September 23, 2021

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   Cool rain this week has anglers looking forward to returning steelhead in the streams.  As river levels drop and clear anglerscan find steelhead in the northern river reaches, as well as along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie. Wise anglers will 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>.  Lake Erie anglers are targeting walleye and inland lake/pond anglers are pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish. 

Area streams are elevated and muddy from rain, but should be beginning to clear up into the weekend- and steelhead anglers will be waiting!  As the water level recede the area from the Rocky River boat ramps to the Lorain Road bridge can be expected to offer some steelhead for anglers drifting dime size spawn sacks and 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs under floats.  Other good spots to connect with early steelhead are off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd and Wildwood Park.  Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout.  These same areas are beginning to produce a few walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.

White and yellow perch, channel catfish, rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, freshwater drum and various sunfish species can be found along the Cleveland shoreline as late summer transitions to early fall and can be caught on offerings such as live shiners, tube jigs, and dropshot rigs.  Although not consistent from day to day, yellow perch have made appearances at the shoreline at spots like E55th breakwall, Edgewater Park and Wendy Park recently, at times in decent numbers, and have been biting on small minnows and bits of worm fished on the bottom on a crappie rig.

Resident smallmouth bass are biting in the Rocky River and other area streams.  A dark olive or brown tube jig 3-4" length is one of the best producers of bass in the river.  "Smallies" also bite well on live bait (ie: minnow, crayfish, and leeches), lures (ie: spinners and minnow plugs), and flies (ie: crayfish patterns, Clouser minnows, dark brown or olive sculpin or muddler minnow patterns). 

The Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street will be stocked with rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish associated with Fall Family Fishing Fest on saturday October 16th.  Keep an eye on the fishing report in the coming weeks for more on this free family and kid friendly event.

Steelhead Expo at the Rocky River Nature Center this Saturday September 25th.    The Steelhead Expo is back this Saturday and bigger than ever! The event is a great way to kick off the steelhead season and will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center on Saturday September 25th.  This event is a collaborative effort between the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland Metroparks and will offer a full day of expert speakers and seminars, vendors, and other related information to kick off the fall steelhead season. There is no charge for the event but OCBS, a non-profit sportman's group which is very active in the local fishing and conservation communities, is offering a raffle as a fundraiser so donations or participation in the raffle is encouraged.  Location info here: <Rocky River Nature Center>.

The Steelheaders Ball is back!  When: Friday, October 29, 2021- 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM  Where: The LaSalle Theater, 823 E. 185th St, Cleveland, OH 44119  What: Live Music by The Interstate All-Star Band, BBQ Food Truck, cash bar, assorted raffles, door prizes and more!  Why: Fundraiser to support a variety of local fisheries projects.  Tickets- $20.00 online, $25.00 at the door. Purchase tickets online at: <Steelheaders Ball tickets>

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
 

Congratulations to Lydia on catching her first walleye on Sunday along Cleveland.  And it was her first time in a boat! (photo courtesy of Kelsey Armstrong).






The Butram family had a successful fishing outing at Wallace Lake on Saturday (photos courtesy of Corey Butram).



Sean caught his first steelhead of the season in a small Metroparks creek on saturday (photo courtesy of Sean Johnson).





Gene is in exclusive company having attained the <Gold Silver Bronze Challenge>!  He reported "If the G-S-B challenge is still going on I’d like to place my submission, below I’ve included pictures of the steelhead, walleye, and smallmouth I caught all on 09/16/2021. Thanks!" (photos courtesy of Gene Panuto).



Victor reported from the Rocky River boat ramps this past Friday "Well I went to practice with an Erie Dearie and worm. Look what I caught, did not want this. But guess I'm on the board" (photo courtesy of Victor).



Dave from Berea shared on Tuesday "Was surprised by this foot long crappie caught at Wallace Lake. Made for a tasty dinner" (photo courtesy of Dave).





Tony and a buddy had some good bass fishing along the CLE shoreline of Lake Erie this week (photos courtesy of Tony Perrin).




Brad had a great birthday morning on Monday, getting hisa first steelhead of the year on the Rocky (he lost another), and also scoring a smallmouth bass.  He was only a walleye away from attaining the Gold Silver Bronze Challenge! (photos courtesy of Brad Gardner).



Jen displays a few quality bass turned up during our 5 year cyclic fish population assessment on a Metroparks pond on Tuesday.



Elizabeth has a soft spot for sheepshead.




One neat thing about muskie fishing is that when you incidentally catch a non-target species it's typically big- as evidenced by this trophy Lake St Clair northern pike displayed by Elizabeth from over the weekend.  Also, it's amazing to see a fish like this smallie go after the big lures we use!



The Steelhead Expo will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center this Saturday September 25th.  See the report above for more details.  Note: this event is a collaboration between Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland Metroparks.