March 21, 2024

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is updated weekly on Thursdays from September-May***  Rivers are just dropping into nice shape for steelhead anglers and the weather forecast indicates conditions should remain very good into the weekend. Anglers can monitor the most recent river conditions at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data> <Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Cleveland Metroparks stocked a second round of 900 pounds of rainbow trout on Monday with this group all released into the East Branch Rocky River and Wallace Lake (details below).
 
The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions and the weather forecast indicates very good steelhead fishing opportunities will continue into the weekend. Dime to nickel size spawn sacks (trout or salmon eggs in chartreuse, hot pink, orange and white mesh), live minnows, 1/64  or 1/32 oz marabou jigs tipped with maggots, soft plastic minnows/nymphs/tubes on a small jig, and salmon egg mimicking beads are all working well. Fly fishers are dead drifting egg patterns, beadhead nymph and streamer patterns under strike indicators. There are a mix of pre-spawn, spawning and post spawn fish present in the streams, and they are well distributed throughout the watersheds. Whether or not the bulk of the fresh fish have already come in earlier than usual due to the mild winter is yet to be determined, but is certainly possible.
 
Lake-run smallmouth bass and white suckers are also beginning to migrate up the Rocky, Chagrin and Cuyahoga rivers on their spawning runs a bit earlier than usual. Smallmouth bass will strike artificial lures similar to steelhead- such as medium size crankbaits, spinners, tube jigs (dark brown and olive are good) as well as marabou jigs under floats and streamer flies that imitate gobies, ,minnows and crayfish.  Spring offers a great opportunity to score the "silver and bronze", which is catching a steelhead and lake-run smallmouth bass in the same day, often from the same pool on the same offering! Lake-run "smallies" are typically available in the streams until early June. For anglers interested in targeting suckers, which some folks utilize into fish patty recipes, a worm on a single hook fished on the river bottom works well, as can smaller nymph patterns on the fly rod.
 
On Monday morning we stocked a second 900 pounds of rainbow trout, with all fish this week going into the East Branch Rocky River. The fish were stocked at five locations between Rt 82 (Royalton Road) and Wallace Lake. Unfortunately, the popular covered bridge spot will not be stocked this spring due to an ongoing major bridge project. We plan to stock again early next week. Additionally, trout stocked throughout the winter remain at Wallace, Ledge and Shadow lakes. The Ohio Division of Wildlife plans to stock rainbow trout (traditionally around 500 fish) at Shadow Lake on Friday March 22^nd, as well.
 
Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back on Saturday March 30th and ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year and scheduled for Saturday March 30th. Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit) 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 (this event has raised $49K since 2015).  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! You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($30 vs $35) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online. More info and register online here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby>.
 
This event is rain or shine and if river fishing conditions are poor at the time of the event then the competition will also be opened up to trout at Wallace Lake. Registration includes a tasty hot lunch but if you choose not to participate in the event we still welcome you to the OCBS raffle (you do not need to be registered to take part in the raffle). If you are not registered but still want lunch, you can do that for a $10 onsite donation. A big thank you to Moe from Slyman’s Restaurant for generously providing all the brats, hot dogs and fresh buns for the event cookout, which will also include special recipe baked beans, grilled onion/pepper toppings, choice of chips, fresh baked cookies and beverage. Thank you to Westside Toyota for providing bottled water for the event.  Raffle tickets will be sold onsite and will be cash only. The raffle will have an amazing array of 37 packages (most, but not all, are a diversity of fishing related items) totaling $8.9K in value so don’t miss out! A full summary of the packages and respective donors can be viewed here: <2024 Raffle Packages>
 
