December 2, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers recieved an overnight bump in flow from rain and are already on the way to dropping back into fishable condition.  Based on the weather forecast steelhead fishing conditions into the weekend should be excellent.  Anglers can monitor the most recent river water level and temperature at the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye and steelhead have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish were also stocked in mid October at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation. 

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers recieved an overnight bump in flow from rainfall and are already on the way to dropping back into fishable condition.  Based on the weather forecast steelhead fishing conditions into the weekend should be excellent.  Fish are getting well distributed throughout the watersheds at this time with and deeper water on the main branches of these streams worth a try.  Drifting dime size spawn sacks, 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs, and salmon egg mimmicking beads under floats are taking the bulk of the fish. By the marina area, casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) is always an option. Despite not being stocked directly, steelhead are also turning up in the Cuyahoga River and various smaller area tributaries.

Anglers casting off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd, Wildwood Park and Wendy Park continue to have opportunities to catch steelhead during the day and walleye at night.  Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) are a good ways to connect with a steelhead trout that requires no more than a medium action spinning rig spooled with 8-10 lb monofilament line.  A bobber with a 1/32 oz jig tipped with minnow or maggots suspend 3-6 feet below is also a good producer in the aforementioned areas.  A nightcrawler suspended under a bobber on a bare hook can also work well.  A longer noodle rod is best for fishing floats.  Walleye anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark.  On windy days Wendy Park pier and E55th breakwall are more protected than Edgewater and Wildwood park shorelines.  Be especially careful of slick conditions along the shoreline rocks and breakwalls, with ice cleats and a long landing net being good investments.

Winter trout stockings at Metroparks lakes and ponds is scheduled for mid month- stay tuned to the fishing report for updates on that.  In mid October Cleveland Metroparks stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street and plenty of those fish remain to be caught.  The trout average 1.5 lb each and the catfish average 1-2 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish in the mix.    If you are happy catching either species you can try a half a nightcrawler worm or peice of popcorn 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 covered too.

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

 

Proud dad John shared on Sunday "Donovan managed to reel this in as the snow started to really come down - Chagrin River.  His first Steelhead!" (photo courtesy of John Callahan).



I dedicate this week's fishing blog to Fred Mieser.  He sent me this photo of a beautiful buck steelhead from the Rocky River on Sunday and passed unexpectedly this week.  We should all be so fortunate to do what we love until the end.  RIP and tight lines, my friend (photo courtesy of Fred Mieser).



John caught this big hen steelhead in the lower Rocky (photo courtesy of Joe Tonich).



Ben caught this chrome steelhead while targeting walleye at E55th breakwall.  He was slowly retrieving a blue and silver Husky Jerk crankbait when the fish struck (photo courtesy of Ben Stewart).



Jerermy caught this thick buck steelhead on Sunday (photo courtesy of Jeremy Springer).



Denver landed this chrome bruiser by the "Black Wall" (wet patch on the cliff behind him) by the Rocky River Marina (photo courtesy of Denver Ladd).



Ken shared of catching this 30 inch brute "On Friday, I hooked into a couple steelies using 5 Lb test before snags forced me to replace my leader. I felt that 5 Lb was too weak to handle a fish in the fast clear riffles (360 cfs) and switched to a 6-1/2 Lb test. Because it seemed slow, we (me & Ray Lancaster) were all set to move somewhere else, and I was long drifting to the confluence of two currents, maybe 60 yards away. I closed the bail at the end of the drift and let it sit for a second before slowly retrieving it. I lucked out, and he took it on the retrieve! But the big takeaway was I used Ray’s technique of fishing shallow from the float rather than a long line to the presentation. Maybe it’s a no-brainer, but I noticed that the presentation is more in line with where I think I want it to be - less randomness." (photo courtesy of Ken Stein).



Longtime fishing report contributor Pat shared "I would like to wish you, OCBS and all of my Rocky River fishing pals a Happy Thanksgiving. Keep up the great job!" (photo courtesy of Pat Cramer).


You never know where a steelhead could turn up in our streams!  This one was caught on Tuesday in Tinkers Creek (a Cuyahoga River tributary) in Bedford Reservation (photo courtesy of Linda Sekura).





Sean and his girlfriend have caught some nice steelhead to enter in the Cleveland Fishing Co. Joe Thomas Steelhead Challenge (photos courtesy of Sean Johnson).



Steelhead were biting on spoons and minnow on a jighead 4-6 feet under a bobber at E55th on Monday.





The recent Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing outing on the Rocky River was enjoyed by a happy group of military veterans (photos courtesy of Daniel Zukie).





"Bo" and friends have been striking silver on the regular by the Rocky River marina (photos courtesy of David "Bo" Bowser).



This bonus brown trout came from the Rocky River near the nature center (photo courtesy of Fred Mieser).



On Tuesday a volunteer and I removed 357.8 pounds of non-native common carp (yes, we weighed them!) in a longterm effort to restore the ecology of Isaac Lake.  A bunch of the fish were donated to the Case Western Reserve University Biology Department for future anatomy class dissection labs, saving them the $7/fish they normally spend on specimens.




Over the extended Thanksgiving holiday Elizabeth and I headed to western NY for a fishing trip.  The lake trout (from eastern Lake Erie) and brown trout (from a Lake Ontario tributary) were among the highlight fishes of our catch.