March 9, 2023

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering very good fishing conditions at the moment, although precipitation in the forecast tomorrow could change things. Anglers should monitor the most recent river water level and temperature at the following links: <Rocky River flow gauge data><Chagrin River flow gauge data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>. The second and final round of winter trout stockings took place in early February (see details below).

After being elevated and muddy much of the past week the Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering very good steelhead fishing conditions today. Precipitation is in the forecast for tomorrow, though, so anglers would be wise to check the flow links before heading out fishing. Top producers have included a variety of offerings, including dime to nickel size spawn bags in various colors (hot pink is always a favorite), 1/32 and 1/64 oz marabou/hair/tube jigs tipped with a few waxworms or maggots, soft or hard salmon egg size beads, and live and salted emerald shiners- all drifted under a float. Steelhead are currently very well distributed throughout the watersheds. The Cuyahoga River, Euclid Creek and other unstocked streams are also offering targetable numbers of stray steelhead at this time.

In early February we stocked Wallace (1,400 lbs),and Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (650 lbs), Ranger (100 lbs), and Judge's (100 lbs) lakes with the second (and final) round of winter trout. These stocking locations and quantities are a duplication of the 3,000 lbs of trout stocked back in mid-December. The majority of the fish are 1 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of golden rainbow, brown, brook, and even some tiger trout and another sigle albino brook trout (stocked at Wallace Lake). 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.  Our lakes are offering open water fishing and the trout often bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm or two on a small marabou jig, and smaller spoons and spinners. Spring stocking of the East Branch of the Rocky River is scheduled to begin next week.
 
Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back on Saturday April 1^st and ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year and scheduled for Saturday April 1st.  Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit group) will be hosting the raffle.  Trophies for three largest steelhead, raffles, 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 and register online here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby info page>.  You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($30 vs $35) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online. 
 
Thank you to our current event sponsors which include Dog Pound Charters and Point Blank Hunts. OCBS raffle donors to date include VooDoo Custom Tackle, River Roe Tackle Co., Lake Erie Kayak Fishing, Shine’s Bait and Tackle and Cleveland Fishing Co. Please consider supporting those businesses that support local fishing!

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 already covered.

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
 

Ava caught this beautiful tiger trout at Wallace Lake under Ladd’s tutelage (photo courtesy of Adam Wachtel).




Ken shared “I fished a popular run last week when the water began to clear. Anticipating that I would arrive late to the hole (6:00 a.m.!!!), I knew the spot or spots I would have to choose from, either the tailout or transition water. I don’t know what made me think of it, but I wanted to see what would happen when I changed the number of split shot from 4-large ones to 13-smaller ones, on an 8 gram float. I changed the pattern, too. Instead of two large shot directly below the float and two near the presentation, I ran ten shot at equal distances until I approached the presentation where I grouped them closer. After five of us we’re fishing that hole for 1.5 hr., I was surprised when I hooked into our first fish of the day, a 31 inch buck.” (photo courtesy of Ken Stein).




Roxanne struck silver in the stained flows of the Rocky River on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Roxanne Schultheis).




Jimmy caught a bruiser buck steelhead in the Rocky River at Morley Ford (photo courtesy of Ted Choukalas).










Brandon and a buddy got into some steelhead despite muddy water conditions on the Rocky River on Monday (photos courtesy of John Burkhart).




Hinckley Lake is temporarily drawn down several feet while our Planning and Design Department collects some data related to the eventual dam replacement.  This should only be the case for up to a few weeks then it will be refilled.  Looking ahead the lake will be completely drained for an extended period when the dam replacement is underway in about a year (photo courtesy of Jeff Deluca).








Lakewood HS teacher Rita Chahda-Gonzalez shared regarding her student’s recent release of juvenile rainbow trout raised through the Trout in the Classroom program “Today (3/5/23) was an amazing day in Lakewood, Ohio. Our AP Environmental students, past AP students, Bio Students, parents, family, and mentors showed up at Cleveland Metroparks Emerald Necklace Marina and released 118 young rainbow trout fingerlings into the Rocky River where they will make their way to Lake Erie, grow and come back in the fall to spawn.  Our students took the time to test the water and make sure it was safe to release them first. We received our rainbow trout eggs from ODNR the first week of January and raised them in the 60-gallon tank in our classroom. ODNR granted us permission to release them the first week of March into the Rocky River, near the Scenic Park, Emerald Necklace Marina in Lakewood, Ohio. The Trout in the Classroom (TIC) Program was a tremendous opportunity for our students to witness the growth of trout from the egg stage to the fingerling stage (2-4 in.) The exciting thing was seeing them take ownership of all the testing and monitoring, and most importantly the release of the baby trout into a state-designated lake or stream, each one to face the hazards and challenges of life in the wild. However, from an educational standpoint, the TIC Program has been much more than that!  As an environmental educator, I have been privileged to be part of a conservation effort and teach about the needs of an aquatic organism that is a keystone species and well-fished fish from our Great Lakes. Furthermore, be able to teach about quality habitat and water quality which is integral to the rearing of trout and daily testing of the water that is necessary to control the cycling of nitrogenous wastes. 

The TIC Program in Ohio is promoted and supported by the State chapters of Trout Unlimited, and the Ohio State Council of Trout Unlimited and is supported and sponsored in part by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). Trout eggs and fingerlings are counted and sent by the ODNR Supervisor at the State Hatchery in London Ohio.  The motto of TIC is “connecting students with their watershed.”  Trout Unlimited sees TIC not only as an excellent environmental education tool but as a means of building a sense of environmental responsibility into the next generation of caretakers of our streams and lakes.” (photos courtesy of Rita Chahda-Gonzalez).