CLEVELAND, OHIO — One of the most unique top-flight fishing opportunities in Northeast Ohio is for steelhead trout, and this week the Ohio Division of Wildlife assured anglers the world class fishery will continue in the years to come.
Steelhead trout are a glamorous game fish, sought after by sportsmen as they fiesty trout make their spawning runs up cold-water streams around the continent. Northeast Ohio steelhead trout fishing is especially unique, because of a plethora of public waters to fish, such as the Rocky River in the Cleveland area that received 37,000 of the yearling trout on Monday morning.
Before they are done, ODOW fisheries experts will release 410,000 yearling steelhead in the Rocky, Chagrin, Vermilion, Grand and Ashtabula rivers and Conneaut Creek. The young trout will head for Lake Erie to gorge on baitfish, growing quickly before returning next fall and winter as trophies for wading fishermen to pursue.
Rocky River’s share of this year’s yearling trout will be unique. With Covid-19 concerns at hatcheries in Michigan and Wisconsin, the usual mix of steelhead trout were not available this spring. Instead, the Rocky River is receiving 81,000 steelhead trout from a Shasta, Calif. strain raised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at its hatchery in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
The experts report that the Shasta trout are expected to spawn a little earlier than the wild trout from Michigan and Wisconsin, which will again be available to raise at the Castalia State Fish Hatchery in Erie County this spring.
Steelhead trout fishing making a splash: The spring steelhead trout fishing isn’t over just yet. The snow and freezing rain this week has cooled off the streams and lured a late rush of fresh steelhead trout from Lake Erie. The water levels in the Northeast Ohio streams are dropping. As the water clears, expect all of the usual tactics to come into play, from drifting spawn bags and jig-maggot rigs to fly casting nymphs, small streamers and egg patterns.
Stocked rainbow trout for Rocky’s East Branch: About 2,000 pounds of rainbow trout up to 16 inches in length were released on Thursday in the East Branch of the Rocky River for fly and bait anglers. Area lakes that have been stocked with rainbows include Shadow and Hinckley lakes and the Ohio & Erie Canal ponds over the last couple of weeks.
The pan-sized trout have also been released this winter and spring in Wallace, Shadow, Ledge, Judge’s and Ranger lakes. Wallace, as usual, got the lion’s share of the trout stockings.
Windy weather hampered MWC walleye tournament: A record-setting 160 two-angler teams found it easy to catch a tournament limit of walleye during the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit and Lake Erie Walleye Trail events last week, but very brisk first-day winds helped slam the door on connecting with the trophy walleye for which Lake Erie is famous.
While a 5-pound walleye used to be considered a trophy, they were relatively easy to round up in the MWC event. The top 45 teams all averaged five pounds, or better, for their limit of 10 walleye, including the top four teams that topped the 60-pound mark.
With the brisk winds, anglers planning to make long runs to fish the Lorain and Cleveland schools of walleye, where last year’s top catches were reported, were forced to pick away at the big schools of smaller fish around the Western Basin of Lake Erie.
Michigan anglers Mark Lemke ands Walter Price won the two-day MWC event with back-to-back catches of five walleye weighing 31-pounds, 1-ounce. In Saturday’s LEWT tournament, Ohioans Mike Boswell of Collins and Norwalk’s Scott Boswell won with a 34.88-pound total.
Warming weather needed: When the balmy spring winds show up, so has the good fishing on the inland lakes and reservoirs for bass, panfish and walleye. Mosquito Reservoir saw a hefty catch of largemouth bass at a tournament this week, and the Mosquito Lake State Park Marina has boat rentals, live bait and snacks for anglers.
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