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 exhibiting very good steelhead fishing conditions this morning, and given the weather forecast the water should continue clearing into the weekend.  The Chagrin River is looking to offer similar conditions in the coming days.  The continuation of mild weather is making this, overall, the most conducive winter for steelheading we’ve ever had on our local streams, so get out and take advantage of this mid-winter gift!  Anglers can check the latest trend in weather and river flow at the following link: <river flow gage data> 

The Rocky River has a perfect green stain and moderate flow this morning, and a number of anglers have reported steelhead success over the past few days.  Steelies have been hooked on brightly colored spawn sacks (trout and salmon eggs) about the size of a dime to nickel, marabou or hair jigs (1/32 to 1/64 oz are popular) tipped with maggots or waxworms, 3” rubber troutworms and tube jigs (white is often productive), various fly patterns (globugs, sucker spawn, beadhead nymphs, wooly buggers, and baitfish streamers), live or salted minnows, and wobbling Flatfish style plugs.  With all the high water this year, fish are as spread throughout the system as they’ve ever been, with fish in pods from the marina all the way up to Berea Falls on the East Branch Rocky River, as well as being well up into the West Branch, too.  The river is completely ice free and should remain so at least through the weekend.

Last week a ton of trout (2,000 pounds) were stocked between five Cleveland Metroparks lakes and they have been biting great this week.  These include Wallace (900#), Shadow (450#), Ledge (450#), Judge's (100#), and Ranger (100#) lakes.  The size range of these trout varied from 12” to some trophy fish up to 4+ pounds, with a good percentage of quality fish in the 16-18” size class.  A few bonus brown trout were mixed in with the rainbow trout.  These fish complement a similar stocking conducted in the same lakes conducted in mid December.  Since our lakes are currently ice free, anglers are fishing from the solid ground of fishing platforms, docks, and areas where the shoreline drops immediately into deeper water.  Offerings worth trying include PowerBait, small jigs tipped with maggots, jigging spoons (such as a Swedish Pimple or Forage Minnow), live minnows, corn, and small spinners (the latter since the lakes are ice free).  The limit per angler is five trout per day at Shadow Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal fishing area (we default to ODNR’s trout limit at these two jointly managed locations that they help stock), 3 per day in all other lakes and ponds managed solely by Cleveland Metroparks, and two per day in the river this time of year.

As a reminder, all fishing guides operating on Cleveland Metroparks property require a permit as of January 1, 2012.    This permit allows guiding on 31.2 miles of the Rocky River (including 15.7 miles of steelhead water), as well as steelhead water on the Chagrin (9.5 miles), Cuyahoga (5.3 miles), and number of smaller streams…as well as access to guide on any other inland water of the Park District.  A permit is not needed by state licensed charter captains fishing Lake Erie who launch from the Rocky River boat ramps.  More information, including a copy of the permit application, can be found at the following link:  <Fishing Guide Permit Program>

Fishery Highlight:  The Chagrin River.  I occasionally receive inquiries (twice over the past two weeks, for example) wondering why I don’t feature information on the Chagrin River as much as I do the Rocky River in this report.  The varied reasons why include the fact that overall access and facilities on the Rocky are more developed, we have less of the Chagrin in our land holdings, and because, unlike the Rocky, our property boundaries on the Chagrin move in and out of private property.  With this being said, the Chagrin is still an outstanding fishing option offering a total of just under 10 miles of river in Cleveland Metroparks available to anglers, and I offer the following overview of access to the Chagrin River steelhead fishery.

On the northern Chagrin River closer to Lake Erie, Lake County Metroparks most notably offers fishing access on some outstanding steelhead water at 237 acre <Chagrin River Park>.  This section of the river offers a mixture of deeper pools and productive runs that often hold fresh steelhead.  Several miles upstream of that, Cleveland Metroparks offers 4.0 miles of steelhead water containing a mix of riffles, runs, and some of the finest winter steelhead pools you’ll find anywhere in our <North Chagrin Reservation>.  The <ODNR Chagrin River steelhead fishing map> includes general locations of these accesses and a few others up to the site of the former dam in Gates Mills.  In a winter storm last year, though, that dam was removed by Mother Nature, adding many more miles of new steelhead water upstream.  That “new” area extends all the way up to, and beyond, the 5.5 miles of water flowing through Cleveland Metroparks <South Chagrin Reservation>.  The stream is, overall, much smaller and shallower in this river reach, having more of the feel of a woodland trout stream than a steelhead river, which is an experience some anglers enjoy and is also quite conducive to fly fishing, in particular.  The Chagrin River further offers a respectable smallmouth bass fishery from spring through fall, as well as panfish, catfish, carp, and several sucker species.

