November 30, 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, yellow perch and steelhead and on inland locations they are pursuing stocked rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street.
 
As the late fall weather gets cold the steelhead fishing gets hot! But river conditions can change quickly this time of year, with slush in the streams to be expected in the mornings as temperatures dip below freezing and rain in the forecast leading into this weekend. Wise anglers will stay abreast of the river flows (links above) before heading out this weekend. It has been a good week on local streams with lots of reports of steelhead being caught. The Rocky, Chagrin and other area streams all have lots of steelhead present at this time and they are well distributed throughout the watersheds. The Rocky River, for example, has been producing fish from the marina area all the way up into both branches of the river allowing anglers to begin spreading out over many miles of stream. Anglers are also connecting with some steelhead off the rocks at Edgewater, E55th, and Wildwood parks. In the streams fish are being caught on a variety of offerings including dime to nickel size spawn sacks (colored mesh bags containing trout or salmon eggs), live minnows, 1/64 or 1/32 oz jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads drifted under floats in holes and deeper runs. Fly fishing with egg patterns and streamers is also catching some fish. At both stream and lakefront locations anglers are casting spoons ie 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler, medium size spinners (ie Vibrax and Rooster Tail) and crankbaits. Trolling the rivermouth areas with spoons and crankbaits is also an option for anglers with access to a small boat, kayak or canoe (the courtesy dock at the boat ramp is scheduled to be removed in the near future, depending on weather). Cleveland shoreline areas are also producing some very good catches of walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10, Husky Jerk 14 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.  
 
For anglers interested in trout, winter stockings in our lakes and ponds will commence around the third week of December. Also, in mid October we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 700 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street and a fair number of those fish remain to be caught. The trout average a pound each and the catfish average 1-3 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish and quite a few golden rainbow trout to spice things up. Small marabou or hair jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm, a dime sized ball of PowerBait, and small spinners 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


 

Caleb shared “I caught my first salmon out of the Rocky on Monday! I was using a 1/32oz white crappie tube.”(photo courtesy of Caleb Tolento).





Emma and a friend had a good day steelhead fishing on the Chagrin River. The bottom fish is a beautiful native redhorse sucker (photos courtesy of Emma Simone).



Keith got a limit of walleye out of Gordon Park boat launch and used the fish cleaning station after his trip (NOTE: the fish cleaning station will be winterized and closed approximately next week).






Ken shared from the Rocky River on Monday “I headed to one of my favorite runs with faster water on Sunday morning, just before the rain. I was shocked to see no one there! I fished for a couple of hours, starting at the middle of the pool, and threw a Rapala jointed floater rainbow trout pattern. I had a large hen take it on the third drift. Two more casts using the same lure brought me a scrappy buck. Both of these fish hammered the lure. I continued working the same run and didn’t have any takers. I suspected more fish were there, but none wanted to bite. Maybe they made the association of something new in the water with the flurry of activity? I switched to the same style lure but used a firetiger pattern. I drifted in those same areas, had a weak bite, and couldn’t hook it. Then, it happened two more times; soft bites led to lousy hook sets, and I lost the fish. I switched back to the rainbow trout pattern and continued working the run, toward the tailout that I previously fished with the firetiger. Both fish blasted the lure, and I landed them. I can’t prove it experimentally, but I came away believing that, at least yesterday morning, they strongly preferred one color over the other. It was surprising because the firetiger is usually my go-to lure.” (photos courtesy of Ken Stein).




Andrew has the Cleveland shoreline walleye night bite dialed in this fall (photos courtesy of Andrew Smith).



Since the report is a bit light on pics this week, I will add this gratuitous photo of a big Ohio muskie that I caught recently.