November 5, 2026

***NOTE: The Fishing Report Blog is back to regular weekly Thursday updates from September-May***  

In early fall highlight species targeted by anglers along the Rocky River and other area streams include steelhead trout and smallmouth bass. 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 – scroll down at link>. Lake Erie anglers are primarily targeting walleye and yellow perch and anglers at the Ohio & Erie Canal are targeting recently stocked rainbow trout and channel catfish.

I feel like a broken record reporting this again, but the Rocky River and other area streams are very low and clear with lots of fallen leaves adding to the challenge for anglers. The good news is that there looks to be a fair amount of much needed rain in the forecast leading into the weekend and anglers can check the flow data links offered above to keep abreast of the situation. Despite the tough conditions a handful of lucky anglers caught steelhead trout and a few bonus coho salmon this week. Steelhead catches along the rocks at Edgewater Park and E55th and Wildwood Park breakwalls perked up a bit this week but the bite is still slow overall. Casting or flatline trolling a spoon (Little Cleo or KO Wobbler), spinner (Vibrax or RoosterTail) or crankbait (shallow Flicker Shad) at these locations are as good a bet as any for connecting with an early steelhead trout. Given the very low water, at least until we receive substantial rainfall, this would also be a good time to go exploring the larger Cuyahoga River and scouting for fishing spots. Smallmouth bass are also available in deeper holes throughout the Rocky, Chagrin, and Cuyahoga rivers (see some photos of some nice smallie catches from this week below).

Yellow perch and walleye are top targets along the Cleveland shoreline in early fall. Most Lake Erie fish species can be caught on offerings such as a live minnow or worms fished on the lake bottom on a crappie rig. The walleye bite has been best after dark for anglers casting minnow profile lures like Perfect 10 and Bandit crankbaits, although don’t hesitate to try out different lure offerings as one angler did to find success as outlined with the images below. Edgewater Park is an excellent options and other good spots for a variety of species include Wendy Park by the former Coast Guard station and East 55^th breakwall. Boating anglers near the Cuyahoga River lighthouse as well as at the east end of the outer city breakwall reported good fishing for yellow perch this week using live and salted emerald shiner minnows near the bottom on spreaders and crappie rigs.

In early October we stocked 1,000 lbs of rainbow trout and 600 lbs of channel catfish at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street and a decent number of those fish remain. The trout averaged 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 chunk of cooked shrimp fished on the canal bottom. The trout are particularly fond of hanging out under the footbridge over the canal.

Coho Salmon Keep on Coming! A handful of coho salmon have been turning up every week since late September when we were first surprised to turn up three stray salmon in the lower Rocky River while collecting a few display fish fore the Steelhead Expo. Every week there have been one or two salmon catches featured in the photos in this report, with this week being no exception. These fish are most likely straying south from Lake Huron where there is a robust coho salmon stocking program. I expect they will be mostly gone in December as they spawn in late fall and (unlike steelhead) all die after spawning.

Trout Stocking Change this Upcoming Winter. Due to extremely tight budget constraints this year we will not be stocking our first bunch of trout this winter until early January 2027. We typical stock them in mid-December. Then we will stock the second bunch sometime in February. The same number of fish will be stocked overall but it will be delayed due to Cleveland Metroparks being on an annual budget cycle that aligns with the calendar year.

Fishing Regulations Change. Our recent proposed changes to the numbers of fishing lines allowed at select Cleveland Metroparks locations was overwhelmingly supported (93% in favor) based on a poll of 350 local anglers. With that noted the regulation went into effect on July 18, 2026. The change is that only 2 fishing lines per angler, which will include tip-ups for ice fishing, will be allowed at the following locations: Wallace, Ledge, Judges, Ranger, and Bunns lakes; Beyers, Strawberry, Acacia, Garfield, and Astorhurst ponds; and Oxbow Lagoon in Rocky River Reservation. Waters not included are joint management areas with the Ohio Division of Wildlife where we default to their regulation of 3 lines and up to 6 tip-ups (the latter for ice fishing) per angler.

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

Cynthia shared “I wanted to share this photo of Luke’s catch from the Rocky River this past Friday. It doesn’t get much better than this for fall fishing in the Metroparks! He caught the 27” steelhead on a Little Cleo spoon” (photo courtesy of Cynthia Lytell).

Kevin reported that this steelhead he caught along the Cleveland lakefront gave a great fight (photo courtesy of Kevin Hackett).

John shared regarding his catch (which indeed is a coho salmon):“I was out wading the Rocky River on Saturday morning and hooked this fish and a female steelhead about an hour and a half later. Some people I showed this fish to thought it might be a Coho Salmon? I have only seen one coho in my life in Michigan so I am not sure.” (photo courtesy of John Berry).

Sean got a golden bonus while perch fishing- a 28” walleye on an ultralight rod and 6 pound line. He admitted that he thought it was going to be a sheepshead so was pleasantly surprised (photo courtesy of Sean Flanigan).

A successful angler shared “Caught on Friday 10/30/26 near the Emerald Necklace Marina boat launch using a white Rooster Tail spinner” (photo courtesy of Flurry).

Derek scored a few nice resident smallmouth bass from the mighty Cuyahoga River (photos courtesy of Derek Schafer).

On Wednesday Danny caught a common carp (pictured) and a rainbow trout at the Ohio & Erie Canal off E49th Street. Both bit on canned corn (photo courtesy of Corey Butram).

Steve has enjoyed a fantastic week featuring multiple fish species between E55th breakwall and the Rocky River (photos courtesy of Ted Choukalas).

Juan reported on Wednesday that fall fishing is picking up: “My buddies and I were out last night trying for walleye east of the city. We saw some get caught on X-Raps casting into the wind then we moved to a protected spot and I switched to casting small 1/6oz Phoebe and 3/16oz Stinger spoons. Around midnight I started getting hits from small fish then eventually around 2 I got a legal walleye followed soon after by a much larger fish. I kept casting and a hooked up with a couple steelhead back to back. All told I landed ten fish. Best night of fishing this season. The water temps were still around 61-63°F. There were lots of small baitfish in the water and one of the walleye had a mouthful of shad. Tight lines!” (photos courtesy of Juan Jeffrey).

Yellow perch are starting to bite good around the city. See the report for details (photo courtesy of Carl Schweisthal).

Carlos and his buddies continued to put a beatdown on the Rocky River smallmouth bass, and even got a coho salmon this week! (photos courtesy of Carlos Velez Serrano).

Bobby caught a fresh steelhead this week (photo courtesy of Bobby Greller).

Andrew, a biology teacher at Heritage Classical Academy, was out Saturday with his wife sampling minnows and other stream fishes in a small Chagrin River tributary in Cleveland Metroparks (he loves aquatic ecology and was working to learn to identify the various species) and was not expecting to catch this naturally stream bred baby steelhead. He released the small trout immediately after taking a photo (photo courtesy of Andrew Ferris).

You can show your colors and support Cleveland Metroparks at the same time with our new fishing cap and T shirt. You can purchase online at these links <fishing hat> <fishing shirt> and they will also be available at select nature center and marina shops.

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, Steelhead Alley Outfitters, www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com  (888) 453-5899

#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>