March 16, 2023

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering very good fishing conditions at the moment, although precipitation in the forecast tomorrow could change things.  Anglers should monitor the most recent river water level and temperature at the following links: <Rocky River flow gauge data><Chagrin River flow gauge data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  The second and final round of winter trout stockings took place in early February (see details below) and the first spring stocking of the East Branch Rocky River is tentatively scheduled for next week.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers have offered good steelhead fishing conditions this week.  Precipitation is in the forecast for tomorrow, though, so anglers would be wise to check the flow links before heading out fishing.  Top producers have included a variety of offerings, including dime to nickel size spawn bags in various colors (hot pink is always a favorite), 1/32 and 1/64 oz marabou/hair/tube jigs tipped with a few waxworms or maggots, soft or hard salmon egg size beads, and live and salted emerald shiners- all drifted under a float.  Steelhead are currently very well distributed throughout the watersheds.  The Cuyahoga River (in Brecksville, Bedford and Ohio & Erie Canal reservations), Euclid Creek (at Wildwood Park), Porter Creek (at Huntington Reservation) and other unstocked streams are also offering targetable numbers of stray steelhead at this time.

In early February we stocked Wallace (1,400 lbs),and Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (650 lbs), Ranger (100 lbs), and Judge's (100 lbs) lakes with the second (and final) round of winter trout.  These stocking locations and quantities are a duplication of the 3,000 lbs of trout stocked back in mid-December.  The majority of the fish are 1 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of golden rainbow, brown, brook, and even some tiger trout and another sigle albino brook trout (stocked at Wallace Lake). 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.  Our lakes are offering open water fishing and the trout often bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm or two on a small marabou jig, and smaller spoons and spinners.  Spring stocking of the East Branch of the Rocky River was delayed this week but is scheduled to commence next week.
 
Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back on Saturday April 1^st and ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year and scheduled for Saturday April 1st.  Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit group) will be hosting the raffle.  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 will be at South Mastic Woods Picnic Area (immediately south of the Putritas Road bridge), a central location on the Rocky River that offers lots of space.  Mark your calendars for this fun event for a great cause!  More on the event and register online here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby info page>.  You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($30 vs $35) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online.  
 
Thank you to our current event sponsors which include supporting sponsors EnviroScience Inc. and Slyman’s Restaurant and Friends of the Event sponsors Dog Pound Charters, Point Blank Hunts, Lake Erie BoatTronics and Steelhead 419 Facebook group.  OCBS raffle donors to date include VooDoo Custom Tackle, River Roe Tackle Co., Lake Erie Kayak Fishing, Shine’s Bait and Tackle, Cleveland Fishing Co., Death Roe Tackle, D’Arcy Egan, and Freaky Frank’s Tackle.  Please consider supporting those businesses that support local fishing!
 
Fly Fishing Film Tour is coming on Sunday April 2nd.   On Sunday April 2^nd the popular national Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) with be stopping in Cleveland at the Museum of Natural History.  Get your tickets soon as this fun event usually sells out!  More here: <F3T CLE>.

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


 

Adam reports “Ava caught a brown trout, rainbow trout, and bluegill at Wallace Lake but says this was her favorite picture. She absolutely loves it. She’s been waiting to get out. Glad the weather is getting better.” (photo courtesy of Adam Wachtel).
 
 
 

Brent hooked into this gorgeous steelhead while swinging flies on the Rocky (photo courtesy of Brent ONeill).
 
 

Dan caught this male tiger trout on Monday (photo courtesy of Dan Van Kannel).
 
 

Chris is a transplant from NYC and this is his first year of steelhead fishing.  I would say he’s doing pretty good! (photo courtesy of Chris Ligan).
 
 





Mike hooked into some hot steel in the cold weather this week on the Rock (photos courtesy of Mike Sekerak).




John reported on Tuesday “Couple good fish on the swing today from the cold icy depths.” (photo courtesy of John Brochue at Orvis Westlake).


 

Sal caught this smaller rainbow trout in the Rocky River this week.  The state does not stock until later this spring so it could be a stream born fish.  The dorsal fin, which does not look perfect although hard to tell for sure from the photo, is the only indication it might be of hatchery origin.  If so it may have wandered over here and into the Rocky River all the way from a Pennsylvania stocked stream (photo courtesy of Sal Caruso).
 






Please nore above some items that you’ll need to bring if you attend the Barbie rod Steelhead Derby fundraiser coming up on April 1.  More info (including detailed rules) can he found <here>.


 






Here are before and after photos of a fishing pond our crew just got done restoring at Camp Cheerful, which is a summer camp for children with disabilities on Cleveland Metroparks property (Camp Cheerful). Access is so much better now and the pond is no longer a weed choked puddle. The pond was dredged deeper, a crushed limestone trail was brought closer to the water's edge and a shorter split rail fence keeps kids safe yet improves wheelchair fishing access (not visible is that the water control structure and outflow were improved too). This is among the varied types of projects that our Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund helps to support. I can't wait to stock fish here for the kids!
 
 
 

Conor is showing his Cleveland pride (note hat) while kicking the butts of those Belizean permit on the fly.  Connor formerly worked in our Cleveland Metroparks Natural Resources division (photo courtesy of Conor Mewhinney).