Cleveland Metroparks Blogs & Podcasts

Rocky River was named one of the “150 Best Places to fish in America” in the June 2007 issue of Field and Stream magazine

The Rocky River is currently very elevated and muddy due to snowmelt.  Based on the rain and continued snowmelt in the forecast, the river will remain elevated and muddy into the weekend.  The good news is that the high water coupled with warmer temperatures should draw the largest run of steelhead all season into the river.  Anglers can keep an eye on the flow gage for the latest trend in river flow and temperature at the following link: <river flow gage data>  Ice on Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds has degraded quickly this week and is unsafe to walk on.

Although a modest run of fresh steelhead moved into the river following the last thaw, in the week that followed the fishing was disappointingly slow for many anglers despite very good river conditions.  Below average runs of steelhead seems to be the case on all of Ohio’s steelhead streams this season.  Theories as to what factors are contributing to this situation vary, but I believe we will have a good spring run of fish to make up for the relative lack of fish this fall and winter.  Regardless, anglers should not lose sight of the fact that even a slow year on our Ohio steelhead streams is better than the fishing in a good year on many fisheries elsewhere.

Currently the river is unfishably high and muddy, and looks to remain that way for the coming days.  As the river level drops, especially once it reaches below 500 cfs, the fishing prospects will be increasingly  good.  As the river first begins to clear focus efforts around barriers on the river (such as fords) with large brightly colored spawn sacks, in particular.

Ice on Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds has degraded and is unsafe to walk on.  In fact, one angler fell through the ice at Ledge Lake yesterday, but fortunately was able to pull himself out to safety.  Anglers can fish for stocked trout safely from fishing platforms and docks available at  Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, and Judges lakes.  Trout fishing has perked up with the thaw this week, with most being taken on Power Bait, small jigs tipped with grubs, and live minnows. 

The first round of spring trout stocking is planned for late next week or early the following week.  If the East Branch of the Rocky River has dropped to a reasonable level at that time, we plan to split the 600 pounds of trout from this first installment between the river and Wallace Lake.  If the river level is still highly elevated, we plan to put all of the first batch into Wallace Lake.  Keep posted to the fishing report for the latest update on the upcoming stockings in the coming weeks.

The Suckers Are Here!   The Suckers Are Here!      The first large run of Lake Erie white suckers migrated into the Rocky River following the high water and warmer temperatures this week.  Suckers can be great fun on light tackle for experienced and inexperienced anglers alike.  Kids and suckers are also a perfect mix.  Fishing a worm or grubs right on the river bottom with a sinker is a simple and effective tactic for suckers, as is fishing nymphs or small wet flies on a light fly rod.  Suckers congregate in huge numbers at river fords, which impede their upstream migration. 

Making fish cakes (patties) using white suckers is a springtime tradition in the upper Great Lakes region.  A web search will lead you to more information on how to do this if interested.  But remember that suckers, a forage fish species, must still be taken by legal means with hook and line (in the mouth).  Snagging suckers on our steelhead streams is not legal between September 1 and April 30.  Additionally, our Rangers cited an angler yesterday afternoon for harvesting suckers illegally with a dip net at a popular ford.  Upon further investigation, it was revealed that he had a whole trunk full of them!

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  md@clevelandmetroparks.com .

Tight Lines,

Mike

The fact that the river was elevated and muddy on Tuesday did not stop Chris from catching her first steelhead ever, which happened to be a beautiful 30 inch buck.  Congratulations, Chris!  (photo courtesy of Holly Coone).

Elevated and muddy river conditions on the Rocky River at Morley Ford on the date of this report.

Ashley is all smiles as she displays her buck steelie from the Rocky (photo courtesy of Joe Shaw).

This was definitely the week of the female angler!  Joanne had an enjoyable fly fishing excursion on the Rocky River on Sunday, as depicted in the three photos above.  She caught a fine chrome steelhead along with a number of other fish, such as this northern hogsucker, and spent some time observing the wildlife (photo courtesy of Joanne Steinhauser).

Tim caught this fresh 28" hen steelhead this week (photo courtesy of Tim Fischer).

Karol caught this fine buck steelhead in the Rocky River on his most productive lure; a feathered Kastmaster spoon (photo courtesy of Karol Boryka).

Chris caught this plump 19" trout in Wallace Lake on a Forage minnow spoon recently (photo courtesy of Chris Fontana).

Anglers are catching trout from the safety of fishing platforms and peirs at our Cleveland Metroparks lakes.  The thaw has triggered a better bite in recent days.

Justin had an enjoyable week on the river, as evidenced by some of the fish he caught in the photos above.  On Sunday, he landed 5 of 7 steelhead he hooked on jig and maggots while most of the folks around him struggled.  Then, on Wednesday, he made the best of the high water and caught several lake-run white suckers (photos courtesy of Justin Marconi).

A morning sunrise over a muddy Rocky River swollen with snow-melt.

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Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund

Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund helps provide a rewarding fishing experience to Northeast Ohio anglers through the stocking of rainbow trout, channel catfish, largemouth bass, and other sport fish. The Fund also supports children's fishing derbies and creation and restoration of essential habitat in the ponds, lakes, and rivers within Cleveland Metroparks.


For more information or to make a gift to Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund, please contact:

Karen J. Kannenberg, CFRE
Manager of Gift and Donor Development
Cleveland Metroparks
4101 Fulton Parkway
Cleveland, Ohio 44144
216.635.3217
kjk@clevelandmetroparks.com

Note:  For all other fishing related inquiries please contact Mike Durkalec at (440) 331-8017 or md@clevelandmetroparks.com