The fishing conditions on the Chagrin are looking to be very good in the coming days.  If you normally fish the Rocky and are looking for some new scenery, or live further east and have been considering fishing the Chagrin, or a new stretch of the Chagrin, grab the fishing gear and a lunch and spend some time this weekend enjoying the great weather and exploring the Chagrin River.

Reader Experience Shared:  What do you know, I guess I don’t completely make this stuff up!  Submitted via email by John Lamb on 2/1/12.  “Just wanted to thank you for posting color combinations and fly patterns in your last blog. You always do this, but it is the first time I actually paid attention (-:  I used a prince nymph to hook a 6-8 lb. steelhead located in a tailout on the Rocky River yesterday.  No, I don’t have a photo, nor do I have my Prince nymph anymore, because I beached the trout, and while trying to drag it a little farther with my hand on the tippet it broke and the fish squirmed away with my Prince nymph. I’ll have to catch him again to get my fly back!!  The Prince nymph had the contrasting colors you suggested (i.e. orange, black, and purple) and the wings were white.  I’ll have to see if Craig has any good ones tied.  See you along the river!!  - John Lamb”

Mike’s Note:  Nice job, John, and at least you had fun before breaking the fish off.  One of the most dependable rules of being a consistently successful steelheader is to be adaptable, and that certainly includes changing-up colors and color combinations until you find something that works on a given day.  Doing this will definitely put more “silver” in the bank for you!

Supporting Cleveland Metroparks’ Fishing Fund has never been easier!   As a new offering for the convenience of donors, our Manager of Gift and Donor Development has made available a very user friendly way to donate to our  Fishing Fund online.  Check out the following link for more info or to make a donation to directly support our fisheries program:  <Fishing Fund Donations Online> 

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

Mark (top) and his friend Rob have been catching some nice steelies in the Rocky lately (photos courtesy of Mark Cox).

Adam caught this fine Wallace Lake trout on a black jigs tipped with maggots right before the snow hit this past Sunday (photo courtesy of Adam Wunderle).

Joyce proudly displays a gorgeous buck steelie she caught yesterday.  Note the duct tape on the knee of her waders.  She had an annoying leak while on the river and in desperation stopped by my office and that is the best I could do for her in a pinch (just one of many important public services I provide).  Of course, it did not work, but didn't stop her from hooking up either!  (photo courtesy of Joyce Polasko-Smith).

Owen displays a nice steelie taken in the Rock on a swung purple Intruder fly this week.  Owen is with Ohio Steelhead Drifters and is currently working through the requirements to get a guide permit in Cleveland Metroparks (photo courtesy of Owen Murphy).

Gio shows of a nicely colored buck steelie on a wintery day on the Rock.  It's easy to forget how icy the river was just recently!  He also put together a cool video of his buddy Justin catching a steelie under harsh winter river conditions that can be viewed at the following link:  <Steelhead in Slush> (photo and video courtesy of Giovanni Quintana).

The trout have been biting very well around Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds this week.  Brian caught a bunch in Wallace Lake on small jigs tipped with maggots.

Doug can catch the steelies on the spinning/noodle rod just as well as on his fly rod, as illustrated by this fresh fish he took on a red spawn sack recently (photo courtesy of Doug Mouat).

Mike from Medina shows off a trout double-header he landed this week at Judge's Lake.  Mark Cox put together a neat video about their afternoon of fishing there which can be viewed at the following link:  <Judge's Lake Trout Fishing>  (photo and video courtesy of Mark Cox).

The white Spade Tail worm has continued to produce some fresh steelies for Travis this week (photos courtesy of Travis Males).

Dan (top and bottom photos), and his buddies Mike, Ken, and Mitch, all experienced success on the northern Rock over the past few days.  Dan reports that he hooked "too many to count, and all chrome" on salmon egg spawn sacks yesterday (photos courtesy of Dan McCutcheon).

Local angler Gary vacationed in Peru recently and made a nice catch of piranha, which he reports were a tasty mild flavored fish (photos courtesy of Gary Breckenridge).

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The Rocky River Fishing Report is updated weekly (typically on Thursday afternoons) between September and May and monthy between June and August.

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2012 Cleveland Metroparks Registered Fishing Guides (name, company, contact)

#12-001  Monte Casey, The Steelhead Guide  www.steelheadguide.com                                                

#12-002 Jeffery Liskay, Silver Fury Guide Service & Schools  silverfury@wowway.com  (440) 781-7536 

____________________________________________________________________________________   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, including a web donation option,, please visit:  http://www.clemetparks.com/recreation/fishing/fund.asp.