CLEVELAND, Ohio – Northern Ohio’s ice fishing season should have been boosted by average winter rainbow trout in Cleveland Metroparks ponds and lakes last Monday. The stockings were on schedule, but Mother Nature effectively pulled the plug on ice fishing time.
Popular Lake Erie ice fishing has been delayed, and possibly any hopes for ice fishing this winter around the Lake Erie Islands and Lake Erie Harbors, due to unseasonably warm temperatures and high winds from the south this week.
The popular Kurt Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament scheduled for Saturday in Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island has been canceled. The shallow waters of East Harbor that fish for bluegills and crappie often initiate ice fishing in this region, but not this winter.
Cleveland Metroparks releases 3,000 more trout: The Cleveland parks system added 3,000 pan-sized rainbows to Wallace, Shadow, Ranger and Judge lakes in the Cleveland area last Monday. It was the second and last stocking of winter trout of the cold season.
As usual, Wallace Lake in Berea dominated the averages with 1,400 trout, followed by Shadow (750 pounds), Ledge (650) and Ranger and Judge’s (100 each). A few golden, brown and brook trout were also released.
To spice up the fishing, an albino brook trout and a few tiger trout have also been released.
There is some skimmed ice on Cleveland Metroparks lakes, but Fisheries Manager Mike Durkalec reports that the ice cover is not thick enough to support anglers on the ice. Some fishermen have been cutting holes in the shore ice cover from the safety of fishing docks and fishing platforms.
There is open water in ponds and lakes, and Durkalec says spoons tipped with worms or waxworms can entice trout to bite. Trout are usually caught year-round on small marabou rigs or bare hooks tipped with Power Bait and grub baits.
Clarion River Trout Fishing Seminar Set: The Museum Trout Club will feature noted fly fishing guide Damon Newpher for a free public presentation on fly fishing on the Clarion River in western Pennsylvania on Saturday from 2 to 4 in the afternoon.
The special program will be in the Cleveland museum’s Rare Book Room. You need to register. Contact [email protected]
Cuyahoga County hunters proposed four-deer season: The Ohio Wildlife Council has proposed a four-deer bag limit for statewide deer hunting dates for 2023-24 in Cuyahoga County . The proposed dates for next year’s gun deer hunting season are November 27th through December 27th. December 3 and 16-17.
The deer archery season is from September 30, 2023 to February. 4, 2024; Youth Deer Gun is November 18-19, 2023; and the deer hunt is January 6-9, 2024. The deer bag limit increases are designed to slow herd growth and increase hunting opportunities.
Steelhead trout fishing could be good this weekend: Rain showers have led to high water in northeast Ohio’s steelhead streams, but anglers are hoping for calmer waters and steelhead fishing be reactivated before the end of the weekend.
All rivers have very good numbers of trout spawning. Good numbers of steelhead also have surprising numbers of trophy trout that exceed the 30-inch mark. The Cuyahoga River and Euclid Creek should also offer good steelheading.