March 19, 2026

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May*** The Rocky River and other area streams are currently offering good conditions but there is rain in the forecast into the weekend. Wise anglers will keep an eye on river trends at the following links: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity><Rocky River Main Branch live feed camera>. Rainbow trout were stocked in the East Branch Rocky River on Tuesday (details below).

The Rocky and other area streams are offering good fishing conditions at the moment, but rain is in the forecast into the weekend so wise anglers will keep an eye on the flow trends at the resources listed above. Anglers have been reporting a mix of fresh run fish (bright silver) as well as those that have been in the river awhile (darker and colorful). Steelhead this week have been caught on dime size spawn sacks of trout or salmon eggs, small (1/64-1/16 oz) marabou/hair/tube jigs tipped with a few maggots or a waxworm, egg mimicking beads, small tube jigs (white and pearl work well), and live or salted emerald shiners drifted under a float through the deeper holes. Anglers fly fishing (egg patterns, nymphs, streamers) and casting hardware (medium size spoons, spinners and crankbaits) also have opportunities to hook into steelhead right now. Reports of lake-run white suckers are also coming in and lake-run smallmouth bass are right around the corner.

We kicked off our spring rainbow trout stocking on Tuesday morning with 900 pounds of fish averaging a pound each going into the East Branch Rocky River. Fish were 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, The Chalet, the Whitney Road covered bridge, and the low ford that crosses the river just south of Wallace Lake. Trout will be released into this stretch of river roughly every other week until the end of April.

A total of 6,500 pounds of mixed trout were stocked between Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger and Judge’s lakes this past winter and the bite has been good since ice-off. Small jigs tipped with maggots or a waxworm, salmon eggs, PowerBait, minnows, worms and canned corn all have their days. Casting smaller spinners, spoons and crankbaits can account for plenty of trout, especially the bigger fish (see several examples in the photos below).

Along the Cleveland shoreline Gordon and Edgewater parks, as well as marinas at E55th and Wildwood, are all good options for mixed catches of yellow perch, sunfish, steelhead, largemouth bass, and northern pike along with others species. The Lake Erie shoreline and harbors are ice free and the public boat ramps at Edgewater, Gordon Park (E72nd) and Wildwood Park are all functional (all have at least one permanent courtesy dock present although additional courtesy docks are not in for the season yet). Annual passes for Cleveland Metroparks boat launches can be purchased online <here>.

Cleveland Anglers Meeting and Presentation on March 25.  The Cleveland Anglers group is inviting the public to their meeting coming up on Wednesday, March 25 which will feature the presentation Status of Ohio’s Native Brook Trout by Paul Pira of the Geauga County Park District. Social hour starts at 6:00pm and will offer food and drinks for sale at Beach Club Bistro in Euclid followed by the talk at 7:00pm. Attendance is free.

11^th Annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is coming on Saturday, March 28!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby will be held on Saturday, March 28. Cleveland Metroparks will be leading the event and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders (a non-profit) will be hosting the raffle. Trophies for three largest steelhead, raffles, and a cookout are all part of the day's festivities for this fun event where anglers must pursue steelhead with a kiddie fishing pole! 100% of proceeds from the fundraiser event go to support the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund (this event has raised $79K for public fishing since 2015). The event headquarters will be at South Mastic Woods Picnic Area (immediately south of the Puritas Road bridge), a central location on the Rocky River that offers lots of space. Mark your calendars for this fun event for a great cause! You can save $5 versus the day of the event ($35 vs $40) by registering for the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby online. More info (including event rules) and register online here: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby>.

This event is rain or shine and if river fishing conditions are poor at the time of the event then the competition will also be opened up to trout at Wallace Lake. Registration includes a hot lunch but if you choose not to participate in the event you may still take part in the OCBS raffle (you do not need to be registered to take part in the raffle). If you are not registered but still want lunch, you can take part in that for a $10 onsite donation. The lunch traditionally features brats, hot dogs, special recipe baked beans, potato salad, grilled onion/pepper toppings, choice of chips, and cookies. Thank you to Dairy Queen (Seven Hills location), Westside Toyota, and Clevleand Vending/Essential Food & Beverage for supporting the event lunch. Raffle tickets will be sold onsite and will be cash only with OCBS members hosting that.

