March 10, 2022

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are dropping in level and weekend steelhead fishing conditions will depend on how much rain and meltoff we recieve in the coming days.  Anglers can check the flow and temperature data at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Recently trout were stocked at five locations in Cleveland Metroparks (details below) and anglers are pursuing them in open water  (the ice melted this week).

The Rocky River and other area streams are dropping into decent conditions at the moment and steelhead fishing opportunities into the weekend will depend on how much rain amd snowmelt we recieve in the coming days  Anglers should keep an eye on the flow trend at the links above before heading out.  Best bets as the waters first begin to clear are brightly colored (neon pink, orange and chartreuse) dime to nickel size spawn bags under a float, with salmon egg mimicking beads and soft rubber eggs (8-12 mm), small (1/32-1/64 oz) jigs tipped with maggots and live minnows under a float gaining an edge once waters clear further.  I've already had a few reports of lake-run white suckers beginning to migrate into the rivers and their numbers will only continue to increase in the coming weeks.

Lake Erie harbors, such as Edgewater, Wildwood and E72nd boat ramp area are all open water as of this week. Fishing opportunities for steelhead, northern pike and pre-spawn largemouth bass are available in nearshore waters.  Boat launches are open with each having a year round permanent loading dock, although thye additional wooden dock are not in yet.  Boat Launch Annual tags for the 2022 season can be purchased online <here>.

Trout are biting well and our inland lakes and ponds are open water again.  Throughout winter a total of 6,000 lbs of trout distributed as follows: Wallace Lake (2,800 lbs), Shadow Lake (1,500 lbs), ledge Lake (1,300 lbs), Ranger Lake (200 lbs) and Judge's Lake (200 lbs).  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but an impressive number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some tiger trout (a brown trout x brook trout hybrid) were in the mix.  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 smaller spinner and spoons.  

We are looking at beginning our Spring stocking of rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River in mid March.  Stay tuned to the fishing report for details.

Thank You to the Anonymous Alaskan Fly Fisher.   That may have you scratching your head for context, so I'll explain.  Back in 2019, a fly fisher from Alaska was visiting family in the area and was impressed with the opportunities that Cleveland Metroparks offers for public outdoor recreation and also stumbled upon this Fishing Report.  Since that time, this generous anonymous individual has annually donated to our Fishing Fund- with the latest check coming in this week bringing the running total to $4k!  This person is especially passionate about making outdoors opportunities available to urban youth, and feels that we do a very good job of making those opportunities possible.  So next time you are in Cleveland Metroparks and catch a stocked trout or see a smiling kid who won a prize at a fishing derby you can give a nod knowing that support for that comes, in part, from a generous fly fisher that may very well be standing in a far away Alaskan stream at that same moment.

The Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby Online Registration is now Open!  You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($30 vs $35) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online.  You may do so at the following link: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online registration>.

Regarding the event, the popular and fun Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year and scheduled for Saturday April 2nd.  The sixth annual event was held in 2019 so we will pick up where we left off and call this our seventh annual event.  One big difference this year will be that Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit) will be hosting the raffle.  A big tip of the hat goes out to past event organizer Mark Warren for 5 years of leading a highly successful event before passing on the reigns.  Trophies for three largest steelhead, raffles, and a cookout are all part of the day's festivities for this fun event where anglers must fish for steelhead with a kiddie fishing pole!  100% of proceeds from the fundraiser event go to support the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.  The event headquarters has been moved to South Mastic Woods Picnic Area (immediately south of the Putritas Road bridge), a more central location on the Rocky River that offers almost twice the space as the marina area location.  Mark your calendars for this fun event for a great cause!  More on the event here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby info page>.

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

Randy and his daughter MacKenzie were fishing the Chagrin River when he hooked this bg buck and let her reel it in.  Her first Fish Ohio steelhead of over 28 inches! (photo courtesy of Randy Smith).




Roxanne and Tony did well on the stream this week as evidenced by a few examples about (photos courtesy of Roxanne Schultheis).




Pat had a great week on the Rocky River, even when it was muddy as in the bottom photo (photos courtesy of Pat Cramer).




Brian, who is lucky enough to have caught 3 of the rare tiger trout we stocked this winter, reported the following on Sunday "I hit the river yesterday got a nice steelhead.  Saw no one was at Wallace this morning. Stopped there and the trout were going crazy.  Caught and released alot of rainbows plus the ones that came off before I got them in.  Had a heavy fish on and I thought it might be a channel cat.  Then when I saw the fish I thought it was a huge brook trout.  I was taking a picture and I saw the chain pattern of a tiger trout.  He was extremely dull colored but these were two best pictures I could get.  I released it but it had to be 4lbs give or take. Way bigger than the other 2 tigers I caught." (photos courtesy of Brian Kich).





Capt. Mike and friends have been finding some trophy pre-spawn walleye this week (photos courtesy of Capt. Mike Mochan).



John Brocuhe is the Orvis Westlake store manager and he loves swinging flies for steelhead in the Rocky River (photo courtesy of John Brochue).





Nick had a great week on the Rocky River and enjoyed a chunky bright fish for the table too (photos courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).
 



Christian has been making nice catches of rainbow trout at Shadow Lake, punctuated with a few colorful golden rainbows (photos courtesy of walt Gedeon).



Denver caught this bruiser buck steelhead by the marina on the Rocky (photo courtesy of Denver Ladd).





The Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders will be hosting the raffle at the Barbie Derby (on April 2nd) which will be like a silent auction that uses tickets so you only bid on what you want.  There will be piles of name brand loot, including Majestic Reels (the grand drawing is a Prophecy centerpin reel with a custom Rain Shadow float rod), River Roe, NFP Customs (thanks to Shine's Bait and Tackle), Freaky Franks, Death Roe, One Last Cast apparel, Stinger, Blue Fox, Luhr Jensen, Bandit, Pro-Cure, Reef Runner, Rapala just to name some of them. Click on photos for package value. Over $6,000 in goods will be in the raffle with something for everyone including steelhead, walleye and bass packages, several fly fishing packages, a fishing apparel package, general outdoor enthusiast package, and more! Above is a teaser of only a few of the dozen packages- the Steelhead Soldier package valued at $547 and the Walleye Warrior package valued at $514.  Even if you choose not to participate in the derby you can come down to the event HQ at <South Mastick Picnic Shelter> at bewteen 2:00-3:30pm to puchase tickets and take part in the raffle (prize drawings will start at 3:30pm)..