***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, smallmouth bass, carp, panfish, and channel catfish. 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 inland lake/pond anglers are primarily pursuing largemouth bass, channel catfish and panfish.
The early steelhead bite has been a bit stale with the low water, but rain and cooler weather is in the forecast which will help improve the situation. 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. The surprising number of stray pink salmon turning up has continued and I offer more info on that in the highlight below. These same areas are also producing a few walleye after dark as the temperature cools, as well, with Perfect 10 and other shallow running stick-style crankbaits working well.
Some fair catches of white perch and yellow perch 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.
In addition to early returning steelhead, anglers are pursuing a mix of warmwater species in the Rocky, Chagrin and Cuyahoga rivers. Smallmouth bass are the most sought after among them and bite best at the heads of deeper pools. A dark olive or brown tube jig 3-4" length (used with tube jig head, ned rig or drop shotted) is one of the best producers of bass in the river. "Smallies" also bite well on live bait, including minnows, crayfish, and leeches. Channel catfish, common carp and panfish are among a host of other species also available in local streams.
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.
What’s the Deal with all the Pink Salmon this Year? Anybody who has spent time on our streams this early fall, or on local fishing social media pages for that matter, have likely heard about pink salmon in our streams. As an angler who started steelhead fishing in the mid 1980’s personally I have seen documentation of more pink salmon in local streams so far this season than all those previous seasons combined! And the Ohio record for the species was recently broken in 2021. So what’s the deal with these pink salmon? They are not stocked locally, or anywhere in the Great Lakes system for that matter. They are the smallest and earliest running of the five species of Pacific salmon, all of which die after spawning. In our streams they usually run 1-2 pounds and are around in September into October. They’ve had a stronghold for several decades now in the St Marys River system between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Ontario, Canada, and some likely stray down south from there. In years they do better up north it’s reasonable to expect more strays down here, and per Michigan DNR colleague Heather Hettinger they are also seeing the species expanding its range into Michigan’s Lake Michigan in greater numbers in recent years.
Another possibility is straying from the Canadian side of Lake Erie. Recently, retired Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources fish biologist Larry Halyk informed me that there has been a Lake Erie population of pink salmon spawning in a few streams in the Long Point area for some years now. And a small amount of natural reproduction could be occurring in our local streams here and there, too, especially with more of the species now present. Whatever the case it has been a trend that has anglers intrigued and it will be interesting to observe if this trend continues into the future.
Fall Family Fishing Fest will be held Saturday October 14. Come out and join us for Fall Family Fishing Fest at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation on 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.
Hinckley Lake Drawdown Plans. In a long anticipated project Hinckley Lake has been closed for an extended dam repair and dredging project. The lake is not scheduled to reopen until 2026. More information is available in this
<article>.
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
Ahvianna and her grandfather Jose had a fun day at E55th breakwall yesterday catching this big channel catfish (photo courtesy of Bill Mantle).
Wes caught by walleye from the rocks at the Edgewater boat ramps area (photo courtesy of Wes Bombik).
Josh scored a chrome steelhead trolling by the Rocky River marina (photo courtesy of Josh Hans).
Mike caught a nice river smallmouth bass on a smaller spinnerbait (photo courtesy of Mike Sekerak).
Wes and a buddy worked to make a limit catch of yellow perch off Cleveland, along with a bonus bruiser channel catfish (photos courtesy of Wes Janke).
Jarred caught a female pink salmon this week (photo courtesy of Jarred Bugg).
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Another pink salmon from the Rocky River. More on pink salmon in local streams in the report above (photo courtesy of Maximus Madden).