July 2021

As we move further into 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.  

Summer means family fishing time for many folks, and panfish fit the bill perfectly for a leisurely picnic and fishing outing.  Bluegill, crappie, pumpkinseed and 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, Strawberry Pond and Lakefront Reservation are just a few of many places in the Park to wet a line for various panfish species.  Early mornings and dusk are typically better times to fish during the heat of summer.  Largemouth bass fishing is often best in Wallace and Hinckley lakes, although bass can be found in most park waters.

Smallmouth bass are typically found in the deeper, rocky pools of the river during the day in early 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, other lures/fliesd that imitate minnows or crayfish, and live bait are all offerings that can catch smallmouth.  Rock bass are also present in the same river areas as smallmouth, and can be caught using the same offerings.

Channel catfish and large carp are also present in some of these same areas in the river, and fishing for them can be a laid back and relaxing way to enjoy some time on the water.  Throughout June, a total of 3,000 lbs of farm raised channel catfish were stocked between Acacia Reservation (1,000 lbs between three ponds onsite), Shadow Lake (600 lbs), Ranger Lake (400lbs), Ledge Lake (300 lbs), Strawberry Pond (400 lbs), Oxbow Lagoon (200 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs).  Channel catfish stocked in late May also remain to be caught at Wallace Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area.  Catfishing is usually best during lower light conditions using baits such as nightcrawlers, minnows, chicken liver, and processed dough baits.  Resident channel catfish are available in the rocky, Cuyahoga and Chagrin rivers all summer.

Carp can be found throughout local rivers in summer, as well.  Carp can often be caught throughout the day on such bait as 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 abundant 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.

ODNR reports that the walleye bite has been good less than 3 miles offshore in anywhere from 25-50 feet of water out of Gordon (E72nd) and Edgewater parks. Trolling deep diving crankbaits and spoons behind dipsy divers has been the most common presentations. Anglers also doing well casting harnesses and weight forward spinners.  Additionally, diverse fishing opportunities including (but not limited to) rock bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, catfish, freshwater drum and sunfish species can be found along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie and bite on offerings such as tube jigs and live minnows.

Wendy Park Fish Display.    I want to take a moment to highlight a really cool project we recently completed at the Wendy Park bridge connector on Lake Erie. Images can be seen below of the fish display recently unveiled.  In addition to having two sides, each with 27 approximately real-life adult size images of the highlight fish species, there are side bars with information about how and where to catch them and there are QR codes with each fish that either go to a video or a page with more information on that species (as an example here is the link to the video that the walleye QR code takes you to: <Walleye Info Video>.  This is a great way for the public to learn about “nature under the surface of the water”, which they might not normally see, or for budding anglers to learn more about local fish you can find in this area. This was a colloration between our Cleveland Metroparks Visual Communications and Natural Resources teams. If you are in the area, which is located where the Cuyahoga River enters Lake Erie just east of Edgewater Park, check it out! The fish images were licensed from the best of the best of freshwater fish artists Joe Tomelleri (www.americanfishes.com/en/).

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 already covered.

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  [email protected] .

Tight Lines,

Mike

James shared "Attached are photos of Max and Zach, who pulled in their first walleye from Lake Erie" (photos courtesy of James Reagan).



Zach shows off a fine Rocky River channel catfish (photo courtesy of Brian Zaptocky).





Alan and his wife made a great catch of sunfish, with a bonus yellow perch and crappie, from a small Cleveland Metroparks lake (photos courtesy of Alan Tomko).





Michael recently made some fun catches by the Rocky River marina 9photos courtesy of Michael Crawford).



Adam shows off a perfect eating size Lake Erie walleye (photo courtesy of Adam Doles).




Joe and a buddy recently caught some Fish Ohio award calss white bass along the Cleveland shoreline (photos courtesy of Joe Miller).




Wes recently reported "Got this 15 inch white bass along with a walleye. Both hit the 'catch anything' 3/8 Rooster Tail spinner around 9AM" (photos courtesy of Wes Bombik).



Steve caught and released this bruiser 31" channel catfish at Ledge Lake on June 25th (photo courtesy of Sean Perron).



Steve displays a huge rock bass caught along the CLE shoreline (photo courtesy of Steve Farley).







Sean is an true multi-species angler.  Above are some of his recent catches from along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake erie (photos courtesy of Sean Johnson).



Francisco reported regarding his rainbow trout catch "Caught 2! All it took was a little bit of patience!" (photo courtesy of Francisco Cacho).






Jarred and a buddy scored some largemouth bass at E55th Marina (photos courtesy of Jarred Bugg).








Attendees of a recent fishing outing at Rockefeller Lagoon off Martin Luther King Drive show off their catches (photo releases on file with event collaborator Doan Brook Watwershed Partners).



Ross shows off a fine Cleveland shoreline largemouth bass (photo courtesy of Ross Bailey).





A few interesting catches from a sampling effort at Wallace Lake to replenish live fish displays at three nature centers.




Owen has been taking some casts at E72nd area access at dusk and scoring some white bass and sub-legal size walleyes (photos courtesy of Owen Lockhart).




Over the past month we stocked 3,000 pounds of farm raised channel catfish between nine ponds and lakes.  Most were 2-3 lbs, but a few were tackle buster size like the one displayed by interns Kayla and Amanda above.  And, as you can see, our catfish supplier harkens the great Dr Suess right on his delivery truck!






I am proud to unveil our fish display located at Wendy Park right next to the Cuyahoga River at the confluence with Lake Erie.  See hightlight above for more informtion on the display.



I couldn't help but throw in a pic of my largest Ohio muskie, caught in late June!