Fishing Report - March 13, 2008
Rocky River was named one of the “150 Best Places to fish in America” in the June 2007 issue of Field and Stream magazine
***March 17, 2008, update: Anglers were catching a few steelhead at barriers today despite the Rocky River still being fairly elevated with a brown stain. This is a short window of opportunity prior to more rain and snowmelt in the forecast which will cause the river to flood again. The flow gage is out of service again so anglers should watch the weather and plan their trips accordingly.***
***March 14, 2008, update: The Rocky River is currently very high and muddy. Look for the river to drop into good fishing condtions again after several days of relatively dry weather without significant snowmelt.***
***March 13, 2008, afternoon update: Due to sustained snowmelt throughout the day, the river was getting elevated and muddy by late afternoon. Keep an eye on the flow gage data to determine the latest trend in flow.***
The Rocky River is finally dropping back into good fishing conditions, with the river currently exhibiting moderately high flow with a nice greenish brown strain. Looking at the forecast, though, rain and snowmelt will very likely cause the river to “blow out” (flood) again by the weekend. If you would like to fish the river in the near future the goal should be to get out there as soon as you can! The good news is that the ice jam that was located by the marina earlier this week is now gone, allowing fresh fish to move into the lower river umimpeded. Also, after nearly a week of being out of service, the Rocky River <flow gage data> is back online. Anglers would be wise to check this resource regularly to determine the trend in river conditions over the next few days.
Many anglers experienced modest success steelhead fishing this week, with a fair number of Lake Erie run white suckers also turning up in the northern reaches of the river recently. A few fresh silver steelhead are around, but most this week have had at least a blush of spawning color. Numbers of suckers will continue to increase until their run peaks later in spring. Drifting hot pink or chartreuse spawn sacks is a great choice for steelhead in stained water conditions. Some anglers have also been doing well drifting jigs (various colors) or live minnows the past few days. Other good choices under these conditions are wobbling plugs and flies such as larger brightly colored egg patterns or dark colored streamers with some brighter contrast, such as an Egg Sucking Leach pattern.
Although ice on Park District ponds is not safe to venture out on, anglers fishing from the solid ground of fishing platforms and points sloping into deeper water are still catching rainbow and brown trout. Waters stocked this winter include Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger, and Judges lakes. Small jigs (especially black and chartreuse colors) tipped with maggots and suspended under a small ice bobber and Power Bait fished near the bottom have both accounted for their share of trout this winter. Some anglers also reported success jigging lures such as small Swedish Pimple spoons.
The Park District plans to commence stocking the East Branch of the Rocky River with catchable size trout beginning about the third week of March, and administer weekly stockings throughout the spring. Furthermore, the Ohio Division of Wildllife plans to stock Hinckley Lake with 2,500 rainbow trout on April 3, as well as Shadow Lake with 500 trout on April 18.
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 .
Good Fishing,
Mike
Chuck displays two nice steelhead he caught in the Rocky this week.
Bob has been catching about a 50/50 mix of steelhead and white suckers the past two days, and caught and released this big sucker this morning. Incidentally, Bob was the angler in the Associated Press photo that appeared in a Florida paper earlier this winter (that I included in a past fishing report).
Conditions at Morley Ford on the date of this report. Bill (pictured) caught a steelhead on a minnow earlier this morning.
Tony caught this nice steelhead on a red spawn sack this morning.
The river near the marina is clear of ice again.
A trio of buffleheads cruises along near the marina this morning.
Despite the snow, these bluebirds know that spring is just around the corner.
Quite a few "dropback" or "spent" (spawned out) hen steelhead, like the one pictured above, have been turning up lately.
The following three photos are courtesy of Ross B.
The next two photos were taken by Jeff A. last week.
Thanks for sharing those great photos, guys!
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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
Mike Durkalec