Download the mobile app!
Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
Rocky River was named one of the “150 Best Places to fish in America” in the June 2007 issue of Field and Stream magazine
It's certainly fitting that the river is just starting to transition from muddy to greenish for St. Patrick’s Day! As the river continues to drop in level and begins to clear, patient anglers are finally getting a long awaited window of opportunty for spring steelhead fishing on the Rocky River. As long as we don’t get too much rain in the coming days, the weekend prospects on the river are excellent. Anglers can check the latest trend in river flow at the following link:
Thanks to the nearly constant elevated flows on the Rocky River over the past several weeks, large amounts of sediment have been flushed from the system allowing the river to be fishable at a level that would normally be too muddy to fish. Despite still being stained, anglers near the marina this morning were experiencing very good fishing at a flow of around 700 cfs, which would normally offer marginal fishing conditions at best. Look for fishing conditions to continue to improve into the weekend, as long as we don’t receive too much precipitation. Although most anglers are hooking up on larger, brighter colored spawn sacks in the muddy water, some anglers this week are proving that you can still catch steelhead fly fishing in stained conditions (as evidenced by some of the photos in the report below). Larger, dark or contrasting colored streamers or bright, densely tied egg patterns are good muddy water choices for fly anglers. As the river continues to drop two things are becoming apparent; 1) the river has changed a lot since the major flood two weeks ago and 2) there are plenty of steelhead in the river!
The Lake Erie white sucker run is also well underway in the river, too. For anglers looking to put a bend in their rod, these fish are a load of fun and reportedly make good tablefare when used in fish patty recipes. Suckers tend to pile up in deeper holes in the northern few miles of the river initially, and transition into riffle areas when actively spawning. Suckers have about the least discriminating palate among fish in the river right now, and will bite offerings ranging from a small nymph or wet fly, to grubs on a jig, to a worm fished on the river bottom with a sinker. Given their willingness to bite and abundance, suckers make a very good quarry for less experienced anglers or children, in particular.
Anglers have an increasing amount of open water available in lakes and ponds of Cleveland Metroparks as the ice continues to melt. Fishing reports for stocked trout at Wallace Lake have slowed over the past two weeks while reports of success are increasing at Ledge and Judges lakes. Jigging spoons, bright colored Power Bait, jigs tipped with grubs (maggots or waxworms), shiners (live or salted), and salmon/trout egg sacks have all been taking trout, and as more water clears of ice small spinners are also a great bet.
The first installment of spring trout on the East Branch Rocky River is tentatively planned for Tuesday March 22nd, although if the river is flooded the fish from that first batch will go into Wallace Lake instead. Shadow Lake is clearly posted as closed to fishing at this time. You can check the report for updates on this situation into spring.
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
Depite the water still being a bit muddy this morning, Chris, Jim, and Ray hooked and landed these fresh run steelhead near the boat ramps in a span of only about 10 minutes. Reports from the northern river have been very good this morning, and conditions only look to improve into the weekend.
Local fly fishing guides Ryan Buddie and Owen Murphy had a successful float trip on the main branch of the Rocky River in Cleveland Metroparks this week. Check out their blog at for more information about their trip (photos courtesy of Owen Murphy).
We are pleased to report that, for the third year in a row, the Rocky River eagle pair is incubating eggs (they reared young successfully the past two years). To many anglers delight, the big raptors sometimes can be observed flying low over the river hunting for steelhead and suckers this time of year. Please respect any trail closure signs you see while walking along the river, since they are in place and being enforced to protect the eagle nest area (photo courtesy of Lisa Romaniuk).
__________________________________________________________________________________
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
This Fishing Report was submitted on 3/17/2011 1:44:06 PM by Seamus and last updated on 3/19/2011 1:44:06 PM.
Including GPX (Universal GPS Format), KML (Google Earth), and XLS (Excel) files.
Gives You Access To:
Download GPS files of fishing spots. Create Custom Maps of fishing spots. Fishing predictions w/ future date & location. Featured Listings for your fishing business.
$7 month or $49 year