December 23, 2020

In late fall and early winter steelhead trout are the highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams. The Rocky River and other area streams are just dropping into fishable shape currently but there is precipitation in the forecast tomorrow so weekend conditions will depend on how much we recieve.  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>.  Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes were stocked with a combined 3,000 lbs of mixed trout recently (details offered below).

The Rocky River and other area streams are just dropping into shape today but there is precipitation in the forecast tomorrow so weekend conditions will depend on how much of that we recieve. I'd advise anglers to keep an eye on the flow gage data to determine the trend in flow. Anglers this week have been doing well for steelhead on the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, in particular.  Most fish have been caught in deeper holes spread throughout the watersheds. With the stained water, a brightly colored (neon pink, orange and chartreuse) dime to nickel size spawn bags under a float will take many of the fish.  As water clears downsizing to salmon egg mimicking beads and soft rubber eggs (8-12 mm), small (1/32-1/64 oz) jigs tipped with maggots or live minnows under a float will gain the edge.

On Friday December 18th we stocked 1,500 lbs of trout, with 1,400 lbs going into Wallace Lake and the remainder in Ranger Lake.  These complement the additional 1,500 lbs stocked on December 9th as follows: Shadow Lake (700 lbs), Ledge Lake (650 lbs) and Judge's Lake (150 lbs).  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and trophy rainbow trout up to 7 lbs were in the mix.  A fair number of trout remain at Ohio & Erie Canal from stocking in October.  Note: the daily limit at Wallace, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes is 3 trout/angler and the limit at Shadow Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal is 5 trout/angler.  The trout can bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm ot two on a small marabou or tube jig and smaller spoons and spinners. 

Cleveland Metroparks Boat Ramp updates.  The final courtesy dock at the Emerald Necklace Marina on the Rocky River is scheduled to be pulled for the saeason on December 28.  Also, this year the Lakefront Reservation park manager is going to try something different and leave one set of docks in at Edgewater boat ramp all winter for the convenience of late season anglers and waterfowl hunters.  Docks at Gordon Park (E72nd) and Wildwood boat ramps were pulled for the season last week, but there are permanent concrete/metal docks there year around. Launch ramp parking tags are not being sold currently and will not be enforced again until Spring of 2021. Also please note that the fish cleaning station at Gordon Park (E72nd) boat ramp area has been winterized and closed for the season, and will re-open in March or April of 2021.

Photo Release Waivers are now Required for Fishing Blog Photos (and are fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers are now required for any fishing blog photos where individuals are identifiable.  It only has to be done one time per person (and then it's good for any subsequent photos) and there's a super easy and secure online form to do it through Smart Waiver that takes only about 30 seconds to complete.  So please use this link to complete the waiver if you send in any images for there report: <Smart Waiver link>.  Sorry for the slight inconvenience and THANK YOU for all who have contributed over the past 15 years to make this report a fun and personal offering!

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
 

Tim's reports made me smile!   On Thuisday last week: "Took the boys down to the river with the intention of getting my youngest Luke his first steelie.  Grant started fishing while I was setting up Luke & he hooked this fish.  Knowing that Luke hadn’t caught one yet, Grant handed the pole to Luke & helped him reel it in.  Since they caught it together they both held it for the pic so it’s kind of hard to see (top photo)."  And then on Monday: "Updating our earlier report, Grant & Luke were able to each get their own fish on our next trip.  Dad was able to get in on the action too (bottom 3 photos)". (photos courtesy of Tim Fischer).







Ken and his son had a great time on the river this week (photos courtesy of Ken Willis).



Joe caught his first rainbow trout from Wallace Lake on Power Bait, and it was a beauty (photo courtesy of Joe Banker).



Carson shared "First year steelhead fishing and I'm having some consistency! A lot of the local groups have definitely helped in gaining knowledge! This one was caught in the Rocky River on one of Randy's Rad Jigs." (photo courtesy of Carson Cimino).



Congratulations to Pete!  He reports "My name is Pete Carroll from Bay Village.  I caught my first steelhead on Friday in Rocky River near Little Met on a Blue Fox #4.  Pretty excited and now officially hooked!" (photo courtesy of Pete Carroll).



John Burkhart manages the Burntwood Tavern on Great Northern Boulevard in North Olmsted and ducks down to fish the nearby Rocky River whenever he can.  He caught this gleaming chrome steelhead this week. The restaurant is even angler friendly- you can come in off the cold winter river only minutes away still in your waders and warm up with a hot drink and meal at the enclosed heated bar area (photo courtesy of John Burkhart).



Robert caught this bruiser buck steelhead in the Rocky River this week (photo courtesy of Robert McKeown).



Jim keeps an eye on his rods while showing off his Wallace Lake rainbow trout catch from this week (photo courtesy of Catfish John).





Rick landed 4 of 6 steelhead he hooked on eggs on the Rocky River this past Friday (photos courtesy of Rick Bower).








Nick and Alex (pictured) have caught some beautiful trout recently stocked at several Cleveland Metroparks lakes (photos courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).




Scott had a great week landing some dandy steelhead in the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Scott Deere).



Fred caught this chunk of a hen steelhead in the East Branch Rocky River on Friday (photo courtesy of Fred Mieser).



Tony shows off a colorful buck steelhead that munched his "secret weapon jig" on the Rock (photo courtesy of Tony Cilluffo).



Galen displays a super fresh steelhead caught at Morley Ford on the Rocky River on Saturday (photo courtesy of Galen Bizzell).



Brad shows off "Alfalfa the Steelhead" (my name for it due to the dorsal fin).  Brad is a very adaptable angler who always finds a way to catch some fish.  Versatility is among the most valuable skillsets an angler can learn (photo courtesy of Brad Gardner).



"Bo" shows off a fresh steelie from the Rocky River boat ramps area (photo courtesy of Dave "Bo" Bowser).



John displays a super fresh steelhead (photo courtesy of John Russell).





Walt caught some beautifully colored brook trout at Shadow Lake this week (photos courtesy of Walt Gedeon).