February 3, 2022

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are in a transitional stage with ice and runoff from melting snow and rain couplwd with heavy snow.  Anglers can check the flow and temperature data at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Note: in winter ice on gage sensors can cause erroneous readings.  Last week trout were stocked at five locations in Cleveland Metroparks (details below) and anglers are pursuing them on the ice.

Leading up to the winter storm this week anglers were catching some steelhead in the open waters areas of local streams not frozen over.  But rivers are in a transitional stage at the moment with ice breaking up from rising water levels caused by rain and melting snow compounded by heavy snowfall.  Stream conditions into the weekend are tough to predict as things are actively changing, but prospects are not looking good for river anglers.

Anglers were still catching some steelhead through the ice at the Rocky River boat ramps area this week, but that ice should be considered unsafe at this point with the current river conditions.  PLEASE SEE ICE SAFETY TIPS BELOW AND BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL ON RIVER ICE!  Protected Lake Erie harbors, such as Edgewater, Wildwood and E72nd boat ramp area also offer ice fishing opportunities for steelhead, northern pike, yellow perch and sunfish- although an abundance of gizzard shad in these areas made ice fishing challenging this week (and may continue to be an issue throughout the winter).  Ice anglers catch steelhead on spawn sacks, small jigs tipped with a waxworm or a few maggots or a minnow, all typically suspended 4-6 feet beneath a small ice bobber.  Small to medium size jigging spoons, such as Litle Cleo or KastMaster, actively jigged without any bait added, also produce steelhead through the ice with reularity.

Last week we conducted our second round (and final) scheduled winter trout stockings.  This consisted of a total of 3,000 lbs of trout distributed as follows: Wallace Lake (1,400 lbs), Shadow Lake (750 lbs), ledge Lake (650 lbs), Ranger Lake (100 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs).  These complement to 3,000 lbs of trout distirbuted in the same manner back in December.  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but an impressive number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some tiger trout (a brown trout x brook trout hybrid) were in the mix.  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 jigging spoons.

Since anglers have been venturing onto our frozen lakes and ponds to ice fish I offer the following safety advice.  Most state conservation agencies recommend at least 4" of solid ice before anglers should venture out to ice fish, and in Cleveland Metroparks it is the angler's responsibility to check that.  One method is to use a spud bar near shore and check the ice thickness, and if it is > 4 inches then walk out a little further and check again.  Ice is often thinnest right at the water's edge and around inlets and outlets of the waterbody.  The heavy snow this week will serve to insulate the water and slow additional ice formation, as well.  River ice forms less consisatently than on lakes and ponds and changes more quickly, so exercise extreme caution in this scenario.  A pair of emergency ice picks held at the ready on a cord around the neck are are a safety must, as is an emergency length of rope.  A floating "survival suit" is something you may consider, as well.  Other safety tips are to always fish with a friend, let someone know where you'll be, and focus on areas near where other anglers are already fishing. 

If you ever do fall through the ice, the most important thing to do initially is gain your composure.  Panicking is the worst thing you can do.  People report getting the wind knocked out of them when they first feel the hit of the ice cold water.  Get to the edge of the ice and once your breathing is under control use your ice picks to simultaneously claw back the direction yor came in while kicking your legs.  It's as if you are "swimming" back onto the ice.  Once on the ice DO NOT STAND UP!  Roll the direction you walked in until you feel you are on thicker ice then retreat to shore the same way you came in.  Hopefully you never need to use this advice.  I did watch a person fall through the ice on a local Lake Erie harbor a few years ago.  The inexperienced ice fisher did not have ice picks on him.  At the urging of those folks nearby he did everything noted above, but could not get the grip to pull back onto the slick ice.  Then someone slid him a pair of picks and he immediately got out as described above, thankfully.

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
 

Alex shared "Took my son ice fishing for the first time last week. We had a very nice time hooking some bluegills out of a pond in Bedford Reservation." (photo courtesy of Alex Harnocz).








The Wolf family had fun catching trout and bluegill at through the ice at Wallace Lake on an outing this week (photos courtesy of Mike Wolf).



Corey caught a beautiful brook trout while ice fishing a Metroparks lake (photo courtesy of Corey Zelinski).



Pat caught this bruiser 31" buck steelhead in the Rocky River yesterday before the winter storm hit (photo courtesy of Pat Cramer).






Nick caught his three trout limit at Wallace Lake on jigging spoons- two rainbows and a gorgeous brook trout (photos courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).



Kumbo made a surprise catch in the Rocky River while seeking steelhead yesterday- a late running coho salmon! (photo courtesy of Kumbo).



Dave displays a tiger trout at a Metroparks lake (photo courtesy of Pam Kehoe-Taylor).



Brian caught this steelhead through the ice at the Rocky River boat ramps using PowerBait (photo courtesy of Brian Ailor).



Randy scored a colorful "brookie" (brook trout) in a Metroparks pond (photo courtesy of Randy Smith).




John does well using jigging spoons, such as this silver and chartreuse Swedish Pimple, targeting trout through the ice.





Pete scored some Ledge Lake bluegills on a small jig tipped with maggots (photos courtesy of Pete Sekerak).



JP landed with colorful rainbow trout at Wallace Lake (photo courtesy of JP Webb).