Fishing Report - April 17, 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
The Rocky River fishing conditions are good, with the water on the clear side with a green stain to the deeper areas. The weekend outlook is looking to be similar, with a small amount rain in the forecast being welcome as the river continues to clear. The pleasant spring weather has lured many anglers outside this week, although a bit of hiking can lead you to your own little piece of paradise on the river. Anglers can check the latest <flow gage data> to determine any changes in river conditions.
Steelhead are currently well distributed throughout the Rocky and Chagrin rivers, with a good number of trout spawning and visible as darker shadows in the riffles in the upper river reaches. One of several hot spot of spawning activity has been just upstream of Cedar Point Road on the East Branch of the Rocky River, where many fly fishers are enjoying sight fishing in shallow, clear water riffles in that area. One tip I would suggest in that situation is to use a single fly pattern, as tandem rigs inadvertantly foul hook fish very easily in that situation. A small, dark nymph pattern or tiny egg pattern is often a productive choice in such a situation for trout or suckers.
Other anglers are choosing to focus on the non-spawning steelhead located in deeper river areas. A good place to look is a deeper hole downstream of a spawning riffle, where there is often a mix of fish including those that have spawned aready (called “spent” or “dropback” steelhead), silvery fish that have not spawned yet, as well as a few younger “skipper” steelhead in the 15”-20” size range. These fish are often feeding on eggs washing downstream from the spawning areas and can be very conducive to feeding. Under clear water conditions the flies aready mentioned earlier work good in these areas, too, as well as smaller, more subdued colored spawn bags, jigs/maggots, and minnows. A baitfish streamer or Woolly Bugger can also be good producers for fly anglers. Some anglers prefer to fish articial lures and 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 in spring.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife has been stocking steelhead smolts (6”-9” juveniles) at the Emerald Necklace Marina this week. These small fish are not legal to keep or even possess. Please release these fish carefully and immediately if you catch any, as they are the future of our steelhead fishery. I would further advise anglers fishing in that area to use larger hooks and bait offerings (or stick with artificial offerings) to avoid hooking many of these small trout.
A few good sized smallmouth bass have also been reported from the river this week, mostly caught incidentally by steelhead anglers fishing with minnows. Streamer flies and smaller lures (spinners and plugs) will take their share of smallmouth bass in the coming weeks, as well as other live baits such as crayfish and leeches. Most larger smallmouth have been caught in the northern river reaches. Please consider quickly releasing any larger bass this time of year, as they are preparing to spawn and natural reproduction is responsible for sustaining this fishery.
Cleveland Metroparks stocked 800 pounds of rainbow trout in the East Branch Rocky River (600#) and Wallace Lake (200#) on Wednesday. The fish in the river were stocked at various locations near access points between Royalton Road (Rt. 82) and the ford just upstream of Wallace Lake. Furthermore, the Ohio Division of Wildlife is scheduled to stocked 500 rainbow trout at Shadow Lake on Friday April 18th. These latest fish supplement the trout that have been stocked around the Park District in recent weeks (check archived fishing reports for more info regarding previous stockings). Power Bait, salmon eggs, worms, corn, and small spinners are among the offerings these trout will eagerly grab.
Two courtesy docks at the marina were installed on Wednesday this week for the convenience of early season boaters, as well.
Noteworthy fish observations this week. A northern pike, a rare catch in the Rocky River, of approximately 27” was caught and released by an angler at Morley Ford earlier this week. During fish sampling with a Case Western Reserve University Ichthyology (fish biology) class on Tuesday, several golden redhorse suckers were collected among the abundant white suckers. Redhorse suckers are a species that are not tolerant of pollution, so it’s an encouraging sign that they’ve been showing up in the river. Also on a positive note, rainbow and greenside darters were very abundant in the area sampled. In addition to being beautifully colored little fish, these are both what we call an indicator species, sort of a “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to water quality and aquatic habitat.
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
John caught this fine hen on a small green hare's ear nymph fly (photo courtesy of John J.).
Chris caught this beautiful 29" buck steelhead this week (photo courtesy of Chris M.).
Fabio caught this big steelhead fly fishing the Chagrin River recently (photo courtesy of Yuri).
Cleveland Metroparks staff and CWRU students performing fish sampling with electrofishing gear this week.
One of several nice smallmouth bass collected during sampling (all fish were released unharmed).
Two CWRU biology students display a steelhead before it's release.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife has been stocking juvenile steelhead (smolts) in the Rocky River near the marina this week. The river is slated to recieve a total of 90,000 of these small trout.
Here's a cool photo of freshly stocked juvenile steelhead feeding on emerald shiners. Those little guys didn't waste any time putting on the feed bag!
One of several nice steelhead caught by Tom (photo courtesy of Tom K.).
Tom's buddy Randy also got in on the great steelhead fishing action (photo courtesy of Tom K.).
A good looking sucker caught on the fly rod (photo courtesy of Tom E.).
Jon caught this Wallace Lake rainbow trout using a jig tipped with maggots under a small float on his ultralight rod.
You have to love being able to fish for steelhead in a T-shirt instead of winter gear! (photo courtesy of Eric P.).
Sean with a fine specimen (photo courtesy of Chris M.).
This goby had an appetite bigger than it's mouth! (photo courtesy of John P.).
Chris caught this steelie with perfect fins from the Chagrin River. Although the odds are against it, this is what a wild naturally reproduced trout should look like (photo courtesy of Chris 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
Mike Durkalec