CLEVELAND, Ohio — The fishing gene was noticeable absent in most of my family, but for some reason I had a burning desire to to dunk worms and catch bluegills and catfish at a very early age. The best options were a little farm pond in Parma, or the Edgewater Park fishing pier on Lake Erie.
Both required a pint-sized kid to take a long bus ride with bait and tackle.
That was a long time ago. These days, kids and their parents have plenty of fishing options, and one of the very best for a fledgling angler is a trip to the Children’s Fishing Derbies at Wallace Lake in Berea and the Ohio & Erie Canal Fishing Area in Cuyahoga Heights. All of the ingredients are provided by the Cleveland Metroparks and its special Fishing Fund, including a loaner fishing rod and live bait if needed. The fish will be around, too. Rainbow trout and channel catfish were released this week by the Metroparks in both lakes.
Wallace Lake will host the free kid’s derby on Saturday, May 21. Follow the signs on Valley Parkway in Mill Stream Run Reservation, south of Bagley Road in Berea.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Fishing area will be in action on Sunday, May 22. Park at the Canalway Center parking lot, located down the hill from the East 49th Street entrance to Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation in Cuyahoga Heights. Follow the trail from the parking lot to the canal.
For more information, call Youth Outdoors at 216-206-1010. If parents are not accomplished fishermen, plenty of experts from the Cleveland Metroparks and the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders will be on hand. Each day, kids from 4 to 8 years old will allowed to wet a line from 9-11:45 a.m. Kids aged 9 to 15 will be allowed to fish from 1-3:45 p.m. Kids can be registered when they arrive at the big tents that are set up at each site.
The boys and girls will be fishing for prizes for the largest trout, the biggest “other fish,” and the smallest fish. There will also be Casting Challenge contest and prizes for the youngsters.
For elderly parents and angling mentors, there will be a shuttle from the parking areas to the fishing waters. For adults wanting to fish a bit with the kids, hang around. Both kids fishing areas will be open to adults after 4 p.m., but not before.
Fishing clinics coming up: The Cleveland Metroparks will feature a fishing basics session on Tuesday, May 31 from 6-9 p.m. at Wallace Lake in Berea. A pair of “Try-It: Fly Fishing” seminars will be held on Wednesday, June 1 at the Cottonwood Reserved Shelter on the Rocky River, just south of Mastick and Puritas roads on Valley Parkway.
Rocky River still has appeal: The popular spring steelhead trout fishing in the Rocky River is winding down right now, as the spawning trout head back to Lake Erie. Unlike salmon that spawn and die, the steelhead trout will fatten up this summer on Lake Erie baitfish and return year after year.
To pick up the slack, smallmouth bass have been moving into the Northeast Ohio rivers to spawn. They’re eager to feed and will attack tube jigs, spinnerbaits, small diving plugs and casting spoons. Most anglers catch and release the steelhead trout and the smallmouth bass. The walleye that venture into the lower rivers will most often become dinner for fishermen.
Walleye cruising the Lake Erie shallows: Lake Erie’s plentiful schools of walleye have been a bonanza this spring for fishermen who cast lures from harbor breakwalls. Once the sun goes down the walleye head for the rocky shallows to feed on gizzard shad and other baitfish. Cast minnow-style plugs like the Husky Jerk, Bandit and Smithwick Perfect 10, varying retrieve speeds early and often.
Anglers will need a long handle on their fishing net, and a lantern to navigate changing lures and climbing around the breakwalls. Many of the catches and fishing locations have become closely-held secrets. The East 55th Street area has been a top spot, and is usually crowded after dark.
Metroparks ramps, fishing cleaning station: The state-of-the-art fish cleaning station at Gordon Park on the Cleveland lakefront re-opened for the season this week, giving anglers an easy option for filleting walleye, yellow perch and the plentiful rock bass in Cleveland Harbor.
The kiosks for purchasing a boat launch pass for the Metroparks ramps are now in use.
Credit: Source link
