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

***January 20, 2010, morning update: The river is currently still stained, but fishable, and just about completely ice free   Although ice slabs are piled up along the shoreline by the marina, the river channel  is  mostly open. there, too. In fact, folks were already out fishing yesterday in modest numbers despite the elevated flow conditions.  ***

***January 18, 2010, update: The Rocky River is high and muddy from melt-off, but is almost completely open again.  At this rate, Wednesday could offer very good fishing conditions on the main branch, and the east branch should be fishable tomorrow (Tuesday).  A number of anglers are ice fishing on Wallace Lake today, since pond ice is melting more slowly than that in the moving river.***

***January 15, 2010, afternoon update: Since this morning, a huge amount of water has opened up on the Rocky.   In fact, it's the most open water I've seen in weeks.  Significant tracts of the main branch of the river have opened up almost entirely, and large areas are at least partially open.  Also great news (at least for now) is that the water still has a nice green stain and has not muddied significantly, although that could change quickly with continued melt-off.  Bottom line:  get out while you can!***

Fishing opportunties in the Rocky River continue to be very limited.  Most of the river is currently iced over completely and the few areas that remain open still have quite a bit of shelf ice present.  The 24 hour relative thaw we have experienced has not changed the river conditiosn much yet, but if it continues the ice could begin breaking up.  Anglers can monitor the latest trend in river flow and temperature at the following link: <river flow gage data>     (note: icy winter conditions can sometimes make flow gage readings inconsistent/inaccurate)

In light of the very challenging conditions, fishing pressure from steelhead anglers on the river has been low this week.  In the few partially open areas, notably near fords, anglers should plan to offer very slow presentations very close to the river bottom to entice a strike from lethargic winter steelhead.  Live bait, such as fresh salmon/trout eggs sacks, a live minnow, or small jig tipped with maggots are all good bets.  A Flatfish style wobbling plug  worked slowly along an ice shelf can also work as a change-up to get a strike or two from fish hiding under such cover. 

In late December a total of 1,800 pounds of trout were distributed between the following Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds:  Wallace Lake (800#), Shadow Lake (450#), Ledge Lake (250#), Judges Lake (200#), and Ranger Lake (100#).  There has been a very good size diversity in this shipment of trout, ranging form about ¾ of a pound up to 3-4 pound broodstock trout (and everywhere in between).  To add a bit of holiday spice to the mix, the trout supplier included about a dozen golden rainbow trout. 

Angers have been out ice fishing for trout in modest numbers.  Overall, fishing has been reported as slow to fair this past week, with the best bite being reported in the very early morning at first light by several anglers and the bite shutting down as the sun comes up.  This was a similar scenario to last winter, when the stocked trout didn’t  really start to bite well until late January and early February.  Many of the fish have been caught on jigging spoons fished at various depths (such as Swedish Pimple lures) and Power Bait fished near the bottom.  These trout typically also bite well under the ice on small jigs tipped with a few maggots suspended under a small float.  Be especially careful to check ice thickness and integrity as we continue to get a bit of  relative thaw over the coming days (a minimum of 3-4 inches of solid ice is required for foot traffic).

Local Business Highlight:  Steelhead Alley Outfitters.   Pat Robinson, lead guide at Steelhead Alley Outfitters (SAO), put together a neat 2 minute video featuring fly fishing for steelhead on our local streams that owner Greg Senyo recently forwarded to me.  I figured with many of us chomping at the bit to get back on open water readers might enjoy this short clip which might help “scratch the itch” a bit.  It can be viewed at the following link:   <SAO Steelhead Gone Wild video> 

Incidentally,  Pat and Greg not only make part of their living off the local resource but  are great local ambassadors of the fishery.  Greg was awarded the honor of Orvis Fly Tyer of the Year in 2008, and is gaining a reputation for being a very innovative tyer of patterns that work in our region.  Whenever I have talked with him he also brings up concerns about the hot issue of angler access on our streams, offering to do whatever he can to help the cause.  They run a nice website with links to resources on the local fishery that can be found at the following link <SAO website>  and the following is a link to neat steelhead alley fly tying tutorial resource they offer <SAO fly tying blog>. 

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

Captain Rich, who formerly ran a Lake Erie charter service, poses with a nice Wallace Lake trout.  Rich has been catching them as consistently as anyone, and what's been working for him has been jigging a small Swedish Pimple only about 1-3 feet below the ice.  He reports the hits on these lures has been very light.

Late December on the Rock was good to Cory, as evidenced by the three photos above of hefty fish in the 10 pound range (photos courtesy of Cory Kyovsky).

Limited open water conditions at Morley Ford on the morning of this report.

This pair of fly fishers found a stretch of relatively open water in the mid-main branch of the Rocky yesterday afternoon.

Our new electrofishing boat is taking birth in our machine shop this winter.  Thanks to Allen, Frank, and Tim for doing a top notch job so far!

A troupe of geese trek along the frozen river yesterday.  They are no doubt looking forward to the river being released from the icy grip of winter as much as our local steelheaders!

I offer a few photos below detailing the continuation of installation of various high tech water quality monitoring instrumentation on our streams and wetlands around the park.  This project is funded by a state grant:

You'd think I'd be smart enough to put on the pair of rubber coverall bottoms hanging on my office coat rack before going out and sitting in the snow to work...but apparently I'm not.  I must have missed the day they taught that in school and, consequently, have spent the remainder of several days the past few weeks working with a wet butt (not fun).

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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