May 23, 2024

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is updated weekly on Thursdays from September-May*** The rivers muddied from rain overnight with more precipitation in the weekend forecast. Prior to that fishing was decent for lake-run smallmouth bass and very good for channel catfish in the Rocky River. We have rain in the weekend forecast so anglers should monitor the most recent river conditions at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data> <Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>. The walleye bite is hot along the Cleveland shoreline and rainbow trout and farm raised catfish are available in Wallace Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area.
 
Area streams muddied from overnight rain with more precipitation in the forecast, so anglers would be wise to check the flow data at links above before making a trip to the river. Overall Lake Erie smallmouth bass on their migration up our streams is still going on and lake -run channel catfish opportunities are excellent. “Smallies” migrate up the Rocky, Chagrin and Cuyahoga rivers on their spawning runs in spring, although smaller year around resident bass are found in the rivers, too. Smallmouth bass will strike artificial lures similar to steelhead- such as medium size crankbaits, spinners, tube jigs (dark brown and olive are good) as well as marabou jigs under floats and streamer flies that imitate gobies, minnows and crayfish. Lake-run bass are typically available in the streams until early June. 
 
Channel catfish are most concentrated in the few miles of stream closest to Lake Erie. Drifting shrimp or a nightcrawler through deeper holes with a float set to suspend near the river bottom works well, as will tightlining the same baits on the bottom with a sinker. Some of these whiskered bruisers can exceed 10 pounds in weight. Catfish do not mind muddy river conditions since they feed primarily using their senses of smell and taste.
 
Last Wednesday and Thurdsay we stocked 800 lbs of trout and 700 lbs of farm raised catfish at Wallace Lake and 500 lbs of trout and 700 lbs of catfish at Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street. 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. Trout and catfish will bite a piece of shrimp or worm fished on the bottom for anglers happy to catch either species.
 
The Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie is still offering some post-spawn walleye and anglers are casting shallow running stickbaits (among other crankbaits) from shore after dark. Edgewater Park, Wendy Park (at the old Coast Guard station) and E55th wall are good spots. Harbor areas at Edgewater, Wildwood and E72nd boat ramp offer mixed catch opportunities in late spring for largemouth and smallmouth bass, rock bass, northern pike, and sunfish species. The breakwall area at E55th is offering a good opportunity to catch yellow perch from shore using minnows on a crappie spreader rig on the bottom.
 
Rocky River Volunteer Clean-Up is Saturday June 1st. Please join us on Saturday June 1 starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Scenic Park/Rocky River Marina picnic shelter for the family-friendly volunteer river clean-up!  Cleveland Metroparks is partnering with Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District and Rocky River Watershed Council to host the event. We will break up into groups and clean up trash from along the river banks, then re-convene at the picnic shelter starting around 11:30 a.m. to host a thank you cookout. Trash bags will be provided and long pants and boots are recommended. Please pre-register here as an <adult> or for <youth> if you are parent or guardian.
 
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


 

Caleb shared recently “Biggest of 7 smallmouth today on the Rocky and a new PB! 19 inches! Aside from that, I hooked into two feisty steelheads that both played me like a fiddle and escaped before I could land them. Guy next to me was also catching catfish left and right on a bobber and minnows. Great fishing all around!” (photo courtesy of Caleb Tolento).




A happy mom shared on Sunday “Thank you for organizing this fishing event! My son Ethan had an amazing time today. He’s 8 years old and loves both hockey and fishing. Ethan plays hockey during winter and goes fishing with his dad twice a week during the off season. I've attached some pictures of the fun he had today.” (photo courtesy of Yuzhu).




Kyle scored this Rocky River bronze beauty on a ned rig (photo courtesy of Kyle Fisher).







Devonte, Natalie and Tyler had a great fishing outing at Wallace Lake (photos courtesy of Tyler Jolley).






John and friend scored a limit of Lake Erie yellow perch off Cleveland as well as a few bonus walleye (photos courtesy of John Lusnek).




Danny is enjoying his retirement fishing for Wallace Lake trout (photo courtesy of Corey Butram).







Mike shared from Cleveland harbor “I’ve been having so much fun fishing micro jigs in the marina. I got rid of the reel and started jigging bass on the spawn beds with a cane pole! Never know what’s gonna bite lately!” (photos courtesy of Mike Simon).




Mason shows off a colorful golden rainbow trout from Wallace Lake.




 
Matt has had success fishing for smallmouth bass along the Cleveland lakefront (photos courtesy of Matt Arroyo).







Nick is taking full advantage of the fishing diversity along the Cleveland Lakefront - from largemouth bass and walleye to tasty panfish and a trophy crappie (photos courtesy of Nick Kosiba).





Vinny caught scored a pair of channel catfish at Wallace Lake yesterday (photos courtesy of Brian Digioia).



 
Wes caught this trophy yellow perch measuring 15 inches off Cleveland along with nine others to get his limit (photo courtesy of Wes Janke).




Trophy perch are biting! Elizabeth caught this 15.5 inch bruiser (only a quarter inch less than the length of the state record) on Saturday morning.





























Thank you to everybody who participated in the Wallace Lake Photo Contest Fishing Derby this past weekend!  Our team of judges agreed that there was no way we could pick only 3 favorites from all these great images so we decided to round up a prize for every family who sent in photos (stay tuned on that). A total of seven species were caught by the kids - can you name them all from the images above?