In late spring highlight species targeted by anglers in Cleveland Metroparks include smallmouth bass, stocked trout, panfish, walleye, and largemouth bass. The rivers are offering lake-run smallmouth bass, channel catfish, and carp this week...with some late season steelhead still around. Walleye and smallmouth bass are hitting along the Cleveland shoreline, and largemouth bass, trout, catfish, and panfish have been biting in inland lakes. Anglers can monitor the latest river flows and temperature at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data> <Chagrin River flow gage data>.
Lake-run smallmouth bass fishing has been god in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, with a 3-4" dark brown or olive tube jig being an effective offering much of the time. Many of these bass are 2-4 pounds and even larger. Please consider releasing these big bass as they are the future of our self-sustaining smallmouth fishery! A surprising number of lingering late season steelhead have been reported this week, as well. A spinner, live minnow, or baitfish crankbait can catch both smallmouth and bonus steelhead-- often from the same hole.
Channel catfish and carp are available in the northern reaches of local rivers. Catfish hang out in deeper holes, especially those with some woody cover in the water and bite best at dawn and dusk, unless the water is muddy under which conditions they'll bite throughout the day. Catfish bite best on the river bottom with an egg slip sinker holding down baits such as nightcrawlers, chicken liver (it lasts much longer if tied up in mesh spawn sack style), fish cutbait, and shrimp. Some steelhead anglers use their drift gear and floats for catfish, which works quite well as long as you set your depth to be very close to or on the river bottom. Hard fighting carp bite well on baits like canned corn, worms, doughbaits and crayfish fished on the river bottom in holes. Fly fishers can target carp using nymph, bugger and crayfish patterns.
Many trout and channel catfish stocked for the kid's fishing derbies this past weekend remain to be caught at Wallace Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area. Wallace received 700lbs of catfish and 800 lbs of trout, and the canal received 700lbs of catfish and approximately 1,900 lbs of trout (the canal is stocked by Metroparks and ODNR for this event, hence the greater number of trout stocked there). Trout often bite on small jigs tipped with bait (maggots, waxworm) suspended under a float, small to medium size spinners (RoosterTail spinners are good), a few kernels of canned corn, and Power Bait (rainbow and other bright colors have been best) about the size of a marble near the lake bottom with a small sinker. Catfish like chicken liver, and either species can be caught on raw shrimp or a nightcrawler on the bottom. Please note that the daily trout limit is 3/day at Wallace Lake and 5/day at the canal. Sunfish and largemouth bass are also biting well at area lakes, with one angler hooking and breaking off a bass estimated at 5-6 pounds while targeting trout with a RoosterTail spinner on Monday.
Anglers fishing the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie shoreline are pursuing walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, northern pike and a menagerie of panfish species. Many fish can be found prowling the marinas and other nearshore areas throughout spring and early summer. The post-spawn walleye shore night bite and daytime boat bite have been good along the Cleveland shoreline, with Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd (Gordon Park), and Wildwood Park all worth a look. Anglers are primarily casting Husky Jerk, Rattlin Rogue, and Perfect 10 crankbaits for walleye from the shoreline rocks. Be sure to bring a long handled landing net and a headlamp. The Ohio Division of Wildlife Lake Erie fishing report may be viewed <here>.
The Rodmaker Shop Memorial Weekend Sale. The Rodmaker Shop in Strongsville is having a Memorial Day weekend sale (May 21-23) with 20% off of rods, reels, lures, and other merchandise in stock. And thank you to The Rodmaker Shop for their ongoing support of our kid's fishing derbies!
Spring Children?�+s Fishing Derbies Recap. We had a great turnout and lots of fish caught at our annual spring children's fishing derbies on May 16 & 17. A full event album featuring nearly 300 photos of successful young anglers can be found <here>. D'Arcy Egan from the Plain Dealer stopped by the Wallace Lake event and did a nice event write up <here>, as well. Thank you to all the kids and families who attended!
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
Jaret caught some fine smallmouth bass and a bonus northern pike at E55th Marina and the Rocky River this week (photos courtesy of Jaret Hoch).
Adam had a successful maiden voyage on his fishing kayak at Wallace Lake on Sunday. Read about his jump into kayak fishing on his blog <CoolWaterFish> (photos courtesy of Adam Eibling).
Mike had fun bending his rod on Rocky River catfish and carp recently (photos courtesy of Mike Kovalski0.
Jarred caught some nice Wallace Lake largemouth bass and trout, as well as a bruiser Cuyahoga River sheepshead, this week (photos courtesy of Jarred Bugg).
In September 2014 the crew of River Monsters from Animal Planet came to the Rocky River Reservation to film an episode that will air on May 25th at 8:00pm. I had the honor of meeting super-cool Jeremy Wade and assisting behind the scenes. Be sure to watch!
Will caught some late season steelhead in the Chagrin River (photos courtesy of Will Ellis).
An angler displays a nice Wallace Lake largemouth bass.
Father and son Andy and Greg fully appreciate the diverse spring fishery we have. On the menu this week were trophy walleye and smallmouth bass from boat and shore along the Cleveland shoreline (photos courtesy of Greg Young).
Freshly stocked channel catfish and rainbow trout are biting at the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area and Wallace Lake right now.
The Minch family reports that they had a great time at the kid's fishing derby this past weekend (photo courtesy of Jim Minch).
The Schmitt's had a fun father-daughter fishing outing on a local lake (photos courtesy of Ed Schmitt).
John reports that late season steelies can still be found in the northern Rock (photo courtesy of John Fay).
In my line of work you never know where a photo will end up. A friend at ODOT sent me this newsletter featuring a story about a collaborative fisheries project we recently conducted. You can read it <here> (newsletter courtesy of ODOT District 12).
Children's fishing derbies behind the scenes images of our annual "Worm and Maggot Packing Party".
Above are a sampling of nearly 300 photos of successful young anglers from this past weekend's children's fishing derbies. A full photo album can be found <here>. The Plain Dealer did a nice event write up <here>, as well. Thank you to all the kids and families who attended!
Note: The fishing report is updated monthly in June, July, and August and weekly every other month
***Note: All photo submissions must first complete the Cleveland Metroparks photo waiver.***
2024 Cleveland Metroparks Registered Fishing Guides
(name, company, contact)
- #24-001 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, [email protected] (216) 235-5056
- #24-002 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, [email protected] (440) 781-7536
- #24-003 Monte Casey, The Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064 www.steelheadguide.com
- #24-004 Anthony Montagnese, Covered Bridge Outfitters, [email protected] (440) 320-105
- #24-005 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, [email protected] (724) 841-1564
- #24-006 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, [email protected] (724) 433-2315
- #24-007 Nate Miller, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com (440) 796-6105
- #24-008 Jim Lampros, [email protected] (216) 513-6011
More information on Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Guide Permit requirements, including the permit application, you may check the following link:
<Fishing Guide Permit Program>
Learn how you can support recreation opportunities through a donation to the Cleveland Metroparks
Fishing Fund.