Fly Fishing Report on the Rocky River Ohio
Rocky River is the name of both a city or suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and a river that flows into Lake Erie. It is part of what’s locally referred to as steelhead alley. From October through April, it receives some very nice runs of Lake Erie steelhead making it a popular destination of the Cleveland anglers as well as visiting anglers from other locations. Like its neighboring sister river, the Chagrin River, it has plenty of water that’s ideal for steelhead. We update the Rocky River fly fishing report weekly, so be sure to check back with us.
Most of the bottom consist of gravel and small rocks but there’s some clay substrate. In some areas, sandstone and shale exit. The fly fishing methods and strategies used for steelhead fishing on the Rocky River are the same as those used on most other Lake Erie steelhead streams. As with any of the Lake Erie tributary streams, just keep in mind that the distance upstream the steelhead migrate, mostly has to do with stream levels as well as the weather conditions. Different water levels vary the exact location of the majority of the steelhead and you must keep track of the current location. Local anglers are a big help in this respect. It isn’t complicated to determine where to fish. You will see where the action is by the number of anglers present at any location. Most likely, it means steelhead are being caught there. You don’t want to waste a lot of time casting in water
void of steelhead.
The Cleveland Metroparks provide the best public access on the Rocky River and its tributaries. There are plenty of places for the steelhead to hold.
The mostly shale-bottom river water levels can rise and fall fast after heavy upstream rains. It is very important to keep a close eye on the flows of the river. It is best when has reached its high point and begins to fall. Some color to the water makes it even better. Low, clear flows are much more difficult to fish. Look for flows averaging about 300 cfs. The USGS stream data on your left will give you the stream levels.
Flies:
We have a complete line of flies for steelhead and salmon for the Vermilion river. We have selected them as the most popular flies from thousands of patterns that have been developed over the years. We have some of our own Perfect Fly steelhead and salmon patterns. They imitate the hexigenia mayfly nymph, certain caddisfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs and fish roe or eggs that are found in the stream throughout the year. We also have a full line of popular wet flies, egg flies, Spey flies that are very popular. We hope you will give our flies a try.
Current Rocky River Fishing Reports:
02/18/2020 Steelhead are being caught in good numbers. Our Perfect fly steelhead nymphs are working good. Swinging is okay as well. Fish the deeper pools.
03/11/20 Stream levels are okay and fish are being caught in good numbers. This should continue for this coming week.
03/21/2020 There are plenty of steelhead in the river. We recommend steelhead nymphs, like the Perfect fly, Giant black stonefly nymph, and other PF steelhead nymphs..
07/03/20 Smallmouth bass fishing has been and should continue to be very good. Use the Perfect fly Crayfish bass patterns. The lead dumbell eye crayfish is working best .They are also taking our new line of Popping Bugs.
08/30/20 Smallmouth bass fishing is still very good. They are taking our crayfish and poppers. Now is the time to get ready for the up coming steelhead season. The will be coming in the middle of September. Send us an email for a gear and fly list.
10/07/20 Steelhead are starting to enter the river but more rain would help. Now is the time to get your flies and gear in order. Send us an email at: sales@perfectflystore.com
10/21/20 Steelhead are in the river and being caught in good numbers by our customers.
11/07/20 We continue to get good reports on steelhead from our customers. They are using our streamer patterns swinging, nymphing and egg flies. Shoot us an email for a recommended fly list.
11/20/20 The stream continues to turn out some good steelhead catches for our customers.
11/20/20 Stream levels are just a little above normal level and we continue to get some very good steelhead reports from customers.
12/20/20 Stream levels are currently high. We have been getting some very good reports on steelhead from customers when the levels are okay.
12/21/20 The stream levels are high but should fall back down soon. We were getting some good reports from customers catching steelhead.
05/01/21 The steelhead fishing is done for the season. Check back with us for the fall run.
08/21/21 The salmon start moving into the river the first part of September followed by the steelhead. Now is the time to get your flies and gear together.
09/06/21 Smallmouth bass fishing is still very good. Our crayfish and poppers are working good. Now is the time to get ready for the up coming steelhead season. The will be coming in the middle of September. Send us an email for a gear and fly list.
09/17/21 Salmon are in the river and being caught by our customers. Steelhead will soon follow them.
09/27/21 Salmon are being caught. Get ready for steelhead.
10/07/21 Both salmon and steelhead are being caught by our customers. Stream levels are currently at a normal level.
10/18/21 Lots of good reports have come in on both salmon and steelhead. Stream levels are high as of this morning but should fall back down fast with more fish in the river.
10/28/21 The heavy rain has the levels up high but falling. We have been getting good reports from customers prior to the higher levels.
