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    October 5, 2017

    Parks | Recreation | Fishing Report | October

    October 5, 2017

    Posted: October 5, 2017
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    As we begin our approach to fall, highlight species targeted by anglers in Cleveland Metroparks includes steelhead, yellow perch, and coho salmon (the latter just stocked in Wallace Lake).  The steelhead bite has been hot along the Cleveland lakefront, and the night walleye bite has been good.  The Rocky River and other area streams remains very low and clear due to lack of rain but that could finally change following an extended dry period as rain is in the weekend forecast.  The return of a cooling trend is a positive thing for steelhead anglers, as well.  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>.

    The hot bite for steelhead has been along the Cleveland lakefront- especially at Edgewater Park.  Steelhead are also showing up off the breakwall at E55th, around the Rocky River marina, and off the breakwall at Wildwood Park.  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, as is drifting a small jig tipped with minnow or maggots under a bobber.  Area streams are extremely low and clear following an extended dry period, although that looks like it could change with rain in the weekend forecast.  Any cool rain and subsequent rise in stream levels will serve to entice some steelhead into the streams.

    In addition to steelhead- largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, panfish (rock bass and sunfish), freshwater drum and northern pike can be found along the Cleveland shoreline in early fall and can be caught on offerings such as tube jigs, crankbaits, dropshot rigs and live bait.  Nice catches of walleye (15-20 inches) have been found in water from only 16-24 feet deep by Cleveland area.  Shore based walleye anglers are doing best at dusk and after dark.  Walleye anglers offshore of Cleveland have been reporting outstanding catches in 60-70- feet of water.  White bass and ywllow perch fishing has been slow lately.  The ODNR Division of Wildlife weekly Lake Erie fishing report can be viewed <here>.   Anglers/boaters can view current lake conditions off Cleveland at the following link: <City Of Cleveland Water Intake Crib Cam>.

    Anglers at Metroparks inland lakes and ponds are catching catfish, largemouth bass, and panfish.  Wallace Lake, Ledge Lake, Shadow Lake, and Beyer's Pond are a few spots worth poking around in late summer and early fall.  Wallace Lake was just stocked with catchable size coho salmon and a few rainbow trout this week (see highlight below for details).

    Coho Salmon Pilot Project *UPDATE:  SALMON HAVE BEEN STOCKED!*    Due to the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund doing well I have coordinated the purchase of coho salmon (1-2 pounds each) for release into Wallace Lake for a put-and-take fishery.  The fish, which are raised by a private Ohio fish farm (Homestead Farms), look similar to a rainbow trout but have subtle differences in spotting (larger and more irregular shaped spots on most fish), as well as a different look to the head and tail.  See several photos of the salmon stocked below.  On Wednesday October 4 we stocked 172 fish-  mostly coho salmon but a few rainbow trout were mixed in.  I plan to do a second stocking in the near future- possibly on Wednesday October 11 (stay tuned to the fishing report for updates).  Initial reports over the past day since the fish were released are that the salmon are biting more fickle than the trout, which is OK by me so that the fish can pose a slight challenge to anglers and last in the lake a bit longer.  The salmon hooked so far have been on small spoons and spinners.  There is a clearly posted limit of one salmon/trout per angler daily at the lake.  I request that anglers report their catches (ideally with photos) to me so that I can track the success of this project-  thank you!  

    Fall Family Fishing Fest on Saturday October 14.    Come out and join us for Fall Family Fishing Fest at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation this Saturday October 14th from 9-1:00pm  This event is free and we will have a limited number of fishing poles to loan out, as well as courtesy bait.  The location is stocked with rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish in the days leading up to the event.  Although anglers of any age can participate, prizes in several categories will be reserved for kids 15 years old and under.  Thank you to Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders for supporting this great event with $2,500 in grant funds.  More details here:  <Fall Family Fishing Fest>.

    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 Ben on catching his first steelhead ever at Edgewater Park on Tuesday!  His proud father Pat also caught one on a Little Cleo spoon (photos courtesy of Pat Jurco).



    Ava oversees the release of one of the temporarily captive steelhead on display following the Steelhead Expo on Saturday.  Thanks to all who came out for this event which had a record-breaking attendance of 1,371 folks throughout the day (photo courtesy of Dale Edmonds).



    Mikale caught (and released) this impressive northern pike at E55th Marina this week on a perch colored crankbait.  He was targeting bass.  He did not measure the fish but I estimate that it would be in the 36" class (photo courtesy of Mikale Mosack).



    I briefly stopped by Edgewater Park on Tuesday right after Andy Young had a great fight from this 28" buck steelie.  He hooked it on a green and silver Little Cleo spoon on a brand new spinning rod.  Way to break in that new rod, Andy!



    The Edgewater bite was hot this week!  Adam caught this chromer on Tuesday on a Little Cleo spoon (photo courtesy of Adam Davenport).




    Brad was casting glow in the dark spoons off the shore at Edgewater Park after dark on Wednesday and made an admirable mixed catch-  three keeper walleye and a steelhead (photos courtesy of Brad McMichael).



    George, from Mantua, caught this 30", 12.5 lb, carp in the Chagrin River at South Chagrin Reservation on September 28.  He was fly fishing near Chagrin Boulevard when the bronze bruiser took his "McCabe Crayfish" pattern fly and gave him quite a fight (photo courtesy of George McCabe).



    George from Lodi shares "The resident fish are returning with the cooler temps returning. 13.8 lbs, 32" off Cleveland. Purple spoon, black eye. Wife caught a similar fish, 13.2 lbs. What a fantastic fishery we are blessed with. Note my trusty fishing dog, lower left corner."  The trophy walleye was released (photo courtesy of George Flanik).