A big thank you to our event supporters Westside Toyota, EnviroScience, Jason’s Automotive, Point Blank Hunts, Kevin Kilbane, Realtor Richard Ward, Brian Ailor, Ken Gawlik, Church of Perch, and Brian Kich. Jeff May of M3 Technologies will again design and donate 3 stunning custom stainless steel trophies (works of art) again this year. For a listing of the prize packages and values check out the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders Facebook page here: <OCBS Raffle Packages>

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 will 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

Ralph shared “Wanted to share a couple pics for this week's fishing report from my nephew, Colin, and his first steelhead. Colin has been down to the Rocky River a few times trying to get his first steelhead. His persistence paid off and finally connected on a couple beautiful fish on Sunday! Both fish were caught on white 1/32 marabou jigs tipped with a Gulp minnow. I was impressed with his fish handling, and both fish were gently released to fight another day!” (photos courtesy of Ralph Stock).

Brad shared “Here are some pics of Mitch’s recent Brook and 21” Brown caught on Ledge on a little Cleo. Good for him as he as nursing a torn ACL/Meniscus and went fishing after rehab (he is 16, we live in Brecksville). See you at the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby!” (photos courtesy of Brad Geduldig).

Keegan caught this fresh jack coho salmon on the Chagrin River. Notice the heavily forked tail that has few spots versus a steelhead’s heavily spotted and minimally forked tail (photos courtesy of Keegan Grande).

Vinny scored this fine hen steelhead well upstream on a branch of the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Brian DiGioia).

Tad caught this enormous tiger trout casting a brown and gold Roostertail spinner at Wallace Lake on Sunday (photo courtesy of Tad Schultz).

Michael scored this beautiful Wallace Lake brown trout on a Little Cleo spoon on Sunday. He released the fish to make another angler happy (photo courtesy of Michael Vacarro).

Victor caught his limit of two rainbow trout that were freshly stocked in the East Branch Rocky River on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Victor).

Brian really has the trout at Wallace Lake dialed in! He has also been catching some largemouth bass (photos courtesy of Brian Kich).

Jimmy and Steve show off a pair of Rocky River steelhead caught about 15 river miles apart (photos courtesy of Ted Choukalas).

Although not caught locally, Will wanted to shared a photo of his first lake-run brown trout. The fish was caught on the Niagara River on a spoon (photo courtesy of Will Holden).

The Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders will be raffling off 40 prize packages with a total value exceeding $10K at the upcoming Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby. For a listing of the prize packages and values check out their Facebook page here: <OCBS Raffle Packages>

The popular and fun Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby will be returning on Saturday March 28! Registration is now open at the QR code in the image above or at this link: <Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby registration>. Also thank you to our growing list of event sponsors (and please contact me if you or your company would like to join our sponsor team).

Note: The fishing report is updated monthly in June, July, and August and weekly every other month

***Note: All photo submissions must first complete the Cleveland Metroparks photo waiver.***

2026 Cleveland Metroparks Registered Fishing Guides (name, company, contact)

#26-001 Jeff Liskay, Great Lakes Flyfishing LLC, [email protected] (440) 781-7536

#26-002 Monte Casey, Steelhead Guide, (440) 773-8064 www.steelheadguide.com

#26-003 Gareth Thomas, Alley Grabs Guide Service, [email protected] (216) 235-5056

#26-004 Jim Lingenfelter, Wild Ohio Outdoors Guide Service, (440) 731-9160  www.wildohiooutdoorguide.com

#26-005 Lucas Smith, What That Vise Do LLC, [email protected] (724) 841-1564

#26-006 Sean Sudimak, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com  (888) 453-5899

#26-007 Nicholas DelVecchio, Wildwood Outfitters, [email protected] (724) 433-2315

#26-008 Cole Jaskiewicz, Chagrin River Outfitters, [email protected] (330) 357-7998

#26-009 Michael Kainec, Chagrin River Outfitters, [email protected] (440) 668-3398

More information on Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Guide Permit requirements, including the permit application, you may check the following link: <Fishing Guide Permit Program>