11/04/21 The stream levels are still high but we did receive a couple of good reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
11/12/21 The stream level is very high right now due to recent rain. It should fall back down fast. We have been getting good reports from our customers fishing for steelhead.
11/20/21 The stream levels have been high but falling down to near normal level. It should be good this coming week.
11/29/21 The stream is still a little above normal but turning out some steelhead for our customers. Swinging our egg sucking leeches and using our steelhead nymphs are working.
12/08/21 The stream has been very high and we didn’t receive any reports from anyone this past week. It is falling down fast and should be fine in a day or two.
12/16/21 The stream is back down to a normal level in good shape. We received three good reports from customers fishing for steelhead the past few days.
12/24/21 The stream is at a normal level in good shape. We received two good reports this past week.
01/01/22 Happy New Year. The stream is down to a normal level in good shape. We didn’t receive any reports from anyone this past week likely due to the Xmas holiday.
01/09/22 We received two good reports from customers catching steelhead this past week. The water is cold but our steelhead nymphs like the Giant Black and Hexigenia one are working.
01/17/22 We received one good report from a customer fishing this past week.
01/25/22 We received another good report from a customer catching steelhead this past week. Conditions are fairly good.
02/02/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone this past week but conditions are still okay. The water did come up a lot yesterday and today.
02/10/22 We received two good reports from customers fishing for steelhead this past week. Conditions are okay. Use our steelhead nymphs like the Blacks and Hexs.
02/18/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week. Stream levels are currently high.
02/26/22 Stream levels are still very high and the water highly stained. Give it two or three days to drop and it should be good again.
03/06/22 The stream is down to just a little above normal and in good shape. The water is much warmer and you should be able to catch fish. Try our Sucker spawn fly and steelhead nymphs.
03/14/22 Stream conditions are still okay. Our customers continue to send in good reports. The Sucker spawn fly is hot right now.
03/22/22 The stream is at a normal level and in good shape. There is still opportunity to catch steelhead. Smallmouth bass will be active with the warmer weather pattern.
04/07/22 The stream levels are fine and we are getting good reports on steelhead catches.
09/12/22 Steelhead are starting to enter the river. Now is the time to get your flies and gear in order. Send us an email at: sales@perfectflystore.com
09/19/22 Steelhead are being caught. We received two good reports from customers fishing this past week.
09/26/22 Both swinging and nymphing methods are producing for anglers fishing for steelhead. We received two more good reports from this past week.
10/09/22 More good reports from customers fishing for steelhead have come in. Good numbers and sizes are being caught.
10/31/22 We are still getting some very good reports from customers catching steelhead. Both swinging our streamers and nymphing methods are working good right now.
11/19/22 Our steelhead nymphs and egg flies are working better than swing our streamers. We continue to get good reports in spite of the cold weather.
11/30/22 The stream is still near normal and turning out some steelhead for our customers swinging our egg sucking leeches and using our steelhead nymphs. Extaz eggs are working good.
12/31/22 Stream levels have been rising and are above normal levels. We are still getting good reports of steelhead being caught. Spey flies are working well.
02/03/23 We received two good reports from customers fishing for steelhead this past week. Use our steelhead nymphs like the Blacks and Hexs.
03/12/23 The stream is down some and hopefully we will start getting some more good steelhead reports.
04/05/23 The stream is turning out some good steelhead for our customers. High water levels have been a problem but fishable now. Swinging our steelhead flies and nymphs are working.
08/27/23 Smallmouth bass fishing is still very good. They are taking our crayfish and poppers. Now is the time to get ready for the up coming steelhead season. The will be coming in the middle of September. Send us an email for a gear and fly list.
09/18/23 More good reports have come in from customers fishing for smallmouth. It is time for steelhead to start entering the river.
10/02/23 We are getting our first reports of steelhead being caught.
10/09/23 We received another report of steelhead being caught. Let us help you get ready for the big run with the right flies and gear.
10/20/23 Stream levels are up and bringing in good numbers of fish. Swinging our egg sucking leeches is working well.
11/02/23 Stream levels remain up and good numbers of fish continue to come in.
11/09/23 You should be able to catch some nice steelhead. The stream has plenty of them to catch.
12/29/23 Good numbers of steelhead are being caught. Our Hexigenia steelhead nymphs and Egg sucking leech patterns are working good.
03/13/24 There are plenty of steelhead in the river. We recommend steelhead nymph – Perfect fly’s Giant black stonefly nymph, and other Perfect Fly steelhead nymphs..
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies:
Give us a call 800 594 4726 or write us (sales@perfectflystore.com) for recommended flies and gear.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh