December 16, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering excellent fishing conditions this morning but more rain is in the forecast.  Anglers should check the flow data at the following links before heading out this weekend: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye and steelhead have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and rainbow trout will be stocked at wallace lake tomorrow.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers have dropped into excellent shape for steelhead anglers as of this morning. Prospects into the weekend will depend on how much of the forecasted rain we recieve so anglers are advised to check the flow data at the links above before heading out.  Many anglers over the past few days reported success drifting dime size spawn sacks (hot pink and chartreuse are both stained water favorites), 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads under floats. Anglers without specialized steelhead gear can also muse a medium action spinning rod for casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) in areas with deeper water. Despite not being stocked directly, steelhead are also available in modest numbers in the Cuyahoga River, Euclid Creek and various smaller area tributaries.

Anglers casting off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd, Wildwood Park and Wendy Park continue to have opportunities to catch steelhead during the day and walleye at night.  Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) are a good ways to connect with a steelhead trout that requires no more than a medium action spinning rig spooled with 8-10 lb monofilament line.  A bobber with a 1/32 oz jig tipped with minnow or maggots suspend 3-6 feet below is also a good producer in the aforementioned areas.  A nightcrawler suspended under a bobber on a bare hook can also work well.  A longer noodle rod is best for fishing floats.  Walleye anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark.  On windy days Wendy Park pier and E55th breakwall are more protected than Edgewater and Wildwood park shorelines.  Be especially careful of slick conditions along the shoreline rocks and breakwalls, with ice cleats and a long landing net being good investments.

Winter trout stockings at Metroparks lakes and ponds is scheduled for tomorrow at Wallace and Ranger lakes and early next week for Shadow, Ledge and Judge's lakes- stay tuned to the fishing report for updates on that.  In mid October Cleveland Metroparks stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street and a fair number of those fish remain to be caught.  The trout average 1.5 lb each and the catfish average 1-2 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish in the mix.    If you are happy catching either species you can try a half a nightcrawler worm or peice of popcorn shrimp fished on the canal bottom.

Courtesy Ramps at our Boat Launches.  As an FYI to late season boaters, the courtesy docks at Rocky River, Edgewater and Gordon Park (E72nd) have all been pulled for the season (all but Rocky river do have a permanent concrete/steel dock for late season use, though).  Also, note that the Gordon Park boat ramp fish cleaning station has been winterized and closed for the season.

Photo Release Waivers for Fishing Blog Photos (fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers for photos sent in for the fishing report can easily be completed online through Smart Waiver (takes only about 30 seconds to complete) at the following link: <Smart Waiver link>. You only need to do this one time and any future additional photos submitted are covered too.

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

 

Lavon went fishing with grandpa Steve on Tuesday and landed this fine rainbow trout (photo courtesy of Steve Farley).



Tuan shared regarding this brute steelhead "Last Friday, Dec 10, while fishing for walleye at Edgewater Park I was lucky to hook into a 31 inch steelhead. It was the best fishing experience ever trying to land that fish on the lake. Big fan of the fishing blog" (photo courtesy of Tuan Truong).



Aaron, who works for the CWRU biology department, shared on Wednesday "I caught my first walleye yesterday (12/15) at E55th on a wonderbread color p10 around 9:30! I thought I'd shared a couple pics; feel free to post them." (photo courtesy of Aaron Yilmaz).



Joe took his buddy out on the Rocky River on Tuesday and they caught this chrome steelhead.  The Rocky is a friendly place to fish for folks of limited mobility (photo courtesy of Joe Tonich).





The walleye are still biting after dark at E55th breakwall (photos courtesy of DeAngelo Williams, Devonte Jones and Rob Unger).



Pat and Mike show off a fine specimen landed while fishing Cleveland harbor with Metroparks registered fishing guide Jeff Liskay (photo courtesy of Jeff Liskay).




Roger shared regarding his catches this week (including a surprise coho samon in Euclid Creek) "I caught the coho on a Kastmaster silver/blue spoon,and the big girl off E55th marina on a Rapala square bill crankbait-shad design both on a 7ft medium action Lews custom xp bait caster" (photos courtesy of Roger Berglund).







Wes and a buddy are still finding some limits of jumbo yellow perch, peppered with a few bonus walleyes (photos courtesy of Wes Janke).





John and friends made this nice catch of Cleveland walleyes on Friday.  They were trolling Bandits crankbaits with snap weights between 1.5-1.8 mph (photo courtesy og John Karl Gribble).






Jimmy took his dad out and helped put him on some beautiful Rocky River steelhead (photos courtesy og Jimmy Pease).



When gizzard shad get big, they sometimes throw people off on the ID.  They can get up to 20 inches maximum size! (photo courtesy of Wes Bombik).