March 28, 2019

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are running low and clear this morning, but plenty of rain forecasted into the weekend will most liklely change that prior into the weekend.  Wise anglers will monitor the most recent river flows (and turbidity on the Rocky) at the following links before planning a trip: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  The Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is this Saturday (rain or shine) and the second batch of trout of the spring season were stocked in the east Branch Rocky River on Monday, as well.

The Rocky River and other area streams are running low and clear this morning, although this scenario likely not last into the weekend with quite a bit of rain in the forecast.  Anglers should check the flow gage trend before making a trip to the river.  Steelhead are well dispersed throughout the river systems, with the freshest fish being concentrated in the northern river reaches closer to Lake Erie.  There has been very good fishing in the deeper water by the marina this week for very bright fish that are staging there.  These fish will move upstream following this coming rain.  I have been hearing some reports of steelhead spawning in the shallow riffles this week, and expect this to ramp up in the coming few weeks.  Steelhead in early spring will bite a variety of offerings, including smaller dime size spawn bags, 1/32-1/64 oz marabou jigs under floats (black, pink, and white are top colors), beads that mimic salmon eggs, and flies (egg patterns and baitfish streamers).  The water has been clear and finesse tactics have been especially effective lately-  downsize leaders (4-6 lb fluorocarbon), smaller size 14-16 hooks, and smaller bobbers and split shot can pay off under these conditions.  Steelhead numbers can be expected to peak into April.

The north facing breakwall at E55th and the rocks at Edgewater Park offer a chance at steelhead and yellow perch.  The boat launch ramps at Edgewater, Gordon Park, and Wildwood park are all usable at this time, although courtesy docks will not go back in until approximately early April depending on weather.  These harbor areas in spring are a good place to find pre-spawn northern pike are largemouth bass.  A white spinnerbait with silver blades worked slowly is a good early season choice for both species. The post-spawn shoreline bite for walleye typically picks around Cleveland around mid April.  Beginning this boating season our public boat launch ramps at Rocky River, Edgewater, Gordon Park, and Wildwood will be charging a fee ($5 daily or season pass for $30 for Cuyahoga county residents and $35 for out of county residents) for trailered watercraft.  Please note that 100% of proceeds will go back into Lakefront improvements projects.

Opportunities for catching trout are very good at our stocked inland lakes.  And if rain fouls up river conditions this weekend this will be a great alternative.  In early March Wallace Lake recieved an infusion of 1,100 lbs of trout.  These bonus fish were possible thanks to our park Fishing Fund doing well lately (see link to that following this report).  About 2/3 of the fish are rainbow trout averaging a little over a pound each, but especially exciting was that over 100 quality size and colorful brook trout were included, as well as a fair number of golden rainbow trout and a few trophy brown trout.  Throughout the winter a total of 7,100 lbs of rainbow trout were stocked between Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Judge's and Ranger lakes.  Trout are also available at Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area down the hill from CanalWay Visitor Center off E49th Street.  The Ohio Division of Wildlife is scheduled to stock pan sized rainbow trout at Hinckley and Shadow lakes on March 29th.

On March 19 and 25 a total of 1,200 pounds of rainbow trout were stocked in the East Branch Rocky River between Route 82 (Royalton Road) and the river crossing ford about a mile south of Wallace Lake.  We hope to stock the river again roughly late next week if conditions are conducive.  We will continue stocking trout in the river up until the end of April. 

Trout typically bite well on PowerBait, small jigs (marabou, hair, or rubber) tipped with a few maggots/waxworms, and smaller spinners (such as Rooster Tail).  Please note the current seasonal trout regulations:  Lake Erie and all streams 2/day minimum size 12" (this includes steelhead), 3/day no size limit at Wallace, Judge's and Ranger lakes, and 5/day no size limit at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal.

6th Annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby Fundraiser This Saturday March 30.  *THIS EVENT WILL BE RAIN OR SHINE* This Saturday (March 30)we will be hosting the sixth annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby on the Rocky River.  Trophies, prizes for three largest steelhead, raffles, and a cookout are all part of the day's festivities for this fun event where anglers must fish for steelhead with a kiddie fishing pole!  And new for 2019 we will be adding a children's division.  I didn't think we would be able to top last year in terms of the amazing prize packages, but lead organizer Mark Warren, local angler Greg Young, and the rest of the coordinating team have already rounded up prizes and <sponsors> for the event that exceed last year-  and they are still adding to them weekly!  Proceeds from the fundraiser event go to support the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.  A <website> has been set up for the event, as well as a Facebook page.  Local angler Andy Wahl put together this outstanding <video> detailing a pastevent.  Don't miss this fun event for a great cause!

Father and Son Fishing Outing at Wallace Lake.  I thought I'd share this nice summary of a fishing outing that P.J. Filipowicz took with his son Alex this week.  Incidentally, P.J. also maintains the <TheRockyRiver.com> website and Facebook page. P.J. shared on Monday "Proud dad moment. I don't believe in making your kid do something just because you enjoy it (i.e. 'baseball dads') so I've only promised to take him fishing if he truly wanted to go. Last summer he wasn't interested. This winter, he's been asking. Finally yesterday, we got a nice warm day and he wanted to go. Showed him twice how to cast and he just started casting nearly flawlessly all on his own. We were at the lake maybe 5 minutes and he'd hooked and reeled in with a littl...e guidance, his first fish - a beautiful rainbow trout. Later, he caught the palomino, saying "The golden trout was my most favorite". Figured the attention span would last 30 minutes at best, but after 5 hours of fishing I had to force him to leave so we could get home before dark. He had the choice to release the fish or keep them, and he wanted to keep them for dinner. A step toward manhood at 4 years old - putting dinner on the table for his family.  Thanks to the Cleveland Metroparks for all the effort to make these moments possible for our families."  See several photos from their successful outing below.

