December 1, 2022

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***  Anglers on the Rocky, Chagrin and Cuyahoga rivers have been pursuing steelhead trout.  Steelhead fishing is good at this time and conditions should continue to be promising through the weekend based on the forecast.  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 targeting walleye, yellow perch and steelhead and anglers are targeting recently stocked rainbow trout and channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area (off E49th Street down the trail from Canalway Visitor Center).

Local streams are exhibiting good flow with a moderate stain (water is clearing) which translates into good steelhead fishing opportunities this time of year.  Although fish are distributed throughout the main branch of the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, the larger numbers of fresher fish tend to be in the few miles of stream closer to Lake Erie. Top offerings continue to be dime to nickel size spawn sacks (hot pink, chartreuse, white, peach, and pale yellow being a few effectice colors), live minnows, 1/64  or 1/32 oz jigs (marabou and plastic tubes) tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads (same colors as noted with spawn sacks) drifted under floats in the deeper runs and pools.  Fly fishing with egg patterns and streamers has also been yielding hook-ups, as have spoons, spinners and crankbaits.  A few brown trout are also being reported and the streak continues with yet another stray salmon caught locally for the fifth week in a row (see images below).

As lake conditions permit steelhead are available off the breakwall at E55th Marina and off the rocks at Edgewater Park, as well as 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 for connecting with a steelhead trout, as is suspending a whole nightcrawler on a plain hook or jigs tipped with minnow or maggots a few feet below a bobber.

Lakefront areas like E55th breakwall also produce walleye after dark, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.  Walleye trolling off Cleveland is also good through the harbor freezing up.  For late season boating anglers, yellow perch are another option off the east end of the Cleveland outer breakwall, as well.  Spotty catches of perch can be made from shore at E55th breakwall and the old Coast Guard Station at Wendy Park.  Emerald shiners fished near the bottom on a crappie rig or spreader can both be effective.

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 a fair number of those fish remain.  Small jigs tipped with maggots under a floar, a ball of dime sized PowerBait dough fished near the bottom, and small spinners are among the more popular options for catching trout.  The first winter stocking of trout in Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds is scheduled for sometime in mid December (stay tuned to this report for developments on that).

New Paperless Launch Ramp Payment Process.  There are a few changes boating anglers should be made aware of.  Launch fees are required for the duration of the boating season.  Lots of our late season boaters are walleye tournament anglers from outside our service area so it only seemed fair to our locals.  Also, we have gone paperless for the daily launch fee process using the ParkMobile system.  Signs outlining payment options are clearly posted throughout the parking areas at Edgewater, Emerald Necklace Marina, E72nd/Gordon Park and Wildwood parks.  For daily launch the fee is only for the site where paid (cannot be transferred to different launches).  Payment can be made via ParkMobile app, by scanning a QR code on the sign or by texting a number provided.  For those without a smart phone there is a phone number for payment provided.  Proof of purchase of daily fees can still be credited towards an annual tag but only if the tag is purchased in person at a Metroparks marina during the season these facilities are open (cannot be credited towards online purchase of the annual tag).  The easiest and most streamlined option for boaters planning to use the ramps more than a few times is to just purchase the annual tag at the beginning of the season.  Launch fees only apply to motorized and trailered craft and folks not trailering a boat can still use the parking lots with no fee required.

Free Virtual (Zoom) Author Interview on December 7th through the Cuyahoga County Library.  Local fly fisherman Gabriel Venditti will be interviewing fly fishing/naturalist author, Steve Ramirez, on December 7th, from 7-8:00pm.  In his new book Casting Onward: Fishing Adventures in Search of America's Native Gamefish, the author traveled thousands of miles, exploring and fishing mountain streams, alpine lakes, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, desert canyons, brackish water estuaries, and the rolling ocean off the coast of Cape Cod.  This event will be broadcast live on Zoom. Registration and an email address are required to receive the link to participate: <Register Here>.

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] .

John reported from the Rocky on Friday "Took my grandson Levi steelhead fishing for his first time today.  Of course he caught one.  He's a fishing meachine" (photos courtesy of John Hall).



Ed reported from the Rock on Saturday "Had a great hour on the river today.  Had to scale down to a 6lb leader today to lose one around 30 inches, then land this one at 31 inches by 10 pounds!" (photo courtesy of Ed Schmitt).




Raleigh and a buddy are taking advantage of the hot walleye bite in cold weather off Cleveland (photos courtesy of Raleigh Guice).





Bobby shared from the Rocky yesterday "Slow drifting a deep hole (slow current) w/1/32oz jigs tipped w/wax worms. The buck steelie and slimmer hen hit white while the chunky hen hit black.  A little note: with the slow current of this deep hole I twitched the jig under the float by periodically short snapping my rod tip, and all fished were hooked at the end of twitching. Another fish was hooked but lost. Catch and release fishing!" (photos courtesy of Bobby Allison).




For the 5th weekly fishing report in a row a local salmon catch has been submitted, in this case Ken Harper caught this coho salmon in the Rocky River.  The recent catches of stray salmon (from programs out of state) have been a mix of king (chinook) and coho salmon, although a pink salmon turned up in the Rocky back on september 15 (photo courtesy of Ken Harper).




Speaking of unique catches, I caught (and released) this hen brown trout from the Rocky River on Tuesday morning.  I only fished about an hour before work and also landed a few steelhead plus the stream-born juvenile steelhead pictured.  I can tell this is a wild fish because of the smaller size during a time when nobody is stocking steelhead locally coupled with the perfect fins (no deformation or wavy fin rays).  All fish were released.






John had a productive outing trolling around the Cleveland breakwalls for steelhead.  He trolled a combination of wobbling plugs and spoons. He flatline trolls about 2 miles per hour (photos courtesy of John Breedlove).




From now until ice up yellow perch catches can be made along the Lake Erie shoreline.  While the fishing is typically not fast and furious and the bites can be subtle, the fish run big, with quite a few measuring 12-14" and a few giants up to 15".




Newly updated Major Fisheries of the Rocky River Watershed kiosk signs have been/are being installed at 5 locations in the watershed.  The signs include various QR codes that link to resources like info pages and videos about the various fish species, as well as to this fishing report.