November 16, 2023

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   Anglers on the Rocky River and other area streams are targeting steelhead trout. To monitor the most recent river water level and temperature you can check the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>. Lake Erie anglers are catching walleye, yellow perch and steelhead and on inland locations they are pursuing stocked rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street.
 
Anglers have been catching steelhead in the Rocky, Chagrin and other area streams. The Rocky River level is low in level but that could change for the better into the weekend with precipitation in the forecast. An abundance of fallen leaves is adding an additional challenge to river anglers, especially in slower pools. The Cuyahoga River is not currently stocked but does get stray steelhead and maintains a better flow than our other streams during dry conditions.  Anglers are also connecting with steelhead off the rocks at Edgewater, E55th, and Wildwood parks. In the streams fish are being caught on a variety of offerings including dime to nickel size spawn sacks (colored mesh bags containing trout or salmon eggs), live minnows, 1/64  or 1/32 oz jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads drifted under floats in holes and deeper runs. Fly fishing with egg patterns and streamers is also catching some fish. Keep in mind that downsizing float and leader size along with your offering can pay off when the water is low and clear. At both streams and lakefront locations anglers are casting spoons ie 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler, medium size spinners (ie Vibrax and Rooster Tail) and crankbaits. Trolling the rivermouth areas with spoons and crankbaits has also been very effective lately as many of the steelhead wait for a rise in water level before heading upstream. Cleveland shoreline areas are also producing some very good catches of walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10, Husky Jerk 14 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.  
 
Some good catches of yellow perch continue to be made along the shoreline at E55th breakwall and the rocks at Edgewater Park. Wendy Park at the old Coast Guard station can also produce when water coming out of the nearby Cuyahoga River is not too muddy. They have been biting on emerald shiners and golden shiners fished on the bottom on a crappie rig. Boaters have been getting in on the action, too, with some tracking down limits of yellow perch off Rocky River and Cleveland in 32-36 feet of water. The best bite is often in the morning and late afternoon.
 
On Wednesday October 11 we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 700 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street for Fall Family Fishing Fest and a decent number of those fish remain to be caught. Thank you for the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Ohio Division of Wildlife for acquiring a good portion of the funding to assist with these stockings. The trout average a pound each and the catfish average 1-3 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish and quite a few golden rainbow trout to spice things up. If you are content catching either species you can try a nightcrawler worm or piece of shrimp fished on the canal bottom.
 
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


 

Congratulations to this young angler on catching his first steelhead ever on Monday! (photo courtesy of Jacob Gulacheck).




Keith and his buddy Derek (pictured) caught a limit of tasty yellow perch off the east end of Cleveland this week (photos courtesy of Keith Knerem).



Matt caught a beautiful buck coho salmon in the Rocky River on Monday. The big buck hit a jig (photo courtesy of Matt Reagan).



David shared “I caught the “smiling” steelhead this morning off the wall at E. 55th on a 3/8 ounce Rooster Tail. I released it a couple minutes later.” (photo courtesy of David Farkas).





Avery shared “I’ve been recently been catching steelhead pretty far up the river, just below Berea Falls actually, one was caught on 11/07 and two were caught 11/10. All on a gold 1/4 oz spinner.” (photos courtesy of Avery Miller).



Raleigh shows off a nice Cleveland walleye caught this week (photo courtesy of Raleigh Guice).




Santos scored a pair of nice steelhead on the East Branch Rocky River, illustrating that some fish have moved quite a distance upstream despite the low water (photos courtesy of Santos Berardi).




Matt displays a pair of recent lakefront steelhead catches. He shares that green/silver spoons retrieved faster than usual has worked for him (photos courtesy of Matt Arroyo).




Jeff has had a great week on the Rocky River by the boat ramps, landing 9 steelhead in the past 4 days. Black marabou jig with orange head tipped with maggots under a float has been his go-to (photos courtesy of Jeff Makkos).





Sam and friends scored some walleye and a bonus smallmouth bass off Cleveland on a recent outing (photos courtesy of Sam Horn).



Ephraim shows off a solid buck steelhead from the marina area on the Rocky (photo courtesy of David Bowser).




Bobby shared “Slow clear water made me work hard in an upstream pool for 2 fish over 2 hours time on Fri morning. This feisty colorful buck and fresh hen were caught on 1/64oz black on black bucktail jig w/red collar, tipped with maggots, jigged under slip float” (photos courtesy of Bobby Allison).











On Friday last week and Monday this week my crew and I salvaged over 4,000 fish from the Hinckley Lake spillway (swimming area) before it is drained. We transferred to various locations that are not being shared so the fish have a chance to acclimate. We also provided 800 lbs of gizzard shad to Lake Erie Nature and Science Center to feed their rehab animals.