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

***April 1, 2008, update:  The river is still elevated, but large numbers of lake-run white suckers and some steelhead were being caught at barriers today.  The county wildlife officer issued 8 citations for snagging along the river today, so anglers would be wise to abide by the fishing regulations.***

***March 31, 2008, update:  The river is finally dropping into shape after flooding again late last week, but with the current forecast could flood again soon.  An angler's best bet would be to keep an eye on the flow data, as anything under 600-700 cfs would be considered in the reasonably fishable range.***

The Rocky River fishing conditions are currently excellent, at least for the time being. The river is exhibiting a nice green stain and moderate flow. The outlook for the coming days will be dependant upon how much rain and snowmelt we get: if it ends up being dry the river conditons will continue to be very good, but if it’s wet the river could flood again relatively quickly given the saturated ground. Anglers would be wise to check the <river flow gage data>  regularly during the coming days to determine the trend in river conditions.

Given the current near prime river conditions, steelhead will be caught on a variety of offerings. Bait fishers will do well on spawn bags (brighter colors in stained water, more subdued colors as the water clears), jig and maggot combinations, and live or salted minnows. Fly anglers will do well on all the standard fare, including egg, nymph, and streamer patterns. Anglers who prefer to fish articial lures can catch fish on spinners (with silver in the finish is always good), smaller spoons, Flatfish style plugs, and even small rubber “trout worms”. Basically, just about anything a steelhead will hit can work well during prime river conditions of early spring! Anglers can expect some steelhead to be spawning in shallow, gravelly riffles, too.

Rainbow trout were stocked today in the East Branch of the Rocky River between Royalton Road and Wallace Lake (500 pounds) and in Wallace Lake (300 pounds). The fish were put in Wallace Lake so that anglers would have a good opportunity to catch trout this weekend even if the river floods again. A few trophy fish in the 3 to 4 pound range were stocked among the fish, that average 12”-15”. Keep in mind that the trout limit in the river is currently 2 per/day and in Wallace Lake it’s 3 per/day. One Lorain man learned this the hard way, as wildlife officers issued him citations totaling nearly $700 in fines for overbagging steelhead trout in the area.  The Park District plans to stock another 800 pounds of trout early to mid next week, too.

Park District lakes and ponds are currently largely ice free, allowing for open water fishing opportunities (as opposed to ice fishing). Rainbow trout in the ponds and river bite well on small jigs (especially black and chartreuse colors) tipped with maggots and suspended under a small ice bobber, as well as Power Bait (various bright colors) fished near the bottom. Fly fishers can target trout with streamers, such a Wooly Buggers in black, white, or olive. Some anglers also reported success jigging lures such as small Swedish Pimple spoons. Waters stocked in recent months include Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Ranger, and Judges lakes.

The Park District plans to continue stocking the East Branch of the Rocky River with catchable size trout throughout the spring season. 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

Jim caught this gorgeous chrome steelhead on his flyrod recently (photo courtesy of Jim G.).

John caught his first Rocky River steelhead this week (photo courtesy of John).

Chuck displays one of the steelhead he caught this week (photo courtesy of John).

Zach assisted me with trout stocking today on the East Branch Rocky River and Wallace Lake as part of his high school community service project (as outlined in the following four photos)

Thanks again for your assistance today Zach! 

This past Saturday, the folks from flyandfloatfishing.com (Sean, Brett, Jim, and Matt) offered a free fly fishing seminar at North Chagrin Reservation and had a very good turnout.  Thanks for sharing your time and expertise guys! (photo courtesy of Sean S.).

Sean shared this cool photo of a few flyrods lined up during the seminar (photo courtesy of Sean S.).

Jeff caught this rainbow trout at Wallace Lake today just before we stocked it again!

During the first few warm, wet evenings of spring many species of amphibians mate.  This spotted salamander was crossing the parkway in Cleveland Metroparks during such an evening (photo courtesy of Jared Minzan).

This spring peeper was also found on a roadway during an evening migration.  The species name crucifer, latin for "cross-bearer", refers to the characterisic cross ("X") shaped marking on the frog's back (photo courtesy of Jared M.)

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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