December 28, 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 and at inland locations they are pursuing trout stocked this week (details below).

The Rocky River and other area streams are elevated and muddy from rain with more precipitation in the forecast.  Anglers can keep an eye on flow trends at the links above. Prior to this the steelhead fishing had been very good and when river drop in level and begin to clear again steelhead fishing prospects will be excellent. As the river first begins to clear a top offering will be nickel to quarter size spawn sacks (trout or salmon eggs) in brighter colors such as hot pink and chartreuse. As the water continues to clear, smaller dime size spawn sacks, live minnows, 1/64  or 1/32 oz jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads drifted under floats will all catch plenty of fish.  

Cleveland shoreline areas are still producing some decent catches of walleye after dark, although the bite can be extremely hit or miss from day to day. Perfect 10, Husky Jerk 14 and other shallow running larger stick-style crankbaits are working well. Normally this Cleveland area bite dies off in December as the big schools of walleye head west for winter, but the unseasonably mild weather seems to have delayed this situation. 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. The last courtesy dock on the Rocky River is scheduled to be removed for the season on January 2^nd, although E72nd boat launch has a permanent dock that can be used year around.

A great option while the  streams are flooded are the 3,000 pounds of mixed trout we stocked last week between Wallace (1,400 lbs), Shadow (750 lbs), Ledge (600 lbs), Judge’s (150 lbs) and Ranger (100 lbs) lakes. Most were rainbow trout averaging a pound each although there were plenty of bonus brook, brown, golden rainbow, and even rare tiger (brook x brown hybrid) trout to keep things interesting (see photos below for some examples). A few of the fish were truly of trophy proportions (see a few examples below in the photos). Small marabou or hair jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm, a dime sized ball of Power Bait, and smallish to medium size jigging spoons 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

Proud father Jim shared “Attached is a photo of my son's first steelhead. Caught on 12/20. His name is Franky and he is 9 years old. He caught it on a pink spawn sac under a float.” (photo courtesy of Jim Lingenfelter).

Chris scored a trophy brown trout as well as a big brook trout at a smaller Metroparks lake stocked with trout last week (photos courtesy of Chris).

I recently had the privilege to hit down and talk to Captain Jeff Liskay for an hour for the Great Lakes Dude podcast. We focused on the recovery of the Cuyahoga River, fishing that river, as well as general fishing strategy tips. Give it a listen <here>.