***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May*** This has been an extremely transitional week in terms of fishing conditions and that looks to continue into the coming days. The majority of the Rocky and Chagrin rivers have been frozen over this week, but the warm-up is slowly beginning to open things up again. To monitor the most recent river water level and temperature you can check the following link (note: ice on the flow gauge sensors can lead to erroneous water level readings):
<Rocky River flow gauge data><Chagrin River flow gauge data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>. Trout were stocked at five locations in mid December and the first ice fishers of the season have been cautiously out pursuing them this week (Note: I would not recommend venturing onto the ice this weekend).
The majority of local streams, including thye Rocky and Chagrin rivers, have been ice covered this week, but warm-up will slowly change change that. Anglers should expect transitional river conditions this weekend as ice melts and things break up. Steelhead are distributed throughout the main branch of the Rocky and Chagrin rivers and top offerings (in the very limited fishable areas this week) continue to be dime size spawn sacks (hot pink, chartreuse, white, peach, and pale yellow being a few effective 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 on 6-8 lb flourocarbon leaders in the deeper areas. As a tip, the Cuyahoga River, although unstocked with steelhead, is worth a look under our current conditions. Being a bigger river with urban influences upstream it is slower to freeze than other area waters, and does get a decent number of steelhead that stray from other stocked streams. It still had a decent amount of areas frozen over this week, but also a lot more open water than our other streams.
As lake conditions permit some steelhead are available off the breakwall at E55th Marina and off the rocks at Edgewater Park, as well as Wildwood Park. In the colder water, baits drifted under floats, such as marabou jig tipped with a minnow or a nightcrawlers, have the edge over casting hardware. These same areas were also producing catches of walleye after dark, although the majority of the walleye will begin moving west on their seasonal migration in the near future. Perfect 10, Hucky Jerk and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits work well for shaore castring anglers. Our harbors and marinas have been freezing over although a motivated duck hunting boat or two broke ice to get out to open water this week.
Note to boaters: the final courtesy dock at the Rocky River marina was pulled out by our Park Operations staff last week (the river has been iced over this week and the ramp has been unusable anyway).
In mid December our first round scheduled winter trout stockings took place. This stockings consisted of a total of 3,000 lbs of trout distributed as follows: Wallace Lake (1,400 lbs), Shadow Lake (750 lbs), ledge Lake (650 lbs), Ranger Lake (100 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs). The majority of the fish are 1 lb rainbow trout, but a good number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some trophy tiger trout (more on this below) are in the mix. A fair number of trout remain at Ohio & Erie Canal from stocking in October.
Note: the daily limit at Wallace, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes is 3 trout/angler and the limit at Shadow Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal is 5 trout/angler. The trout can bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm ot two on a small marabou or tube jig and jigging spoons. The safest way for anglers to target these trout while we wait for better conditions is to fish through the ice from docks and areas where the shore drops quickly into deeper water, such as the ledges around Wallace Lake which was a former sandstone quarry. The second (and fnal) round of winter trout stocking is scheduled to take place towards the end of January or beginning of February.
For the second year in a row a few tiger trout were included in the stocking mix. Tiger trout, named for their tiger-like stripes, are a rare hybrid between a female brown trout and male brook trout and this is the only place they are stocked in public waters in Ohio! A handful of these neat fish will be included in the stockings this week at Wallace, Shadow and Ledge lakes to offer anglers an opportunity to catch a rare trophy (Ranger and Judge's lakes were also stocked with trout, but no tigers). We appreciate the efforts of our supplier (Hooked on Trout Farm, LLC), a small family owned Ohio operation, to provide great fish to enhance angling opportunities in Cuyahoga county public waters.
The first ice fishers of the season have ventured out on our smaller lakes and ponds this week but given the weather forecast this ice will begin melting and become compromised quickly.
I would advise anglers to stay off the ice this weekend. For those considering ice fishing, especially following another another good cold spell, I offer the following safety advice. Most state conservation agencies recommend at least 4" of solid ice before anglers should venture out to ice fish, and in Cleveland Metroparks it is the angler's responsibility to check that. One method is to use a spud bar near shore and check the ice thickness, and if it is
> 4 inches then walk out a little further and check again. Ice is often thinnest right at the water's edge and around inlets and outlets of the waterbody. Heavy snow serves to insulate the water and slow additional ice formation, as well. A pair of emergency ice picks held at the ready on a cord around the neck are are a safety must, as is am emergency length of rope. A floating "survival suit" is something you may consider, as well. Other safety tips are to always fish with a friend, let someone know where you'll be, and focus on areas near where other anglers are already fishing.
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] .