December 28, 2023

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   Anglers on the Rocky River and other area streams are targeting steelhead trout. 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 catching walleye and at inland locations they are pursuing trout stocked this week (details below).
 
The Rocky River and other area streams are elevated and muddy from rain with more precipitation in the forecast.  Anglers can keep an eye on flow trends at the links above. Prior to this the steelhead fishing had been very good and when river drop in level and begin to clear again steelhead fishing prospects will be excellent. As the river first begins to clear a top offering will be nickel to quarter size spawn sacks (trout or salmon eggs) in brighter colors such as hot pink and chartreuse. As the water continues to clear, smaller dime size spawn sacks, live minnows, 1/64  or 1/32 oz jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads drifted under floats will all catch plenty of fish.  
 
Cleveland shoreline areas are still producing some decent catches of walleye after dark, although the bite can be extremely hit or miss from day to day. Perfect 10, Husky Jerk 14 and other shallow running larger stick-style crankbaits are working well. Normally this Cleveland area bite dies off in December as the big schools of walleye head west for winter, but the unseasonably mild weather seems to have delayed this situation. Anglers should make note that the fish cleaning station at Gordon Park/E72nd St boat ramp has been winterized and will be closed until spring. The last courtesy dock on the Rocky River is scheduled to be removed for the season on January 2^nd, although E72nd boat launch has a permanent dock that can be used year around.
 
A great option while the  streams are flooded are the 3,000 pounds of mixed trout we stocked last week between Wallace (1,400 lbs), Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (600 lbs), Judge’s (150 lbs) and Ranger (100 lbs) lakes. Most were rainbow trout averaging a pound each although there were plenty of bonus brook, brown, golden rainbow, and even rare tiger (brook x brown hybrid) trout to keep things interesting (see photos below for some examples). A few of the fish were truly of trophy proportions (see a few examples below in the photos). Small marabou or hair jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm, a dime sized ball of Power Bait, and smallish to medium size jigging spoons are all great offerings to try for trout.
 
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] .

Tight Lines,

Mike


 

Proud father Jim shared “Attached is a photo of my son's first steelhead. Caught on 12/20. His name is Franky and he is 9 years old. He caught it on a pink spawn sac under a float.” (photo courtesy of Jim Lingenfelter).



Congratulations to Bishop Shelton on catching his personal best walleye at E55th breakwall this week, a 28” 9.5 lb trophy (photo courtesy of Bishop Shelton).







Father and son Andrew and Hunter had a great week chasing steelhead in the Rocky River as well as along the Cleveland lakefront (photos courtesy of Andrew Mundt).




Chris scored a trophy brown trout as well as a big brook trout at a smaller Metroparks lake stocked with trout last week (photos courtesy of Chris).



Dale shared “Humbly submitting for the fishing report: caught a 30.5 inch hen on the Rocky Monday afternoon before the weather got really bad. Caught her on a large chartreuse soft plastic bead on recommendation from a kind gentleman leaving the spot. They say big fish move in big water and I’d testify to that as this is the largest Steelie I’ve ever landed and the river was high and colored up. Big thanks to Tim for helping record the moment with photos. So many kind folks on the water, I really appreciate this community of anglers. This big silver beauty was released and swam off strong to be someone else’s PB hopefully. Thanks for all you do!”(photo courtesy of Dale Novotny).





Chuck scored a limit of delicious yellow perch in Cleveland harbor (photos courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).





Father and son Bob and Bobby have caught some fine rainbow, brook and golden rainbow trout at Wallace Lake (photos courtesy of Bob Hoboda).



Matthew shared “Thanks for all you do in regards to the Fishing Report. I caught this beauty by the Maple Grove picnic area in Rocky River. I just started fly tying this fall and this was my first catch on my own fly. It was a pale colored scrambled egg pattern.” (photo courtesy of Matthew Casto).




Dale caught very nice size tiger and golden rainbow trout this week in a Metroparks pond just stocked. See report above for recent stocking info (photo courtesy of Dale).




Chris had fun fly fishing for Rocky River steelhead (photos courtesy of Chris Ligan).



Ted caught this rainbow trout at Ranger Lake while casting a small white twister tail grub (photo courtesy of Ted Choukalas).




Charter Captain David Kraut sent me the top picture last week wondering what the metal band was on this 22.5” walleye they caught. I asked him to remove the tag and get a number and I forwarded the info to a fish biologist colleague with the Ohio Division of Wildlife on Lake Erie, who in turn reported it to the Michigan DNR- the agency that tagged the fish. Here is the amazing story of this fish from the Michigan biologist: “Good morning Capt. Kraut-  Travis Hartman with Ohio DNR shared your recent Walleye jaw tag return with us. I wanted to follow up and provide you with the details we have on that fish. Tag #12148 was applied to a 17.1” male Walleye in Lake Erie near the Raisin River, Michigan on May 1, 2006. The fish has been at large in the lake for around 17.5 years! Given its length at the time of tagging we can assume the fish was at least 3 years old in 2006…so that would make it at least 20 years old when it was caught. The Walleye was a member of the record 2003 year class if it was indeed 3 years old when it was tagged. The fish grew 5.4” since 2006. That’s not unusual as male Walleyes achieve smaller maximum lengths than females, and growth slows greatly as a fish ages. Thanks very much for reporting your tagged Walleye!”  (photos courtesy of Capt. David Kraut).



I recently had the privilege to hit down and talk to Captain Jeff Liskay for an hour for the Great Lakes Dude podcast. We focused on the recovery of the Cuyahoga River, fishing that river, as well as general fishing strategy tips. Give it a listen <here>.