March 26, 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 decent fishing conditions but there is rain in the forecast this afternoon and early next week that could change conditions. 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 decent fishing conditions at the moment, although flows are getting low and clear. There is rain is in the forecast into the weekend that is likely to bring in a good push of fresh steelhead. 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 already spawned (commonly called spent or dropback steelhead). 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 smallmouth bass and lake-run white suckers increased this week. A jig and maggots or small tube jig drifted under a float or casting minnow/shad mimicking lures can yield and angler both “silver and bronze”(steelhead and lake-run smallmouth bass).

We kicked off our spring rainbow trout stocking last 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 again early next week and will continue to 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 a decent number of those fish remain to be caught. 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.

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. Our 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>.

11^th Annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby is THIS Saturday March 28!  The always popular Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby will be held this 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/or 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 three 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

Jim shared “Shannon's first steelhead. She out fished me( pops). Great morning. It doesn't get any better than this for me teaching my daughter. Great memories!” (photo courtesy of Jim Harrants).

Jim shared “Mike caught a 27.5 inch steelhead this weekend on a black and orange fly. 5/5 for the day.” (photo courtesy of Jim Wise).

Kylie caught both a coho salmon and a steelhead of similar size at Edgewater Park this week offering a good opportunity to compare the two. The coho has a much more deeply forked tail with notably less spots on the tail limited to just the upper and lower portions. The bottom pic is also the coho (photos courtesy of Kylie Kwon).

Michael shared “Justin and Marty had some good luck with Little Cleo spoons this weekend.” (photos courtesy of Michael McConnell).

Vinny scored a few rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River and his shirt leads me to believe that he is on the right track in life! (photos courtesy of Brian DiGioia).

Nate observed last Thursday “Today I was using pink trout worms on a white 1/32 jig head, drifting it approximately 3 inches of the bottom. I hooked up on the first drift. This was the only one I landed, but all my strikes were in the slower drift on the edge of faster seams.” (photo courtesy of Nate May).

Wes had a great first outing off Cleveland jigging up a limit of walleye and a few bonus jumbo yellow perch (photos courtesy of Wes Janke).

Dexter and Joey enjoyed chasing rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River. Locations stocked are outlined above (photos courtesy of Corey Butram).

Nick caught some nice Chagrin River steelies on Sunday. On the bottom is a good comparison between a typical hen (left) and buck (right) (photos courtesy of Nick Kosiba).

Ted and Jimmy got into some nice steelies and chunky lake-run smallmouth bass drifting jig and maggots by the marina yesterday. Ted also shared the trout rice bowl he enjoyed after a successful outing on the East Branch Rocky River recently (photos courtesy of Ted Choukalas).

We briefly electrofished at Edgewater harbor this past Friday morning to acquire a few live fish to display at a World Water Day event on Saturday and turned up a nice northern pike. The pike was immediately released because it was too big for our display tank.

The Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders will be raffling off 40 prize packages with a total value exceeding $10K at the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby this Saturday. 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 held this 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 event sponsors!

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>