October 12, 2023

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***  As the weather cools into early fall, highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams include steelhead and smallmouth bass. 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 primarily targeting walleye and nearshore steelhead and inland lake/pond anglers are primarily pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish.
 
Rain and cool weather is in the forecast this week which will help boost the already decent early season steelhead fishing opportunities. Most of the steelhead so far have been caught in our northernmost river sections closer to Lake Erie (the Rocky River marina area is one such spot) as well as around the rocks at Edgewater, E55th, and Wildwood parks. Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout. Anglers are also hooking up on small tube jigs and marabou jigs under floats. The number of stray pink salmon turning up has been a real surprise this season, although these earliest running of the Pacific salmon are mostly spawning now and will all die afterwards so the opportunity is winding down. Cleveland shoreline areas are also producing a few walleye after dark, as well, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.
 
Some decent catches of yellow perch, white perch and channel catfish have turned up along the shoreline at E55th breakwall and Wendy Park at the old Coast Guard station. They have been biting on bits of worms or small minnows fished on the bottom on a crappie rig. Boaters have been doing even better with some tracking down limits of yellow perch off Rocky River and Cleveland in 32-36 feet of water. The best bite is often in the morning and late afternoon.
 
Anglers at our inland lakes and ponds are catching catfish, largemouth bass, and panfish. Wallace Lake, Ledge Lake, Shadow Lake, Strawberry Pond, and Beyer's Pond are just a few other spots worth poking around in late summer.
 
Atlantic Salmon- a First for the Rocky River!  Local angler Rocco Serio is off to a great start this steelhead season with several fish under his belt.  But the most amazing catch of all was a fresh hen Atlantic salmon he caught (and subsequently released) while casting a spinner in the Rocky River on Monday (photos below). This is the first record of this species ever from the river and I submitted the information as an official record for the Ohio State University Museum of Biodiversity. The first species record ever from Ohio was a fish that ran up Cold Creek by Sandusky in 2017 and I also submitted that observation as the first official record in Ohio. As far as I am aware the only the specimen verified was caught in western Lake Erie about the same time period. It is not a coincidence that all three were relatively recent as Michigan DNR has had a stocking program for them in recent years in a few select Lake Huron tributaries and harbors and some of these fish will stray elsewhere (for example, I’ve seen several observations from the Detroit and St Clair rivers that connect lakes Huron and Erie). Fish from this stocking program have a clipped adipose fin (the small fleshy fin just up from the tail) to identify them, and both the Rocky River and Cold Creek catches clearly have this fin clip based on the photos. Congratulations to Rocco on his exceptionally rare catch!
 
Fall Family Fishing Fest will be held the Saturday October 14.  Come out and join us for Fall Family Fishing Fest at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation this Saturday October 14th from 10-2:00pm  This event is free and we will have a limited number of fishing poles to loan out, as well as bait.  We will be stocking 600 lbs of channel catfish and 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout at the Ohio & Erie Canal in anticipation of the event. Although anglers of any age can participate, prizes in several categories will be reserved for kids 15 years old and under. And all attendees will be eligible for the grand drawing of a walleye fishing trip with dog Pound Charters (must be present to win).  Thank you to Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders for supporting this great event with grant funds.  If you’d be interested in volunteering with the event please call (216) 206-1010 for details.
 
News From The Cleveland Museum of Natural History Trout Club.  Jerry Darkes from CMNH Trout Club shared that on Wednesday, October 18 at Gormley's Pub, 19500 Center Ridge Rd., Rocky River, OH 44116 "There's a Fly in my Beer" open vise fly tying night- Fall Steelhead Flies, no cost open to everyone. Tying demo by Jerry, come and observe or share a pattern.  Bring tools & materials if you plan to tie. Also, the International Fly Fishing Film Festival returns to Cleveland on Saturday, Nov. 4, 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM, at Cleveland Metroparks Emerald Necklace Marina.  Cost is $30.00 per person and includes all films, door prizes, raffle, light refreshments, cash bar.  More here:  Cleveland International Fly Fishing Film Festival,
 
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

 

Some lucky anglers along the Cleveland lakefront made mixed catches of yellow perch, white perch, channel catfish and sheepshead this week using minnows and worms on the bottom on crappie rigs.


 



Kevin not only caught his first Rocky River steelhead but it is his new personal best (photos courtesy of Kevin Bjerre).





Bob was fishing on the west side of Cleveland and shared of his trip “Started fishing about 9:30, got off the lake at 4PM. Got our 20 perch limit, all were really large fish, at least 1 was 14”. All females. The really surprising thing was we also caught about 9 catfish, and good sized ones too. One took 10 minutes to bring in since the 8lb test I use for perch was right at the edge of being up to the job. Caught all these in 35, then 45, then back to 32’ of water.” (photos courtesy of Bob Janmey).





Ken caught this pair of steelhead on Monday night casting crankbaits at E55th breakwall (photo courtesy of Ken Bradford).




Chuck caught this thick bodied steelhead from the river this week (photo courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).








Rocco had an eventful week on the Rocky River.  Amazingly, he caught the first recorded Atlantic salmon (top 2 photos) from the river on Monday while casting a spinner. See the report highlight above for more on that. He also caught two steelhead and came across a dead female pink salmon (they latter all die after spawning). (photos courtesy of Rocco Serio).