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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
The Rocky River is starting to get low and clear and fishing is becoming more challenging accordingly. Look for the next good spring rain to bring a bunch of fresh steelhead into the system. Anglers can check the latest trend in river flow at the following link:
Steelhead fishing in the Rocky River has been spotty over the past week, with anglers reporting success rates varying from poor to very good. Much of this depends on the area fished, skill level of the angler, and, of course, luck of being in the right place at the right time. A Cleveland Metroparks Ranger checking fishing licenses at the marina area earlier this week reported he saw about 25 steelhead hooked by anglers there in only about an hour, which is about as good as it gets. These are most likely staging fish lurking around that stretch of river for an increase in flow to entice them upstream to spawn. Further upstream, finding fish is more of a persistence game. Anglers putting in some work to fish a stretch of river may be rewarded with a pod of active fish here and there. Some fish are actively spawning, some are already spawned out (spent or dropback steelhead) while others in these reaches are fresh and have no begun spawning.
A number of anglers, myself included, witnessed quite a few empty spawning bed depressions in the gravel, called redds, in upstream reaches, indicating that many fish spawned and already left the river during elevated flow conditions. Still, I believe the majority of the spring run is still waiting to come in following the next good rain. Reports on the Chagrin River are similar.
Fly fishers have been doing well this week with nymph patterns (a size 12-14 black stonefly pattern has been hot) and various colored smaller egg patterns (suckers spawn and glo-bugs). Small marabou jigs tipped with maggots, live minnows, small spawn sacks, and various rubber minnow and tube jig offering drifted under floats have also accounted for plenty of steelhead over the past week. Anglers fishing small spinners, spoons, and minnow plugs have also reported some success.
The second installment of spring trout are being released this morning in the East Branch Rocky River between Royalton Road (Rt. 82) and the river ford crossing just south of Wallace Lake. This complements the fish released last Tuesday in the same stretch of river (600#) and Wallace Lake (150#). The trout are excellent size, with many fish up to two pounds available. Also, the Ohio Division of Wildlife plans to release a load of 500 rainbow trout in Shadow Lake this Friday (April 1st).
Trout continue to be caught in the open waters of Wallace, Ledge and Judges lakes this week. Jigging spoons, bright colored Power Bait, jigs tipped with grubs (maggots or waxworms), shiners (live or salted), and salmon/trout egg sacks and small spinners have all been catching some trout. Some anglers have reported a good bite on small spinners, as well.
The Lake Erie white sucker run is also underway in the Rocky River, too. For anglers looking to put a bend in their rod, these fish are a load of fun and are reportedly make good table fare in fish patty recipes. Suckers tend to pile up in deeper holes in the northern miles of the river before starting to spawn, and transition into riffle areas when spawning. Suckers have among the less discriminating palates of 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.
Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders Overall Tournament Series Championship won on the Rocky River by local angler Craig Delewski. Congratulations to local angler Craig Delewski, who won the overall OCBS championship on the Rocky River this year! Capping this achievement was Craig’s individual win in the Fall Fly Fishing Tournament back in November. Craig said fishing was not easy for him this past weekend during the Spring Fly Fishing Tournament, and identified two keys to his success: 1) changing fly patterns and colors often until he found what the fish were looking for and 2) persistence in seeking active biting fish. Craig caught all his fish that lead to this win throughout the season in the Rocky River (the tournament series is open to all Ohio steelhead streams). Great job, Craig, it couldn’t gone to a better guy!
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
Three year old Malachi had great fun catching suckers in the Rocky River this week. His proud father notes the young angler does 90% of his fishing without any assistance, from baiting the hook, to reeling them in, to releasing them. He has a fishing partner for life! (photos courtesy of Nate Adams).
Thirteen year old Austin Turner caught his first steelhead on his first day fishing for them this week. He ended up landing 2 of 3 hooked and is himself now hooked for life on fishing! (photo courtesy of Al Katigbak).
Some very nice size fresh steelhead are staging around the marina area waiting for that next rain.
"Big Papa Perna" caught this Rocky River beauty this week (photo coutesy of Bob Susec).
Dale caught this lunker stocked rainbow trout in a Cleveland Metroparks lake this week (photo courtesy of Dale Sante).
Dale landed this trophy steelie in the Rock this week (photo courtesy of Dale Fondale).
Tim experience success by the marina this week, as have a number of other anglers (photos courtesy of Tim Matty).
Emmanuel caught this fine chromer on a minnow (photo courtesy of Emmanuel Roman).
Carmen caught these large Wallace Lake trout on Power Bait this week. He was just unhooking the first one when the second one hit! (photo courtesy of Carmen Fioritto).
Pete caught this hen steelie on a sucker spawn fly pattern (photo courtesy of Matt).
Ed caught the plump chromer above, and included the image of the Gulp minnow that took the fish (photo courtesy of Edward Shmitt).
Joe, Jim, Mark and the rest of the gang have been catching some real nice trout in the East Branch of the Rocky River in the area referenced in the report above. Mark's fish at the bottom is 22 inches! (photos courtesy of Mark Fascione).
Another stray brown trout has shown up in the Rocky this week, a 16 inch fish caught by veteran angler Ken Harper (photo courtesy of Ken Harper).
Jim at the Orvis Cleveland shop has been catching some steelies in the "new" steelhead water in South Chagrin Reservation over the past week (photos courtesy of Jim Lampros at ).
Dan has been hooking some real quality buck steelies this week (photos courtesy of Dan McCutcheon).
Congratulations to Owen Conroy on catching his first steelhead on Sunday, and 8.5 pound hen. Sgt. Conroy serves on our Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Natural Resources Enforcement Team (NRET).
Randy and Gio are back at it this week leaving lots of steelhead with sore lips! They have been doing really well drifting 2-3 inch white tube jigs about 2 feet under a float (photos courtesy of Giovanni Quintana).
Jason Dillinger wanted to share the photos above of some glow in the dark steelhead jigs. I can personally attest that when the water gets warmer and clearer in early fall or late spring, in particular, glow offerings after dark can work great. You can fish Cleveland Metroparks waters from 6:00am until 11:00pm, which offers several hours of night fishing opportunties (photos courtesy of Jason Dillinger at ).
Many of us daydream about fishing when we are not on the water. The drawing above is how Gio vents his desire to fish when he's not able to be out there in his waders. We'll start the auction for this orginal piece at $5,000... (photo courtesy of Giovanni "Picasso" Quintana).
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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
This Fishing Report was submitted on 3/31/2011 12:05:12 PM by Seamus and last updated on 3/31/2011 12:05:12 PM.
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