March 20, 2025

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is updated weekly on Thursdays from September-May***  Local rivers are offering good fishing conditions and steelhead are being caught. Rain today and into the weekend could change that although it will depend on how much we receive. To monitor the most recent river water level and temperature you can check the following link: <Rocky River Main Branch flow gage data>(Opens in a new window) <Rocky River East Branch flow gage data>(Opens in a new window) <Chagrin River flow gage data>(Opens in a new window) <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>(Opens in a new window). (Note: The flow gage on the Rocky River Main Branch is temporarily down due to an upcoming bridge project and Cleveland Metroparks and USGS are in ongoing communication seeking a workable interim solution. The East Branch flow data above will still give anglers a good idea of the trend in river flow in the meantime). Anglers are pursuing stocked trout in the East Branch Rocky River as well as at the 5 lakes and ponds stocked in winter among other species.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions at this time although rain today and into the weekend could adversely affect conditions. Steelhead are being caught this week by anglers drifting brightly colored dime size spawn sacks, smaller marabou/hair jigs (1/32-1/64 oz) tipped with a few maggots, egg mimicking beads, live or salted emerald shiner minnows, and plastics that mimic minnows and nymphs under floats. For fly fishers, egg patterns, streamers (those that mimic minnows but also wooley bugger style), and beadhead nymphs drifted through not only the holes but also faster water with some depth are good bets. And, of course, casting and retrieving spoons (ie Little Cleos and KO Wobblers), spinners (ie RoosterTail and Vibrax), and medium size crankbaits that mimic minnows or shad will also account for a share of the spring steelhead. By almost all accounts this has been a subpar season in terms of steelhead numbers, and I chalk that up to very low flows all fall followed by a harsh winter. But this is the time of year when we should be seeing noticeable increases in the numbers of fresh steelhead migrating into the streams with each high water event. The run of smallmouth bass and white suckers are also just beginning and will continue to get better into spring. 

Anglers are enjoying open water fishing again for the remaining trout stocked throughout the winter, as well as panfish and largemouth bass.  Trout typically go on a feeding binge after ice melt due to a freshening of the water in the formerly ice capped lakes (causing an influx of dissolved oxygen and water temperature increase).  Throughout winter a total of 6,500 lbs of mixed trout were stocked between Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Judge’s, and Ranger lakes.   Small to medium size spoons and spinners, a dime size ball of PowerBait on a bare hook and fished about 18” from a sinker on the bottom, and small jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm below a float/bobber are just a few proven offerings for stocked trout.

The East Branch Rocky River in Mill Stream run Reservation was stocked with the first bunch (900 lbs) of catchable size rainbow trout on Monday. Fish were released at the parking area off the parkway just north of Rt 82/Royalton road, as well as off the bridges to the Strongsville Wildlife Area, The Chalet, and the low ford that crosses the river just south of Wallace Lake. The covered bridge spot was not stocked because the ground was too soft from recent construction work and rain. Trout will be released into this stretch of river roughly every other week until the end of April. 

To clarify trout limit by location (all trout species combined), the daily limit is 3 trout at Wallace, Ranger, Ledge and Judge’s lakes.  The daily limit is 5 trout at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal.  For steelhead/rainbow trout in the rivers, harbors and Lake Erie this time of year the daily limit is 2 with minimum size of 12”.

In spring there are a variety of fishing opportunities along the Cleveland shoreline. Largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, steelhead, yellow perch, and sunfish can all be found in area harbors and breakwalls. This fishery will only get better as water temperature increases further in the coming weeks.

10^th Annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is coming up on Saturday, March 29!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is back this year this Saturday March 29th. And we are celebrating 10 years! 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 $62K 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 ($35 vs $40) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online. More info and register online here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby>.(Opens in a new window)

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 take part in that for a $10 onsite donation. The lunch features brats, hot dogs, special recipe baked beans, potato salad, grilled onion/pepper toppings, choice of chips, fresh baked cookies, and 10^th anniversary sheet cake (the latter while it lasts). 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 a few dozen packages (they are still coming in) totaling $9.5K in value and counting so don’t miss out!

A big thank you to our current event supporters, as follows. Westside Toyota is a Supporting Sponsor ($1,000) and Friend of the event level sponsors ($250) EnviroScience, Cleveland’s Raw Woods (flooring specialists), Jason’s Automotive, and Kevin Kilbane (Kevin donated $500). Special thank you to Church of Perch Facebook page and Brian Kich for donating $100 each towards the effort. Jeff May of M3 Technologies has designed and donated 3 stunning custom stainless steel trophies again this year (see photo below). Contributors to the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders raffle (that I have in-hand currently and in no particular order) include River Roe Tackle, Furball Custom Baits, VooDoo Custom Tackle, Shine’s Bait & Tackle, Cuyahoga Falls Parks & Recreation Department, ASG Custom Rods, Conneaut Creek Fishing Lodge, Erie Outfitters, Masthead Brewing Co, Lake Erie Kayak Fishing with Chuck Earls, Cast Cray Outdoors, Olmsted Laser Wash, Lamiglas, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa (Parma location), Heirloom Barber Shop, Limestone Bait Co., Lake Erie BoatTronics, Streamside Adventures, Bayside Provisions, Chagrin River Outfitters, Backpacker Shop, Jennifer Grieser, Randy Gerrick, Matthew Brady, Roger Berglund, and Fred Jersey. Raffle packages compiled to date can be viewed <here>(Opens in a new window). Please consider patronizing these businesses/groups that support local fishing!

