December 14, 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. We plan to conduct the first (of two) rounds of winter trout stocking in our lakes and ponds early next week.

River conditions are very good following a good bump in flow this week and the weekend forecast for anglers remains excellent. I have received reports of good numbers of steelhead caught from all our local streams this week, among them the Rocky, Chagrin and Cuyahoga rivers. 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. 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. Anglers should make note that the fish cleaning station at Gordon Park/E72nd St boat ramp has been winterized and will be closed until spring.

For anglers interested in trout, the first (of two) rounds of winter stockings in our lakes and ponds is scheduled for early next week. Additionally, 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 (see photos below).  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 md@clevelandmetroparks.com .

Tight Lines,

Mike

Congratulations to Lorenzo!  On Monday he shared ”Got this steelie on the east branch rocky river with my fishing buddy Kitsune (dog in the picture). Caught it on eggs and bobber.  This was my first steelhead.” (photo courtesy of Lorenzo Toscano).

When the water was elevated in the rivers Chris had a good time in a few smaller creeks.  He shared “Had a couple firsts with these catches on small creeks! First time landing a fish using an indicator rig and two trailing flies.  I copied the setup from the fly fishing speaker at the Metroparks steelhead expo back in September.  Also first time landing a fish on a dry fly that I had used as an indicator. Fish was chasing minnows swimming near my indicator and I happen to be in the right place right time.  Rocky River fishing is such a blast!  Both fish were caught in 3.5 feet of very slow/still water near the bank in both dirty and clear water conditions.”(photos courtesy of Chris Ligan).