Fishing Report - March 18, 2010

Published March 18, 2010 at 6:36 p.m.

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 currently exhibiting very good fishing conditions.   The water is transitioning to a green stain with moderate flow.  Based on the weather forecast for the coming days, the river will continue to drop in level and clear into the weekend.  Anglers can keep an eye on the flow gage for the latest trend in river flow and temperature at the following link:    

Following nearly a week of muddy water, anglers began hooking steelhead in the Rocky River on Tuesday afternoon as the water was dropping and have continued to do so through today.  A good number of fresh steelhead entered the Rocky River following the elevated river conditions.  Most of the freshest steelhead, many of them being “skippers” (16-18” younger steelhead), have been concentrated in the northern mile or two of river.  A good number of fresh, as well as darker, steelhead are also distributed throughout the entire river system, though, so anglers should not feel the need to remain confined to the lower river.  Angling effort over the past day has been high, which is to be expected given the very good fishing conditions and beautiful weather, and that will also be the case this weekend.

Although most of the steelhead caught in the stained water this week have been on bright spawn sacks, other offering will work well in the coming days as the water continues to clear.  Plastic trout worms (especially in white and pink), live minnows, and small jigs tipped with a few maggots or waxworms will all take fish.  With the warmer water temperatures, fly fishing will also be a productive option.  Egg flies and nymphs will work well upstream in the river, and baitfish imitation streamers are a good bet for the fresher fish further north in the river.  Spoons such as Little Cleos, spinners such as Roostertails and Vibrax, and plugs such as Kwikfish will also catch fish this time of year, as well, and can make a good change-up offering in more pressured areas.

A growing number of Lake Erie white suckers have entered the northern few miles of the Rocky River over the past two weeks, as well.  Suckers can be great fun for experienced and inexperienced anglers alike on light tackle.  Kids and suckers are also a perfect mix.  Fishing a worm or grubs right on the river bottom with a sinker is a simple and effective tactic for suckers, as is fishing nymphs or small wet flies on a light fly rod.  Suckers congregate in huge numbers at river fords, which impedes their upstream migration. 

Cleveland Metroparks lakes and ponds are largely open water again, and trout anglers are taking full advantage.   Wallace Lake was stocked with 600 pounds of trout this morning, with a few dozen large brown trout in the mix.  Other lakes worthy of anglers efforts are Ledge, Shadow, Judges, and Ranger lakes; all of which have received planting of trout throughout the winter.  Power Bait in various colors has been a top producer of stocked trout this week.  We plan to stock the East Branch Rocky River with trout late next week.

Cleveland Metroparks Acquires more land on the Rocky River.      Cleveland Metroparks is always exploring ways to add more acres to our Park District, especially land situated along our stream corridors.  The most recent planned purchase is the protection of 62 acres of quality wooded stream corridor along the East Branch Rocky River in North Royalton.  My staff conducted biological assessments of this property in May of 2009 to inventory the quality of the aquatic resources present and have a very high recommendation for acquisition based on the wetlands and stream networks onsite.  You can learn more about this parcel in the recent article at the following link:  

This is just one of several such land acquisitions in the works within the watershed.  Cleveland Metroparks staff takes very seriously our responsibility of finding ways to protect the remaining natural areas in Cuyahoga county so that future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty and wonder of the natural world.

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 .

Tight Lines,

Mike

 

Local legend "Steelhead Jim" about to release a Rocky River chromer this week (photo courtesy of Dan McCutcheon).

 

Rick shows off a beauty caught by the first riffle yesterday.

 

Kory displays a plump hen before its release back to the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Kory Kyovsky).

 

Al shows of a very fresh surprise brown trout he caught on a glow jig while steelhead fishing this week.  This was one of two stray brown trout caught in the area this week, the other was reportedly a 5 pounder taken in the Rocky River yesterday (photo courtesy of Al Katigbak).

 

Josh caught this beautiful trout on Power Bait at Ledge Lake this week (photo courtesy of Josh Maskovich).

 

Dan is back at it, hooking those Rocky River chromers like it's his job (photos courtesy of Dan McCutcheon).

 

An angler fishing the open water of Wallace Lake for trout this morning.

 

Wallace Lake was stocked with 600 pounds of rainbow trout today, with a few dozen large brown trout also in the mix to add some spice.

 

We'll call this portion "name that fish", which was caught in the Rocky and sent to me by a local angler.  Based on the photo, this is either one of two very closely related species, which must typically be examined in person to truly tell apart.  But I'll play the odds and call it a striped shiner (as opposed to the common shiner, which is also present but less common in the Rocky River).  (photo courtesy of Kyle Hinderer).

 

A fresh steelie taken by the boat ramps yesterday.

 

 

An angler found this chunky largemouth bass on the East Branch Rocky River while scouting for trout.  Although not the most common predator fish in the river, largemouth are present in some of the deeper, slower holes that contain cover such as fall trees (photo courtesy of Jonathan Hatfield).

 

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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

 

Note:  For all other fishing related inquiries please contact Mike Durkalec at (440) 331-8017 or md@clevelandmetroparks.com

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