November 23, 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.
 
Local streams received a very welcome boost in flow this week and are looking to be in good shape for the holiday weekend. The Rocky, Chagrin and other area streams all have steelhead present at this time. The Rocky River has been producing fish from the marina area all the way up into both branches of the river allowing anglers to begin spreading out over many miles of stream. 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. At both stream 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 is also an option for anglers with access to a small boat, kayak or canoe (the courtesy dock at the boat ramp is scheduled to be removed around the end of the month, depending on weather). 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. Perch 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

Gavin shows off his first walleye ever caught at E55th fishing with his dad on Monday night.  His father Justin shared “Lost 5 at the wall.  Need a longer net!  HJ12 blue/chrome/orange and Wonderbread colors were best.  Long cast, strikes in the first 20 feet” (photo courtesy of Justin Kresty).




Brad shared on Saturday “My son, Mitch Geduldig (14 yrs old) caught 2 rainbows this afternoon at Ohio Erie Canal today. Went there due to your fishing report from Thursday! He has caught a fish every month of the year and was concerned about November but glad to see he’s still good!” (photo courtesy of Brad Geduldig).




Michael caught this fresh buck steelhead swinging flies in the Cuyahoga River (photo courtesy of Michael Zielinski).




Barry shows off a pair of fine walleye from their evening catch along the Cleveland shoreline this week (photo courtesy of Barry French).




Mark shared on Friday “Landed this 4 1/2 pounder in the Rocky River float fishing with a Kumbo-style double crappie tube jig by the Lakewood Dog Park.” (photo courtesy of Mark Kamps).




Carl landed this beautiful hen steelhead trolling a Hot-N-Tot crankbait off the mouth of the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).




Jimmy shows off a quality buck steelhead caught at the Rocky River marina area (photo courtesy of Ted Choukalas).





Father and son David and Ephraim both scored silver in the Rocky River on Monday (photos courtesy of David Bowser).






John displays a few nice steelhead caught along the Lake Etie shoreline. When water levels are lower in fall for extended periods, the steelhead tend to accumulate in the deeper areas of the rivers closer to Lake Erie, as well as along the shoreline. We call these “staging” steelhead. Then when we get a good pulse of water after a rain many of these fish move further upstream into the rivers. Knowing this can help beginners decide where to concentrate their effort under variable conditions.




On three dates over the past week my crew and I salvaged over 6,000 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. Above are some examples of the trophy white crappie moved to a public fishing area (note: the majority of the fish were not this size).