CMNH Trout Club Donation and Event.  The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) Trout Club bestowed a $10K donation check to Cleveland Metroparks last week to help support a restoration project on a high quality coldwater tributary of the Chagrin River in North Chagrin Reservation.  This project involves removal of a barrier that halts all upstream fish passage.  Cleveland Metroparks is extremely appreciative of our growing and mutually beneficial partnership with this fine sporting club.  Also, on Wednesday April 3rd the CMNH Trout Club is pleased to present Canadian Atl;antic salmon guide and photographer David Hartlin for a workshop and presentation at Cleveland Metroparks Merwin’s Wharf. More on that and register <here>.

Dead Gizzard Shad in the Cuyahoga River.   I have been recieving quite a few calls this week regarding the dead fish on the Cuyahoga River, as well as on lower Euiclid Creek and in Lakefront marinas and harbors.  While an abundance of dead fish looks outwardly alarming, these fish are large gizzard shad, a species very prone to dying in large numbers during rapid changes in temperature, especially as winter transitions into spring.  This is an annual occurrence this time of year, although some years it is more obvious than others.  Here is a link to a news story abbout this occurrence and what causes it: <Gizzard Shad Die Offs>.

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

On Monday Hunter and his grandpa caught 10 rainbow trout on the East Branch Rocky River.  They were using pink trout worms (photo courtesy of Al Reinke).



Evan shared "Brayden Palus of Independence Ohio gets a nice silver bullet on a spinner, fishing the Cuyahoga." (photo courtesy of Evan Montagne).








Father and son P.J. and Alex had a great outing at Wallace Lake this week.  See the highlight section in the report about for a summary of their trip (photos courtesy of P.J. Filipowicz).



Sierra caught this Rocky River beauty on Sunday fly fishing with her buddy Steve (photo courtesy of Sierra Wick).



Bill caught this 32" northern pike on a blue/silver Little Cleo spoon at the Rocky River marina on Monday while targeting steelhead.  He had a second pike bite him off, too.  The pike was kept on a stringer until his buddy got there to see it, then it was released (photo courtesy of Bill Brickles).



Steven caught his first steelhead in Ohio from the Rocky River on Saturday (photo courtesy of Steven Mocan).



Alex caught this 28.25" hen steelhead in the northern Rocky River from his kayak on Sunday (photo courtesy of Alex Forsthoefel).



Adam caught a quality brown trout as well as a smaller rainbow trout and largemouth bass casting inline spinners from his kayak at Wallace Lake on an outing this week. Adam wrote a nice blog entry detailing his outing at this link: <Coolwater Fish Blog> (photo courtesy of Adam Eibling).



Matt scored a gorgeous Wallace Lake golden rainbow trout (photo courtesy of Matt Piteo).




Mike was enjoying catching sunfish and smaller crappies at Beyer's Pond this week when he was shocked to hook into a 14" white crappie.  The trophy fish was released after the photo (courtesy of Mike Brady).



Ted caught a bunch of rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River on Monday, with these being the largest two.  He was fishing a 1/32 oz jig and 1.5" white twister tain jig under a bobber (photo courtesy of Ted).



Henry did well by the Rocky River marina on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Henry Stanley).





These fish from Tuesday and Wednesday illustrate the general trend on the Rocky River this week-  fresher fish further north by the marina and more colorful fish further upstream, such as by Morley Ford where the bottom pic was taken.  Fish are displayed by Rick, Randy and Glen, respectively.




Brothers Jarred and Jeff scored Rocky River steelies this week (photos courtesy of Jarred Bugg).



On Saturday Noah caught his personal best steelhead from the Rocky River.  The big hen weighed in at 9 pounds.  Between Noah and his dad edward they landed 5 of 6 steelhead hooked that outing (photo courtesy of Edward Dupont).




Ed shared "It's been a record week!  Last week I landed my biggest ever brown (26in) and brook (20in) at Wallace which you saw (note: both photos were in the past two fishing reports).  Then on an outing late last week I landed 6 heads of steel in an hour and 15 min which ties my record on the Rocky.  Last Tuesday eve was hot too with 4 landed in an hour.  All on Brad's Jigs - Mini Marabou 1/16 oz Olive/Black & White/Hot Pink." (photos courtesy of Ed Schmitt).






Max noted that the steelhead and bonus golden redhorse suckers were biting well on eggs this past weekend (photos courtesy of Max Madden).




Jeff shared on Sunday "Good numbers fish including a lot of fresh fish. Fish were biting on spawn sacs of all colors. The two people in the attached pictures are my son Paul Zvara and John Smoggie." (photos courtesy of Jeff Zvara).





Liz realized on Saturday that a strong steelhead can be a challenge to keep under control for a quick photo!