Welcome to the Rock!

The Rocky River (A.K.A. the Jewel) is a fantastic urban fishery for steelhead in the Cleveland area.  This trib is stocked with about 90,000 steelhead smolts each spring.  The river is well managed by the Cleveland Metro Parks (my kudos to MD and his compadres).  There are literally miles of river to fish and tons of access areas along the river.  The scenery on the river is great during all seasons. The key to success on this river is simply learning the water.  You have to learn the winter holding areas and where the fish will be in the spring and fall.  The best production on the Rock is generally March and April, but there are a good number of fall and winter fish for the persistent.  In my opinion, one of the best properties of the river is how well distributed the fish are through the system.  The river tends to get significant pressure down low, but if you are willing to do a little hiking and fish the upper system, you can find great holes and some solitude.

A main challenge of the Rock is fishing pressure.  A great fishery in the middle of an huge urban center is bound to attract a few fisherman.  Fish can be spooky due to the pressure and develop a real case of lock-jaw pretty quickly. The best measure for this is to be willing to cover a lot of water and change your patterns often.  I have found many times that just drifting these fish something different than what everyone else has been throwing at them will elicit a strike.

The Rocky is one of the few Steelhead Alley tribs that generally has some open fishable water nearly all winter long.  Once again, you need to put some time in on this trib during the warm weather to identify the areas that may stay open during a deep freeze.  You also need to know something about water depth and where holes are.  During the winter months there tends to be a lot of shelf ice along the banks of the Rock.  Shelf ice is very dangerous...even more so if you have no idea how deep or fast flowing the water may be under that ice.   I recommend avoiding the shelf ice all together.  The good news is that there are several fords and dams along the Rock that maintain a high flow all winter long and tend to have some open water around them most of the time.  These areas can be very productive in the winter if you are patient.

During the cold winter weather I had my best success with white woolly buggers and various colors of Glo Bugs.  These pattern seem to be pretty visible in the cold green water of winter.  The winter fish really hug the bottom of the stream and you have to get your presentation right on the end of their noses.  The bite can be very subtle.  This is certainly one time of year I am a fan of the strike indicators.  Personally, I like Thingamabobber indicators.  They are easy to apply to the line, tend to stay in place, and are easy to move when you want to change the depth of your presentation.  During the winter months, a strike indicator may do nothing more that a quick stop in the drift to indicate a bite.

In warmer water, the patterns vary according to water clarity and somewhat on the presence of stone flies in the system.  In stained water you'll want to increase the size of your offering and you can select brighter colors.  At times in the spring, the water can be Gin clear.  During these water conditions, you need to greatly down-size your patterns and offer as natural of a presentation as you can.  I like cream, yellow, gold, and orange colored sucker-spawn type patterns.  Brown and black stone fly patterns are a must for the spring season.  Various nymph patterns like Copper Johns are very good as well.  As the water warms, the fish will strike the brighter colored streamer patterns as well.  Once again, you will have to change patterns often if you are not getting strikes due to the immense fishing pressure these steelhead face daily.

One of the most memorable moments on the Rock this year was with my friend Rob and his son Teddy.  Rob has been wanting to learn to fly fish.  I invited him to go on a trip to PA with me in May of 2010 to fish for brookies and brownies.  I helped Rob select all of his gear and got him started casting. 

Rob is a sharp guy and a bit of a perfectionist.  Needless to say, he followed the rules and picked up some basic casting skills pretty quickly.  One Saturday evening in April, on the spur of the moment, I suggested to Rob that we take Teddy and hit the Rock for an hour or so.  I knew there were plenty of steelhead available and it would be a good time to introduce Rob to some of the skills he would need on the streams when we go on our trip.  We all piled into my truck and off we went. 

I took Rob to a nice quiet spot with little pressure and plenty of fish.  I showed him how to drift and flip his line right back up the stream at the end of the drift.  I started him out with an indicator to make things a little easier.  While I was making a couple of drifts to demonstrate what I wanted him to do, I hooked into a nice little buck.  After a few wild jumps, the buck found his way free.  That seemed to bet Rob a little pumped.

I set Rob on another nice hole and left he and Teddy alone for some good father and son time.  On Rob's 4th or 5th drift he hooked into his first steelhead.  Again, Rob was the model student.  He was very patient and followed every instruction I gave him on how to land that fish.  I was impressed with how Rob took his time to get this fish to the net.  His attention to detail paid off and he landed the very first steelhead he hooked-up with.  But most importantly, he and Teddy have a story together they will never forget.  Now that is what it is all about!

Of course I did have one painful memory on the Rock this year.  I don't highly recommend this...so don't do it.  There are several theories on how to remedy this little situation.  I personally just drove the hook all of the way through, crimped the barb down with my hemostats, and it came out easily.

Some complain that the Rock is over pressured and not a great fishery.  I have heard that the numbers of steelhead in the Rock are on the decline.  Personally, I don't think any of that is true.  What is true is that steelhead are a tough species to target.  They can be fickle.  They can be spooky.  And, they can be elusive.  But the reality is this; if you do your homework, get to know the river, and bounce your presentations off of their noses...you will enjoy the fishery we call the Jewel. 

I can't wait to starting pursuing steelhead on the Rock again in the fall.