A big thank you to our current event supporters, as follows. Westside Toyota is a Supporting Sponsor and repeat sponsors Jason’s Automotive Inc, Point Blank Hunts, Erie Outfitters Dog Pound Charters, EnviroScience and Kevin Kilbane.  Joining us as first time sponsors are M3 Technologies and Katterhenry Investment group of NEST Capital.  Contributors to the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders raffle include Shine’s Bait & Tackle, Erie Outfitters, River Roe Tackle, VooDoo Custom Tackle, Keyed Up Performance, Cuyahoga Falls Parks & Recreation Department, ASG Custom Rods, Majestic Reels, Untamed Fishing on YouTube, Conneaut Creek Fishing Lodge, La Caza Tequila, Lamiglas, Furball Custom Baits, Lake Erie Kayak Fishing with Chuck Earls, Cast Cray Outdoors, Olmsted Laser Wash, Cleveland Fishing Company, Inside the Great Outdoors radio show,  Ohio Fishing Adventures, Church of Perch, Capt. Jeff Liskay, Jerry Darkes Dr Ken Stein and Richard Angelone.  Please consider patronizing these businesses/groups that support local fishing!  
 
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
 

The Short family got their 3 person limit of rainbow trout in the east Branch Rocky River. Jeremiah noted that they usually use PowerBait with an egg sinker and 18 inch leader off the bottom, but this time they had to increase that lead to 2.5 foot to get them to bite. Orange was their best color of several they tried (photo courtesy of Jeremiah Short).





Vinny and his buddy found success with the trout at Wallace lake this week (photos courtesy of Brian DiGioia).


 

Brad shared “I caught this Personal Record 29" Steelie fly fishing on March 13 in the Rocky River! Was my first day of fishing this year. Was my 2nd Steelie of the day (also caught a nice 24"). Luckily there was another fisherman (Stan) nearby to get this picture so I could get the beast back in the water quickly. Stan was fishing with a friend that flew in from Montana to fish our Steelies. He was amazed at our ‘world class’ fishing available to us here! I love our Metroparks. Living a couple blocks away, I hike and bike year round in the park. And of course fish Steelies in season!” (photo courtesy of Brad Elles).





Here is a good comparison between two sucker species that run up our streams from Lake Erie every spring.  The more common white sucker, on top, gets up to about 20” and has notably smaller scales. They attain a weight of around 3 lbs or so. On the bottom is a silver redhorse sucker. Notice the larger scales. Also they get much heavier- up to 10 lbs or so. They are sometimes confused with carp, but have a much shorter dorsal fin and no “moustache” barbells in the corners of the mouth like a carp. Both suckers are native (photos courtesy of Michael Weilacher).




Ron shows off a sleek 31” hen steelhead he caught at the Rocky River boat ramps (photo courtesy of Ron Kellogg).





Mike has been doing well on trout at Wallace Lake since switching to lighter gear. The brown trout hit a Little Cleo spoon that was modified with a rubber minnow as a trailer on the hook (photos courtesy of Mike Simon).





Mark from Missouri shared a nice steelhead and smallmouth bass he got during his fishing visit. This smallmouth looks to be a resident river fish to me, although some early run fish from Lake Erie have showed up recently, as well (photo courtesy of Mark Dessieux).





Corey took the family dog on a trip to Wallace Lake to serve as the “fish inspector” for catches such as this crappie! (photo courtesy od Corey Butram).



 
Scott and a friend made a several day trip from Ontario, Canada, to fish our streams for steelhead last week. They bopped around and caught fish in several of our streams, including the Chagrin River. The fat fresh chromer above was their top fish from the visit (photos courtesy of Scott Cornell).




MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!  The Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby fundraiser is coming back on Saturday March 30^th.  Thank you to Supporting Sponsor Westside Toyota as well as multi-year supporters Jason’s Automotive Inc, Point Blank Hunts, Erie Outfitters, EnviroScience, Dog Pound Charters and Kevin Kilbane, as well as first time sponsors M3 Technologies and Katterhenry Investment Group of NEST Capital! Thank you to Moe from Slyman’s Restaurant for generously providing all the brats, hot dogs and fresh buns for the event cookout. Also a big thank you to our list of Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders raffle donors. We have a whopping 37 raffle packages valued at $8.9K that are summarized with the respective donors here:  <2024 Raffle Packages>.  More info and register online here:  <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby>.