August 2019

In late-summer, highlight species targeted around Cleveland Metroparks include walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, panfish, channel catfish, and common carp. 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>.  Please note: the Fishing Blog is updated once a month in June, July, and August and back to weekly in September.  

The walleye fishing off Cleveland has slowed somewhat this month, but this year it's all relative and it has still been very good for offshore anglers.  Limits have been reported for folks trolling spoons, crawler harnesses and crankbaits.  Also effective is casting and slowly retrieving a weight forward spinner like an Erie Dearie tipped with a whole or half nightcrawler.  The biggest schools off Cleveland have been in approximately 40-55 foor of water with fish typically suspended 30 feet down.  But that's not to say folks aren't still catching their fish in shallower water off Lakewood and Bratenahl, and some anglers still making some catches from shore at E55th breakwall and Edgewater Park after dark, as well.  It's just a bigger challenge to round out a limit those ways.  With the great walleye hatch from this year factored in, we can expect great walleye fishing for at least the next decade, if not longer.

On any given outing in summer the Cleveland Harbor behind the breakwall can produce a mixed bag of largemouth bass, rock bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, catfish, freshwater drum and sunfish species, as well as walleye.  Offerings such as tube jigs and live minnows appeal to the widest variety of species.  Yellow perch reports have been all but non-existent lately, possibly because everyone has been focusing on the great walleye fishing.  The ODNR Division of Wildlife weekly Lake Erie fishing report can be viewed <here>.  

Smallmouth bass are typically found in the deeper, rocky pools of the river during the day in summer, and often move to the heads of such pools in the early morning and evening hours to feed actively.  A dark olive or brown tube jig of 3-4" length is one of the best producers of bass in the river.  "Smallies" also bite well on live bait (ie: minnow, crayfish, and leeches), lures (ie: spinners and minnow plugs), and flies (ie: crayfish patterns, Clouser minnows, dark brown or olive sculpin or muddler minnow patterns).  Note: on May 1 the Lake Erie zone smallmouth/largemouth bass combined bag limit changed to 1 bass/day of 18 inches minimum size.  The zone includes Lake Erie waters and (locally) the Rocky River to Detroit Road bridge, Cuyahoga River to Harvard Road bridge, and Chagrin River to Route 283 bridge.  Rock bass are also present in the same river areas as smallmouth, and can be caught using the same offerings listed above.

Channel catfish can be found in deeper holes along the Rocky, Cuyahoga and Chagrin rivers too.  Good numbers of channel catfish stocked in May also remain to be caught at Wallace Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area, as well as several smaller Metroparks waters.  A total of 1,600 pounds of farm raised catfish were stocked on June 26 and 28 and the fish were distributed as follows:  Shadow Lake (900 lbs), Ledge Lake (250 lbs), Oxbow Lagoon (250 lbs), Ranger Lake (100 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs).  The fish averaged 2-3 lbs each but ranged from 1-8 lbs.  .  Catfishing is usually best during lower light conditions using baits such as nightcrawlers, minnows, chicken liver, shrimp and processed dough baits.

Tackle busting common carp are found in all of our rivers and are willing biters during the heat of summer.  Carp can be caught on canned corn, carp dough baits, worms or crayfish tails.  The key to fishing for either carp or catfish is fishing on (or very near) the river/lake bottom.  In addition, freshwater drum (sheepshead), white perch, and bullhead catfish are also common catches in the northern river reaches (north of Morley Ford) in summer.  For the angling generalist, any of the species thus far can be effectively targeted by fishing a nightcrawler worm right on the river bottom with a sinker.

Summer means family fishing time for many folks, and panfish are tailor made for a leisurely picnic and fishing outing.  Buegill, crappie and various other other sunfish species can be taken with a number of offerings, but a waxworm or redworm on a small hook (or tiny jig) suspended under a stick float and fished around a weedbed or shoreline brush is always a good choice.  Wallace Lake, Shadow Lake, and Lakefront Reservation marinas/harbors are just a few of many places in the Park to wet a line for various panfish species.  Largemouth bass fishing is often best in Wallace and Hinckley lakes, although bass can be found in most park waters.

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

Haylie caught a nice walleye at E55th breakwall (photo courtesy of Sam Horn).



A young man landed this colorful pumpkinseed sunfish at Judge's Lake.




Chuck has been fishing for bass along the rocks at Edgewater Park and scored a surprise walleye too (photo courtesy of Chuck Naujkos).



Brad was fishing the East Branch Rocky River and was shocked when his son hooked this very nice bass!  Dad is holding it for him here (photo courtesy of Brad Gardner).





Thomas reports "The Emerald Necklace Marina is a hot spot for catfish at night.  Been having a blast.  Used raw shrimp and just started nailing them"  (photos courtesy of Thomas Banker).



Nadia displays a freshwater drum, aka sheepshead, from E72nd (photo courtesy of Moe Slyman).



Jeff was targeting walleye off Cleveland and was pleasantly surprised to score this big channel catfish.  Large male channel catfish often get a slate blue hue, leading some anglers to mistake them for blue catfish, which are not found in Lake Erie (photo courtesy of Jeff Deluca).



Speaking of incidental catches while walleye fishing, John landed this bruiser sheepshead off Cleveland (photo courtesy of John Burkhart).




Ross was targeting bass in the Rocky River when this nice channel catfish walloped his spinnerbait.  Are we seeing theme here yet? (photos courtesy of Ross Bailey).





East 55th is offering up plenty of catfish, sheepshead and white perch lately, with some walleye and yellow perch mixed in.



Blake reported the Rocky River by Lagoon Dam on the East Branch was loaded with channel catfish recently (photo courtesy of Blake Rickman).




Jarred has been successful pursuing bass at E55th marina and catfish in the Cuyahoga River lately (photos courtesy of Jarred Bugg).




John recently reported a personal best sheepshead as well as nice catch of walleye after dark at E55th breakwall (photos courtesy of John Winters).




Greg caught a sheepshead in the Rocky River while targeting smallmouth bass recently (photos courtesy of Greg Palka).










John routinely illustrates the AMAZING fish diversity that can be found kayak fishing the CLE shoreline of Lake Erie (photos courtesy of John Proch).




The fish sampling at Day in the Life of Tinker's Creek this past Saturday was fun.





Liz has been sampling lots of fishing this summer- from Lake Erie walleye, to inland lake largemouth bass (that bruiser pictured was her first bass ever!), to a surprise longnose gar caught while targeting muskie.







For my birthday my girlfriend surprised me with a trip to Montauk, NY, to fish for ocean striped bass.  And we were not disappointed!  These fish were delicious, too.  Did you know that you can bring frozen fish as an airline carry-on?  That's what we did with about 50 lbs of fillets in a soft cooler!  The value of that fish basically equalled the cost of our trip too.