May 1, 2025

***NOTE:  The Fishing Report Blog is updated weekly on Thursdays from September-May***  Local rivers are in good shape at the moment but significant rain is on the way so get out while you can. Anglers can expect excellent numbers of lake-run smallmouth bass and a few remaining steelhead in the streams.  To monitor the most recent river water level and temperature you can check the following link: <Rocky River Main Branch flow gage data> <Rocky River East Branch flow gage data> <Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>. (Note: The flow gage on the Rocky River Main Branch is unavailable due to an upcoming bridge project but the East Branch flow data above will still give anglers a good idea of the trend in river flow).  Anglers are pursuing a variety of species along the lakefront, including walleye and smallmouth bass, as well as rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River and Wallace and Shadow lakes. 

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are offering good fishing conditions at the moment, but there is significant rain in the forecast that could change that so the best advice is to get out as soon as you can. The highlight fishery continues to be the excellent lake-run smallmouth bass fishing. Smallmouth bite medium size minnow or shad crankbaits, spinners, tube jigs (3” olive colored is great), and Ned rigs, as well as streamer flies that mimic a minnow or goby.  There are still a few steelhead around, although that is tapering off quickly. This is a good time of year to score the “silver and bronze”, which is catching a steelhead and a big smallmouth bass on the same outing (and often from the same spots).

Last Tuesday we stocked 900 lbs of rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River which complement the additional 1,800 lbs of trout stocked in the river this spring.  Fish have been released at the parking area off the parkway just north of Rt 82/Royalton road, as well as off the bridges to the Strongsville Wildlife Area and The Chalet, at Bonnie Park, at the covered bridge, and at the low ford that crosses the river just south of Wallace Lake.  The trout are well dispersed throughout the stocking zone at this time so don’t feel the need to stick to the more heavily fished stocking locations.  This concludes spring trout stocking in the river.

Plenty of trout are still available at Wallace Lake and back in mid March the Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked just over 1,000 rainbow trout in Shadow Lake but note that these trout average a half pound each (versus the Metroparks stocked fish that are at least twice that size). The smaller trout are great for children and for fish fries. Small to medium size spoons and spinners, a dime size ball of PowerBait on a bare hook and fished about 18” from a sinker on the bottom, and small jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm below a float/bobber are just a few proven offerings for stocked trout.

To clarify trout limit by location (all trout species combined), the daily limit is 3 trout at Wallace, Ranger, Ledge and Judge’s lakes. The daily limit is 5 trout at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal. For steelhead/rainbow trout in the rivers, harbors and Lake Erie this time of year the daily limit is 2 with minimum size of 12”.

In spring there are a variety of fishing opportunities along the Cleveland shoreline. Post-spawn walleye fishing after dark is beginning to heat up. Casting larger Perfect 10 or Husky Jerk shallow diving stickbaits are a good option. Largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, steelhead, yellow perch, and sunfish can all be found in area harbors and breakwalls. The courtesy docks have been installed at both E72nd/Gordon Park and Edgewater public launch ramps for the convenience of early season boaters. Additionally the dock at Emerald necklace ramps on the Rocky River was installed and the E72nd fish cleaning station was re-opened this week. 

Coming Soon:  Rocky River Live Feed Camera. For the convenience of anglers Cleveland Metroparks is installing a camera that will have an updated feed on the main Branch Rocky River at the Nature Center. This location was the most feasible from an infrastructure and connectivity standpoint. It should be especially helpful with the main branch USGS flow gage being down during bridge rehab activities. I will post a link in the fishing report once it is live.

Castapalooza is Back. Castapalooza is a free event that is open to the public that will be held on May 10 from 9:00am-4:00pm at Helen Hazen Wyman Park in Painesville.  Castapalooza is an event focused on fly casting and fly tying and this year the emphasis is on single-hand casting for beginners and a review of the various FFI certification levels.  Advanced techniques and two-hand casting will be presented late in the afternoon. Fly tying will be ongoing.  The event is presented by FFI Ohio Council, North Coast Fly Fishers, CMNH Trout Club and Cleveland Anglers.

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

Gerald shared “Hi Mike! We are Gerald and Sylvia Gunn of Solon, OH. We had luck fishing for Trout at Shadow Lake.” (photo courtesy of Gerald Gunn).

Jesse shared “Three absolute football smallmouth, 4lb 11oz, 5lb 5oz, & 5lb 6oz, caught along the rock walls in Cleveland! Lake Erie is hot!” (photos courtesy of Jesse Bacha).

Glenn set out to catch a flathead catfish from the Cuyahoga River and he succeeded on Monday!  He was using a live baitfish (photo courtesy of Glenn Wolf).

Gabriel caught this monster 11 lb walleye while fishing out of Cleveland with his father (photo courtesy of Andy Paramushchuk).

Congratulations to Carlos on breaking his personal best smallmouth yet again this spring in the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Carlos Velez Serrano).

Walt shows off a pair of bruiser walleyes caught off Cleveland (photo courtesy of Walt Gedeon).

You don’t always need to throw modest size baits for smallmouth as Wade can attest (photo courtesy of Wade Andrew).

Ken shared his observations from fishing the Rocky “I haven’t fished much since autumn, but I made up for it by fishing 5 days in a row. I wanted to pass on some observations that might be helpful to some steelheaders. It seems to be a general rule to downsize presentations in clear water; the smaller, the better. Although I have used crankbaits in clear, fast water before, I wanted to see if I could catch them as easily with larger ones (BX Minnow-07, X-Rap-08, Shallow Shad Rap-07), close to or at 3 inches in length. I caught a few fish each time out, sometimes in 1-1/2 to 2 foot deep water. Given water temps above (e.g.) 45 degrees, I am convinced that more fish use the fast water as cover (=structure) than we might suspect. And it helps to impart some action to the lure. Seeing them come up or roll over and smash the plug is a blast!” (photos courtesy of Ken Stein).

Vinny and his buddy Luje caught about 30 suckers and went 2 for 3 on steelhead in the Rocky River. In the one photo they are showing 2 different sucker species-  the very common white sucker and also a golden redhorse sucker (photos courtesy of Brian DiGioia).

Kylie shows off a few smallmouth bass caught at Edgewater Park (photos courtesy of Kylie Kwon).

Attention female anglers! You can make an easy $50 just for sharing your experiences. This research is being conducted by Carleton University. You can sign up <here>.

#25-001 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, [email protected] (440) 781-7536

#25-002 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, [email protected] (216) 235-5056

#25-003 Jim Lingenfelter, Wild Ohio Outdoors Guide Service, [email protected], (440) 731-9160

#25-004 Monte Casey, Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064 www.steelheadguide.com

#25-005 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, [email protected] (724) 433-2315

#25-006 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, [email protected] (724) 841-1564

#25-007 Nate Miller, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com (440) 796-6105