November 24, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are currently flowing fairly low and clear and fishing is getting challenging accordingly.  Based on the weather forecast we should be getting some rain into the holiday weekend but it likely won't be enough to change conditions much for the better.  Anglers can monitor the most recent river water level and temperature at the following link: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye, steelhead and yellow perch have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish were also stocked in mid October at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation. 

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are currently flowing on the low and clear side with a lots of fallen leaves, which all add up to make for more challenging steelhead fishing.  The weather forecast into the weekend is calling for some rain, but it may not be enough to change that situation much.  In the meantime anglers are having the most success fish low (north) in the river closer to the lake on both streams where steelhead are staging waiting for increased flows and feeding on baitfish.  In these areas casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) and drifting 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs under floats are taking the bulk of the fish.  A decent number of fish have moved well upstream, too, and adventurous anglers willing to walk may find pods of them in the deeper holes while flows remain low. Salmon egg mimmicking beads, small jigs (as already outlined) and live minnows drifted under floats (or flies that are similar to any of the aforementioned) are working best in the deeper holes upstream under the current clear water conditions. 

As another opportunity for the adventurous under our current conditions, the Cuyahoga River typically maintains a good flow even when other smaller area streams are exhibiting low flow.  Although not stocked with steelhead, the mighty Cuyahoga still draws a substantial number of stray steelhead.  Expect them to be well dispersed and require some searching to find them.  For this reason floating the 'Hoga on a raft, kayak or canoe works well and methods that cover water quickly, such as casting spoons or crankbaits, can be effective (and may also get the angler into a bonus smallmouth bass or northern pike).  The lowest reaches of the river closer to Lake erie are less amenable to such fish than the reachesa that flow through Cleveland Metroparks Brecksville and Bedford reservations, as well as the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Useful tools for access include the free Cleveland Metroparks phone app (just search "Cleveland Metroparks" in your app store) and the <Cuyahoga River Water Trail interactive map>.

Anglers casting off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd, Wildwood Park and Wendy Park 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.

Boating anglers are continuing to find some jumbo yellow perch along the outer city breakwall and by the Cuyahoga River outer lighthouse with some spotty catches also coming from shore at the E55th breakwall on emerald shiners fished on crappie rigs and spreader rigs on the bottom.  Anglers take note that the perch limit in this region of Lake Erie is currently 10 per day/angler (but you can use 3 rods/angler on Lake Erie now).

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 plenty 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.

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
 

Tony had a day he'll never forget on the Rocky River on sunday.  First he caught a brown trout (a rare catch in our local streams) for the second year in a row.  Then he followed up with a beautiful 29" buck steelhead.  Both fish hit a jig drifted under a float (photos courtesy of Tony Cilluffo).




Matt shared "Hi Mike, here are two submissions for the weekly fishing report. The first is a Lake Erie goldfish I caught jigging in 25 FOW off of Bradstreet pier on Saturday. The second is a buck steelhead I caught today on the Rocky River with a Little Cleo spoon." (photos courtesy of Matt Gunn).



Brent caught this great haul of rainbow trout fly fishing at the Ohio & Erie Canal.  He was using small leech pattern flies suspended under a strike indicator (photo courtesy of Brent ONeill).







Chuck took Wael out on a guided kayak trip off the Rocky River on Saturday and they caught 3 steelhead (released) and 8 walleye (photos courtesy of Chuck Earls).



Wes caught this 26" common carp while targeting perch with minnows on the lake bottom.  Perch fishing is always good for some surprise catches! (photo courtesy of Wes Bombik).



Sam had quite a thrill and accomplished a longtime goal and caught a steelhead on a Tenkara rod, which is a type of fly fishing that does not use a reel.  The pretty hen was caught in the East Branch Rocky River (photo courtesy of sam Beitel).





Slo-Troll'n charters has been making some good Cleveland mixed catches with clients this week (photos courtesy of Slo-Troll'n LLC).





Brad scored these beautiful steelhead on jigs (photo courtesy of Brad Gardner).



To add one of my own recent catches I caught and released this nice muskie on a 9" rubber shad bait near Detroit over the weekend.