    David was one of the first to catch a coho salmon stocked at Wallace Lake on Wednesday.  His fish hit a Mepps spinner (photo courtesy of David Wagner).





    Tony recently had an epiphany-  that the Cuyahoga River is quite the quality fishing hole!  He shared "Attached are a few pictures from the past two weekends for the blog (all taken on the Cuyahoga) with a bonus Cuyahoga river walleye!  Yes, I'm as shocked as the next person considering I had always been told there were walleye in the Cuyahoga river but this was a total first for me. I was as amazed to catch a walleye as the people were who were gathered around me.  I remember a gentleman said to me, 'is that a walleye??  Up this far??'  I am absolutely amazed at the diverse amount of species that are in the Cuyahoga river and the best part is it's only 10 minutes from my house.  So far I've caught about 8 smallmouth, 1 walleye, and 2 sheephead and I also had no idea that there were sheephead in the river. I guess I had never thought of the Cuyahoga River as being a viable fishing resource considering the less than desirable image of the river and it's illustrious history as an industrial waste dump.  For years in my travels around the area I've been asked my many fellow anglers and passersby if I ever fish the Cuyahoga and my answer was always, 'well in the winter when the Rock locks up and I'm really desperate, I'll try the route 82 dam, but other than that, no way.'  I can now say for sure that the past 2 weekends have completely changed my view of the Cuyahoga.  And the best part is the river is so long and there are so many great places to fish, that I have yet to run into anyone else, so the peace and quiet is a welcome bonus.  Well with the exception of the railroad tracks but I don't mind watching the trains at all.  The blog from a few weeks back (the kid with the 2 northern pike and some smallies) got me interested and the rest is history." (photos courtesy of Tony Cilluffo).
     




    Eric and a buddy also shared a Cuyahoga River success story this week.  He observed "Me and my friend Mick catching largemouth with a silver crankbait in the Cuyahoga River and caught a catfish on a tube fishing for bass on the boat on lake Erie".  Here is a recent <article> about the rebound of the fish community in the river (photo courtesy of Eric Fernandez).



    Andrew was another of many anglers who had success at Edgewater this week.  He took this chromer on a blue and silver spoon on Monday (photo courtesy of Andrew Sowinski).





    More success stories from Edgewater Park this week!  Travis landed several steelhead on a Firetiger colored Little Cleo spoon on Tuesday (photos courtesy of Travis Males).








    On Wednesday afternoon we stocked 172 fish in Wallace Lake-  mostly catchable size coho salmon of 1-2 lbs (as pictured above) along with a handful of rainbow trout.  The trout are already biting well but the salmon have proved more fickle-  with the coho caught so far taking small spoons and spinners.  Since this is a pilot program which is testing success of these fish please report any success back to me, especially if you have photos to share.  I plan to stock a second batch of these fish next week.  Please note the special regulations of one salmon or trout per day through December 15th.









    Mark has done a great job of reporting from Edgewater Park the past few weeks (thanks, Mark!) and experienced success along with buddies Brandon (caught his first two steelies ever above- including one slipping out of his grip in the photo above!), Tilson, Bill, and Thumper the dog.  A good time was had by all in this group on the concrete pad. Mark reports that spoons, spinners, and minnows or jig/maggot suspended a few feet under a bobber all accounted for some of the steelhead this week (photos courtesy of Mark Forbush).




    Mike has been catching steelhead almost daily at Edgewater Park, too.  His favorite offering is a purple and black Little Cleo spoon (photos courtesy of Mike Reed).







    The private vendor who runs the marina at Cleveland Metroparks Wildwood Park offers charter fishing trips.  This week walleye fishing was hot and yellow perch fishing was fair (photos courtesy of Wildwood Marina).



    A cool contrasting perspective of some common carp taken from a bridge by the Rocky River Nature Center (photo courtesy of Donna Leech).



    Spotted at the Wallace Lake coho salmon stocking on Wednesday.  I dig this fellow's wheels!  Maybe he can start the "Hell's Anglers, Wallace Lake Chapter"?  :)

    Note: The fishing report is updated monthly in June, July, and August and weekly every other month


    ***Note: All photo submissions must first complete the Cleveland Metroparks photo waiver.***


    2023 Cleveland Metroparks Registered Fishing Guides
    (name, company, contact)

    • #23-001 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, jeffliskay@gmail.com (440) 781-7536
    • #23-002 Monte Casey, The Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064, www.steelheadguide.com
    • #23-003 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, alleygrabs@gmail.com, (216) 235-5056
    • #23-004 Mike Soots, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, mikesootsm@gmail.com, (330) 717-2492 
    • #23-005 Nate Miller, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com (440) 796-6105
    • #23-006 Jon DelVecchio, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, jondelvecchio@gmail.com, (412) 335-4363
    • #23-007 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, wildwood16317@gmail.com, (724) 433-2315
    • #23-008 Jim Lampros, jlampros2@gmail.com, (216) 513-6011
    • #23-009 Justin Pribanic, Chagrin River Outfitters, jpribanic@gmail.com (724) 799-5011
    • #23-010 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, whatthatvisedo@gmail.com (724) 841-1564
    • #23-011 Aaron Chine, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, chinetatt@yahoo.com (330) 610-2574
    • #23-012 Rob Pitts, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, robpittsflyfishing@gmail.com (440) 622-8717 
    More information on Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Guide Permit requirements, including the permit application, you may check the following link: <Fishing Guide Permit Program>

    Learn how you can support recreation opportunities through a donation to the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.
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