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    July 2019

    Parks | Recreation | Fishing Report | July 2019

    July 2019

    Posted: July 1, 2019
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    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
     




    Dustin shared "We had Kory Carneal (Smile Says it All!!!) get his FIRST walleye on then 8 more 6/28 (ended with 3 man limit). Keys have been Bandits specifically sunspot color. We have also done well with Erie Dearies with and without night crawlers. I update walleye reports also on my Instagram @dustincarneal.  Also included Cammeron Warner's first walleye (6/29) and two walleye from 6/24. All trips the last weeks of June have produced quick limits." (photos courtesy of Dustin Carneal).




    Ed has been catching some nice Wallace Lake bass with the family, as well as a surprise 14" crappie (his personal best) on a live bluegill (photos courtesy of Ed Schmitt).




    The walleye fishing off Cleveland is the best it's been in my lifetime.  Here a young angler poses with the big one from a recent multi-person limit out of Gordon Park.









    Nadia Slyman is an incredible angler, and caught all the species pictured above over the past few weeks!  The largemouth bass, rock bass, and yellow perch were from the CLE shoreline of Lake Erie; the big hybrid sunfish was from a local pond; the rainbow trout and channel catfish were from Ledge Lake and the muskie (her first!) was from the Niagara River.  WTG Nadia! (photos courtesy of Moe Slyman).



    David caught a trophy largemouth bass at Wallace Lake (photo courtesy of David).



    Carl reported on July 1st "Rocky River, 50 feet deep on a gold Erie Dearie. Sophia Schweisthal, grand daughter. 15 years old. 28" freshwater drum.  She caught 5 or so walleye, couple large white bass.  The drum was a great fighter. 5 of us went out, lot of fun got limit, well one shy, I always stop one shy. (so there's at least one out there next time!!! ) LOL. True story. Thank you and the ODNR, cleaner water, best fishing in the world, AWESOME" (photo courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).



    I met Brent at the Rocky River clean-up in early June (he was there helping), and he excitedly shared with me that he had recently caught the first smallmouth bass of his life.  And based on the photo it was a nice one!  (photo courtesy of Brent ONeill).



    An angler caught this 17 lb channel catfish at E55th breakwall (photo courtesy of Shine's Bait and Tackle).



    Ryan caught a fine walleye while wearing a fine hat with a fine city as a backdrop (photo courtesy of Ryan Smith).





    Geno recently shared "My grandson Landon was recently visiting here from Georgia and I took him to Wallace Lake he caught trout, bass at Lake Medina, and a beautiful Fish Ohio black crappie at Ledge Lake-  all released by him. I guess he has a pretty good teacher in me lol he out fished me on all 3 trips got to love that. What a great trifecta I told him. Could you please post the pics on the blog?  Thanks buddy have a great summer and good luck fishing!!" (photos courtesy of Geno).




    Jakob is on summer break from the Ohio State University and has been enjoying bass fishing at Gordon Park.  He also wanted to make sure his dad Brad's tiny walleye sneaked into the report! (photos courtesy of Jakob Martinez).



    Bob caught this bruiser walleye off Cleveland (photo courtesy of Bob Burichin).



    Martin was casting a fire glow color Erie Dearie tipped with nightcrawler at E72nd hoping for walleye and was surprised when this quality northern pike grabbed the offering (photo courtesy of Martin Bossone).






    Al took his son-in-law Andrew and two grandsons fishing the CLE shoreline and they scored a cooler full of tasty rock bass with a few bonus smallmouth bass and freshwater drum to add some additional fun to an already great day (photos courtesy of Allen Reinke).



    Luther caught a beautiful walleye at the Wendy Park pier at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River (photo courtesy of Luther Williams).






    James has enjoyed a multi-species summer so far on Lake Erie and the streams-  scoring some quality largemouth and smallmouth bass as well as some tasty walleye (photos courtesy of James Lilly).




    Tony caught some quality smallmouth bass in the Cuyahoga River-  which is a fitting tribute to a waterway celebrating 50 years of recovery since the infamous fire (photos courtesy of Tony Cilluffo).



    Luis caught his three trout limit from a kayak at Wallace Lake (photo courtesy of Owen Lockhart).



    Mark and buddies Mario and Joe, who all work at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, caught a recent limit of walleye out of Rocky River boat launch.





    Steve  always seems to be catching some great fish at E55th marina and breakwall, as evidenced by his recently walleyes and largemouth bass (photos courtesy of Andy Young).





    I had a great time getting Brian Tighe, owner of Cleveland Fishing Co., out on my boat to share our amazing fishery.




    Corey caught some bruiser smallmouth at Gordon Park embayment (photos courtesy of Corey Zelinski).




    Brad and a buddy caught a walleye limit off Edgewater Park, with a trophy fish in the miix (photos courtesy of Brad Gardener).







    Vitor shared "Just wanted to share with you and the community this catch of mine. So this evening (6/23) after getting off work around midnight me and the wife went to the Rocky River by the Emerald Necklace Marina to try and catch some catfish. After a couple of bites but no takers except for a bullhead, I tossed a worm on a hook and sinker and after a nice fight ended up landing this 27 inch walleye! I've heard some people catching them in the river but wasn't expecting it at all! Other than that, I've caught some channel catfish, bass and perch, even some baby walleye which makes me really happy to see the population healthy and growing! Feel free to throw them in the next issue of the fishing report, thanks for all of your good work!" (photos courtesy of Vitor Oliveira).



    Jeff displays a bar of Lake Erie gold (photo courtesy of Jeff Deluca).









    As great as the walleye fishing has been the summer memories shared with friends like Mike, Dana and Liz on the water have been priceless!



    John caught a huge walleye from his fishing kayak (photo courtesy of John Proch).



    Joe was excited (possibly overly excited based on the kiss?) to land a fine Lake Erie channel catfish (photo courtesy of Joe Greve).



    Walleye are still hanging out in the marina area on the Rocky River.  Most interesting is the very pale coloration the fish exhibited when the river was muddy.



    Mary shared "Brayden Palus of Independence Ohio used his Rocky River steelhead skills to land this 45” 17 lb. Hammerhead Shark in South Carolina this week" (photo courtesy of Jason Palus).



    Can you idenify the little silver fish Ed caught in Wallace Lake?  Clue-  it's not a type of minnow/shiner.  Answer: brook silversides (photo courtesy of Ed Schmitt).







    The June 1st Rocky River clean-up was a big success, with our 145 volunteers (a new record) removing a heaping truckload of garbage before being treated to a cookout sponsored by Slyman's deli.  A big thank you as well to local business Earnest Machine for their continued volunteer support as well as donating $500 to the Rocky River Watershed Council to support the event and other watershed initiatives.






    My staff and I had an opportunity to assist and work alongside US Fish and Wildlife Service scientists to process bullhead catfish samples from the Cuyahoga River, as outlined in the highlight section of the report above.
     


    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 
    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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