October 30, 2025

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***  Local streams are flowing low and clear, although rain into the weekend could improve fishing conditions for steelhead. 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> <Rocky River Main Branch live feed camera>. Walleye fishing after dark along the Lake Erie shoreline of Cleveland has been a highlight this week. Additionally, river anglers are pursuing steelhead, anglers at the Ohio & Erie Canal are pursuing recently stocked rainbow trout and farm raised channel catfish, and Lake Erie anglers are also catching yellow perch and steelhead.

Walleye fishing along the Cleveland shoreline of Lake Erie has been excellent this week. Angler have been lining up at dusk after dark at E55th breakwall as well as Edgewater and Gordon parks to cast Perfect 10, Husky Jerk, Bandit, Ripfish, and other crankbaits. A slow and steady retrieve is often best after dark. Boating anglers are also doing very well when wave conditions permit. Anglers are catching yellow perch on the north facing breakwall at E55th, as well. Please note that Wendy Park at the old Coast Guard station is closed for repairs and the reopening is running later than expected. The most recent update I’ve received is that work could be complete and the area reopened in late November of this year, possibly later (I will update folks here when that happens). 

Rivers are flowing low and clear but some rain is in the forecast into the weekend that could perk up steelhead fishing in local streams. Most steelhead are still being caught in the deeper, slower stretches of the Rocky and Chagrin rivers closer to Lake Erie. Leaves are accumulating in some of the slower pools, adding another layer of challenge. Steelhead are also being caught along the Lake Erie shoreline at Edgewater, Gordon and Wildwood parks. Casting a spoon (ie Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) in the early morning or evening at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with a steelhead trout. At the Lakefront locations as well as the lower rivers recently a simple nightcrawler suspended 4-5 feet under a bobber on a hook with a split shot or two has been a hot bait. A small marabou jig tipped with a few maggots or a Gulp minnow as well as tube jigs drifted under floats and salmon egg mimicking beads can also be productive.

On October 17, we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street for Fall Family Fishing Fest. The trout average 1.5 lbs each and the catfish average 2-3 lbs, but we included a handful of bigger fish and a few golden rainbow trout to keep things interesting. Trout bite good on a dime size ball of PowerBait about a foot from a sinker on the bottom, small marabou or hair jigs tipped with a few maggots about 2 feet under a small bobber and on smaller spinners. Either species can be caught on a piece of nightcrawler or shrimp fished on the canal bottom.

Jeff Liskay Steelhead Presentation at Cleveland Anglers Meeting. Cleveland Anglers is having a general meeting and presentation on Friday, November 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Emerald Necklace Cafe's Scenic Valley Room (1500 Scenic Park Dr., Lakewood 44107).

Everyone is welcome to attend to learn more about the club and see our featured presentation by Jeff Liskay. Jeff will give a presentation "Flies and Gear for Harbor Steelhead"

No cost to attend, snacks will be supplied along with a cash bar.

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

Alex caught his second walleye ever casting a perch colored P10 from the Cleveland shoreline. The fish measured 25.5” (photo courtesy of Alex Mangels).

Josh shared from this past Friday “I was born and raised in Cleveland and moved to Columbus 20 years ago. I’ve been learning how to fish for the last couple years. After many attempts and several hook ups (and standing in the rain for hours today) I finally landed my first Rocky River steelhead today on my home river! Almost every person I’ve ran into on the river has been super nice, encouraging, and shared tips and fish stories. I even met YouTube local legend Kumbo and he gave me some advice today. Shout out to the high school kid fishing after school for helping net and getting a photo for me! Big thanks to Joshua Guyeska for all the tips and guidance! I landed this beauty on a centerpin rod with a juicy night crawler underneath! Thanks for reading and tight lines this season” (photo courtesy of Josh Scheutzow).

Kylie made a killer catch of walleyes and bonus steelhead from the Cleveland shoreline rocks this week (photo courtesy of Kylie Kwon).

Bruce caught this coho salmon from the Rocky River. Note the black tongue and white gums. A steelhead has an all white mouth and a king/chinook salmon has black tongue and gums (photos courtesy of Bruce Campbell).

Kevin is another angler who scored a coho salmon this week, in this case from the Chagrin River. I’ve seen documentation of a handful of others, as well. I believe the source is the expanding coho salmon program in Lake Huron, which is the next Great Lake upstream of Erie (photos courtesy of Kevin Bjerre).

Brian reported that the walleye were biting like crazy at Edgewater rocks this week (just a few from his catch above). He witnessed lots of fish caught by others, too. He said lure didn’t seem to matter but he was using Bandits and Rapalas (photos courtesy of Brian Kich).

Anglers have been catching yellow perch from the north facing breakwall at E55th this week.

Jimmy shows off a Rocky River steelhead (photo courtesy of Jimmy Miranda).

There have been crowds chasing walleye at dusk and after dark at the east facing breakwall at E55th on Lake Erie and lots of fish are being caught.  Jimmy was one of those folks and in addition to a nice walleye harvest he also landed a surprise muskellunge (photos courtesy of Jimmy J).

Taylor shows off a Rocky River chrome steelie (photo courtesy of Taylor DiBlasi).

Hinckley Lake is finally refilled after repairs to the dam and dredging. Cleveland Metroparks and the Ohio Division of Wildlife plan to restock largemouth bass and bluegill in the lake in 2026 (photo courtesy of Bill Mantle).

The Cleveland Metroparks fishing T-shirt that sold out in short order the first two releases is back in stock online and is available in some of the Cleveland Metroparks shops, such as at North Chagrin and Rocky River Nature Centers. Part of every sale supports the Cleveland Metroparks fishing fund so you can look cool while supporting public fishing. Order online here:  <Cleveland Metroparks Fishing T-shirt>

#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