momentum rolling! 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!

Spring Childrens Fishing Derbies Are Coming on May 21 & 22.  Our popular annual kids fishing derbies are coming up this weekend on Saturday May 21 to Wallace Lake and Sunday May 22 at the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area. The event is free, fish will be stocked for the event, and fishing gear and bait will be provided for those in need at no cost. For more information, you can check the following link: <Spring Fishing Derby Info>

Trolling Motor Found.  If you left a trolling motor behind at Edgewater Boat Ramp this week you can contact me and provide motor detailsa nd if they match up we can coordinate to return it to 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.

Congratulations to Marshall on catching this 3.51 pound smallmouth bass from a local stream on a white RoosterTail spinner (photos courtesy of Emily Pechaitis).





Otto and his dad Kevin had a short but successful outing on a Metroparks pond on Mother's Day (photos courtesy of Jennifer Grieser).






Youth Outdoors staff recently had a great kid fishing outing (photos courtesy of Youth Outdoors).



Jake caught this smallmouth bass in the Rocky River on an artificial crayfish (photo courtesy of Brad Martinez).





Ted caught a few nice Hinckley Lake largemouth bass working an unweighted wacky worm around structure, then followed up with a nice mess of sunfish on a nearby pond (photos courtesy of Ted Choukalas).



Ed caught this bruiser Rocky River smallmouth on a 3" white Ripple Shad (photo courtesy of Ed Schmitt).



After a near miss in October, Jordan (who is new to fishing) finally landed his first steelhead in the Rocky River this week (photo courtesy of Jordan P.).





Jared and buddies scored a big catch of walleye off the Cleveland shoreline rocks this week (photos courtesy of Jared Kassouf).




Dale shared "Just wanted to share my first bass on the fly caught at E55 marina. Not as tough as a steelhead, but still pretty cool! The marina looks great! Especially the new kayak launch! Very excited to start fishing out of there!  Thanks for all that you and your organization do! We truly have a world class fishery thanks to Cleveland Metroparks!" (photos courtesy of dale Novotny).



Ryland proudly shows off his first trout (photo courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).





Chuck and friends visiting from Indioan caught walleye up to 31.5" this week (bottom pic).  Chuck landed a 28" fish from the kayak (top pics). (photos courtesy of Chuck Earls).




Longtime buddies Allen and Jeff found some quality Cleveland area walleyes this week (photos courtesy of Allen Reinke and Jeff Deluca).




Victor accomplished a cool feat- a smallmouth and largemouth bass from the same hole on the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Victor).






Elizabeth and I scored a limit of tasty yellow perch in 32 feet of water on Sunday.