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
***January 24, 2011, afternoon update: Shadow, Ledges, and Judges lakes were stocked with ta total of 850 pounds of trout this morning for ice fishing. The river is locked pretty tight with ice following the extended period of sub-freezing temperatures.***
***January 21, 2011, afternoon update: Wallace and Ranger lakes were stocked with trout this morning for ice fishing. Approximately 900 pounds of the 1,050 pounds of fish were released in Wallace.***
The Rocky River currently offers a fair amount of open water with a green stain and moderate flow following the mid-week thaw. This is looking like it will be a short lived scenario, though, as the very low overnight temperatures in the coming days will serve to begin locking the river with ice and slush again. Ice formation on the flow gage probes can lead to inaccurate readings during extended winter conditions:
The fishing pressure on the river has been light this week, although a handful of those steelhead anglers have experienced success. Anglers who want to fish the river should get out as soon as they can (before the river gets too icy and slushy again) and try slowly drifting spawn bags, live minnows, or jigs tipped with maggots or waxworm along the river bottom, or working a wobbling plug along the abundant ice shelves.
The mid week thaw had little negative affect on the ice on our lakes and ponds. Ice fishing for stocked trout at Wallace Lake has been good this week, with more sporadic reports of success from Shadow, Ledge, Judges, and Ranger lakes. Stocked trout have been biting on a variety of offerings, including Power Bait, small jigs tipped with maggots or waxworms suspended below a float, jigging spoons, canned corn, and live minnows. Some days one of these offerings seems to work better than the others, so having more than one bait option with you is a good idea. Anglers are also catching some modest size sunfish (mostly on maggots and waxworms) and the occasional good size largemouth bass and channel catfish near woody structure along the west shoreline of Wallace, as well. Ice anglers can use two rods and up to six tip-ups per Ohio fishing regulations. And remember to watch your rod at all times, as one unlucky angler had a fish pull his pole through a hole in the ice at Wallace Lake this week! An angler using an underwater camera noted that although he spotted trout from the surface all the way to 18 feet deep, the most actively biting trout he found were closer to the surface.
The second round of trout are tentatively scheduled for release at Wallace and Ranger lakes tomorrow (January 21), and at Shadow, Ledge, and Judges lakes on Monday. A total of 1,900 pounds of trout are scheduled for this round (100 pounds more than we usually stock), with about half the fish slated for Wallace Lake. Check back to the fishing report in the coming days for updates confirming the stocking.
Rocky River Watershed Council Annual Meeting on Wednesday January 26. I encourage folks to attend the annual meeting of the Rocky River Watershed Council at the Rocky River Nature Center on Wednesday January 26, 2011, from 7-9:00pm. The featured speaker will be Harvey Webster, Wildlife Resources Director for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who will be doing a presentation on bald eagle recovery in Ohio. This is significant to the watershed, since we have had successful eagle nests on the Cleveland Metroparks portion of the Rocky River the past two years in a row. There will also be presentations summarizing the successful conservation projects and initiatives within the watershed over the past year, as well as an opportunity to meet the Board of Trustees of the watershed council over light refreshments. Please come join us for this exciting free meeting! Children are welcome.
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
Doug displays a good size Wallace Lake rainbow trout that bit a jigging spoon.
Anthony from Stinks Bait and Tackle, a supporter of our kids fishing derbies, reports that trout were being caught on a variety of offerings at Wallace Lake on Wednesday, including jig and maggots, PowerBait, and jigging spoons. Anthony also wanted to let folks know that Stinks is having a winter sale with 15% off all items in the store until February 14. You can reach Stinks at (216) 741-1335 for their latest fishing report (photos courtesy of Anthony Avancini).
Congratulations to Everett, who caught his first steelhead in the Rocky River with the assistance of Gio and Randy. Nothing like catching your first steelhead under some of the toughest winter conditions! Everett is a biology major at Baldwin-Wallace College (photo courtesy of Everett Sheets).
"Wild Bill" and Lee have been catching trout consistently on the north end of Wallace Lake this week.
The photos above depict Brian hooking and landing one of many trout he's caught this week. Brian is about the most consistently successful trout angler I've run into on the ice, often catching fish regularly when those only feet from him are experiencing slow fishing. Part of his "secret" is knowing how to successfully use the Vexilar sonar unit (on the ice in the photos above) to detect where the trout are and when they are approaching his offering. One day this week he caught and released 20 trout, as well as a good size largemouth bass and channel catfish at Wallace Lake!
Although many portions of the river are still icy, there is currently a fair amount of open water on the Rocky. The photos above depict Morley Ford and a view upstream from Puritas Road bridge on the afternoon of this report. Given the very low temperatures being forcasted overnight, though, open water could ice up quickly.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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, CFREManager of Gift and Donor DevelopmentCleveland Metroparks4101 Fulton ParkwayCleveland, Ohio 44144216.635.3217kjk@clevelandmetroparks.com
This Fishing Report was submitted on 1/20/2011 1:44:11 PM by Seamus and last updated on 3/19/2011 1:44:11 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