USGS Rocky River Main Branch Flow Gage is Temporarily Unavailable. Due to the upcoming bridge project the USGS flow gage on the Main Branch of the Rocky River is temporarily out of commission. Cleveland Metroparks and USGS are in ongoing communication to seek a workable interim solution. Stay tuned to this report for updates on that. In the meantime, there is an East Branch rocky river flow gage in Strongsville (link at beginning of this report) that will still give anglers a good idea of the trend in river flow.

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 md@clevelandmetroparks.com(Opens in a new window).

Tight Lines,

Mike

Sophia hugs a rainbow trout she caught fishing the East Branch of the Rocky River with her grandfather this week (photo courtesy of Pete Surace).

Vinny (right) and his buddy show off their trout catch from Ledge Lake. They were adaptive in their offerings, catching 3 trout on a Panther Martin spinner and one each on a spoon and jig tipped with maggots (photo courtesy of Brian DiGioia).

Carter shows of a heck of a white crappie he caught at Wallace Lake (photo courtesy of John Lusnek).

Des displays a Rocky River steelhead. She calls fishing the river her therapy (photo courtesy of Des Deming).

On Sunday, Nate (pictured) and his brother in law caught 5 rainbow trout at Ohio & Erie Canal (photo courtesy of Nate Svoboda).

Dan caught this bruiser golden rainbow trout (25” and 6.2 lbs) casting a Kastmaster spoon at Ledge Lake on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Dan).

Kylie has been doing great at Wallace Lake lately, scoring a brook trout mixed in with the rainbow trout she has been catching. She has her sights set on a golden rainbow trout next! (photos courtesy of Kylie Parks).

Jason’s wish has come true: “Steelhead caught using fly rod in Euclid Creek on March 18. First fish ever caught using a fly rod. Hope this makes it into the fishing report. Thanks!“ (photo courtesy of Jason Lundquist).

Dexter displays a Wallace Lake rainbow trout (photo courtesy of Dexter Butram).

Dale shows of a tiger trout caught in Shadow Lake (photo courtesy of Dale).

On Tuesday, Slade caught 3 rainbow trout while fishing Shadow Lake with his grandmother. Yellow PowerBait did the trick for him.

Tony sent in “I would like to share this photo of the beautiful Steelhead I caught out of the Rocky on a Fine Eye Minnow spoon” (photo courtesy of Tony Modic).

Chris shared “I can tell it’s spring when they’re eating my stoneflies. Hahaha.” (photo courtesy of Chris Ligan).

Victor scored his two trout limit in the East Branch Rocky River on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Victor).

Jim and Wes both caught beautiful brook trout in Metroparks lakes this week (photos courtesy of Jim Giraldo and Wes Janke).

We are not the only “fishers” on the rivers in spring! Here a river otter feasts on a white sucker in the Cuyahoga River (photo courtesy of Karen Lakus).

The courtesy docks are in at E72nd/Gordon Park boat ramps. Edgewater docks are not in yet and the Emerald Necklace Marina docks on the Rocky River will not go in until the area is dredged about a month from now.

Jeff May of M3 Technologies (a Cleveland metal working facility) designed, constructed, and donated these one of a kind works-of-art trophies for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby again this year (2^nd year in a row). They are stainless steel polished to a mirror finish and colors are powder coated. The pink is new this year and being a perfectionist Jeff went through 3 different pinks before he settled on this one- appropriately named “Malibu Barbie”. They are bigger than they look here and need to be seen at the event to be appreciated! Jeff and his grandson will be fishing in the event together.

Mark your calendars - the 10^th annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby fundraiser is coming up on Saturday, March 29! More info and online registration <here>.(Opens in a new window) If you are interested in sponsoring the event please get in touch with me.

The parkway bridge by the Rocky River Nature Center is shut down for rehabilitation starting through August 2025. This is on the Main Branch of the river immediately north of the split into the east and west branch. Above is detour information for the area.

#25-001 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, jeffliskay@gmail.com (440) 781-7536

#25-002 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, alleygrabs@gmail.com (216) 235-5056

#25-003 Jim Lingenfelter, Wild Ohio Outdoors Guide Service, jimbobber86@aol.com, (440) 731-9160

#25-004 Monte Casey, Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064 www.steelheadguide.com(Opens in a new window)

#25-005 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, wildwood16317@gmail.com (724) 433-2315

#25-006 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, whatthatvisedo@gmail.com (724) 841-1564

#25-007 Nate Miller, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com(Opens in a new window) (440) 796-6105