In mid-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 big fishing story this summer has been the amazing walleye fishing off Cleveland (and just about every other port on central Lake Erie). Limits are generally coming very quickly for folks trolling spoons, crawler harnesses and crankbaits. But equally effective many days, and lots of fun, is casting and slowly retrieving a weight forward spinner like an Erie Dearie tipped with a whole or half nightcrawler. Personally, I tied on a chartreuse 5/8" Erie Dearie with silver blade four trips ago and haven't had to change yet! All summer (so far) the biggest schools off Cleveland have been in approximately 48-52 foor of water with fish typically suspended 20-30 feet down. But that's not to say folks aren't still catching their share in shallower water off Lakewood and Bratenahl, and some anglers still making some catches from shore after dark, as well. And 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.
The Cleveland Harbor behind the breakwall was muddy much of June due to a rain swollen Cuyahoga River pumping dirty water into the harbor. But with somewhat dryer weather into early July that is clearing up and fishing should improve. Rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, northern pike, catfish, freshwater drum and sunfish species, as well as walleye, can all be found along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie. 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 is 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 in 5 other Metroparks areas in late June as outlined in the highlight section below. 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.
Catfish Brought to you by Slyman's Restaurant. Moe Slyman of Slyman's Restaurant in Cleveland recently made a generous contribution to our Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund to help support a recent stocking of 1,600 lbs of farm raised cafish. On June 26 and 28 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. So next time you are at the Slyman's St Clair Avenue location enjoying the best corned beef sandwich in town be sure to ask for Moe and please thank him for supporting local public fishing opportunities. And be sure take a look at all the fish pics on display on the cooler in the rear corner!
Bullhead Sampling on the Cuyahoga River with USFWS and Ohio EPA The entire week of June 3rd US Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio EPA were sampling bullhead catfish from the Cuyahoga River to evaluate (and hopefully lead to removal of) Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) number 7 for Fish Tumors and Other Deformities. This is one of 10 BUIs identified for the river as an Area of Concern (AOC), with three having been removed (most recently BUI 1 for Fish Consumption). This is a science based way to determine the recovery of this once abused waterway.
Our role in the project involved securing work and dock space at E55th Marina for the researchers. Furthermore, my staff and I spent significant hours working (and learning) alonside the USFWS scientists to extract livers, otoliths, gonads and record visible deformities from bullhead catfish sampled by crews on the Cuyahoga River, Euclid Creek and Chagrin River (the latter used as a reference stream). Bullhead are an ideal group for this anaysis because they live and feed in the bottom sediments (where contaminants accumulate), have a small home range so their sample location is reflective of the environment where they were found, and because they are not considered a sought-after sportfish. I will post findings of this study once the data is processed and a determination is made about BUI 7. I included several photos of the crew processing fish below.
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