Ohio's Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing

Stream and pier anglers have an excellent opportunity to catch quality-sized steelhead trout from September through May.

The Division of Wildlife annually stocks five Lake Erie tributary streams with 6-8" yearling Little Manistee River (Michigan) strain of steelhead. These fish migrate out into Lake Erie and spend the summer in the cooler part of the lake before returning to streams during the fall through the spring. Steelhead trout caught by anglers in the streams typically average 25" long and weigh 5-6 pounds. These fish have usually spent 2-3 summers out in the lake (see growth chart below). However, there are a good number of fish that are over 30 inches and weigh more than 10 pounds and have spent up to six summers in the lake.

Ohio's primary steelhead streams are Vermilion, Rocky, Chagrin and Grand rivers and Conneaut Creek. Several other rivers including the Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Huron and Black rivers, and Arcola, Cowles, Wheeler, French, Euclid, Turkey, Beaver and Cold creeks get runs of stray steelhead. While Ohio Division of Wildlife biologists have noted a small amount of natural reproduction, it varies greatly from year-to-year. It is too low and erratic to support the quality fishery that has been developed and that anglers have come to expect. Good quantities of cold, spring water and adequate juvenile trout habitat are also rare in NE Ohio's Lake Erie tributaries. The fantastic fishing has been maintained by annual stocking and by the practice of most anglers to catch and release.  See below for methods and links on how to catch 'em.

For the near future, the Rocky, Chagrin and Grand rivers are scheduled to receive 90,000 fish. Conneaut Creek is scheduled to receive 75,000 fish from Ohio and 75,000 fish from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. The Vermilion River is scheduled to receive 55,000 steelhead. Total targeted annual stocking numbers projected from Ohio hatcheries will remain at 400,000 steelhead; there are no current plans to deviate from this target.  All steelhead for Ohio's program are raised at the Division of Wildlife's Castalia State Fish Hatchery.  Stocking numbers were lower in 2011 due to hatchery contingencies, external production losses, and some disease issues.

During the previous two steelhead seasons (Fall 2008 through Spring 2010), we conducted creel surveys to evaluate our steelhead fisheries and gain knowledge about our fish returns, fishing pressure, and angler demographics and opinions.  Results from the creel surveys have been summarized in a final report (PDF) which is available by clicking here.
 
Thanks go out to the many anglers who participated in our follow-up study of Ohio's steelhead anglers in cooperation with the Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources.  We learned a lot of good things about the popularity of the Ohio steelhead program, motivations of our steelheaders, and the avidity of our steelhead anglers.  A PDF copy of the final report can be found by clicking here.

Where to catch 'em: May 15, 2013 - Most steelhead have begun their journeys back to Lake Erie for the summer; a few fish are still in the lower portions of the main rivers.  Note that the US Fish & Wildlife Service will be in Conneaut Creek over the course of this week putting lampricide into the river and crews will be collecting larval lamprey.  All steelhead have been stocked for the year.  Please gently release any smolts that you may catch.  
      

Vermilion River:	Fish from the Vermilion boat ramp up to State Route 2.
Rocky River:	Fish from the metroparks marina to the fords.
Cuyahoga River:	Fish in Cleveland Harbor, and at the Rt 82 dam.
Chagrin River:	Fish from the soccer fields upstream to the State Route 2.
Grand River:	Fish from the Fairport breakwall up to Painesville.
Arcola Creek:	Fish the river mouth, estuary and creek in the metropark.
Ashtabula River:	Fish from the river mouth up through Indian Trails Park.
Conneaut Creek:	Fish from the river mouth up to Creek Rd.

 (Click on a location name above to open a map window)

Don't forget the daily bag limit of 2 steelhead trout and salmon in the aggregate valid from September 1st through May 15th!

For additional information about Rocky River Metroparks and their weekly fishing report, click here.

There are many public access areas on Ohio streams. If you are on private property, you must have landowner permission. Don't trespass! Private landowners have the right to restrict access on their property. In Ohio, you can gain access to the stream from public access points, but the private land ownership includes their land under the stream. The streams listed above are navigable streams, meaning you can float a boat through them to fish; however, you cannot get out of your boat and stand on private property to fish unless you have the landowner's permission.

Fish Consumption advisories have been issued for certain Lake Erie trout and salmon species and locations in Ohio. Find out more specifics and guidelines from our Lake Erie Fish Consumption Advisory Web Page

Real-time stream flow data is available at the following links for the Grand, Chagrin, Rocky, Vermilion rivers and Conneaut Creek. Want to know how much rain or snow fell in the last 24 hours? Click this: Intellicast Web Site for the region.

How to catch 'em:
Typical set-ups are long (7-10'), limber, spinning or fly rods with light line (4-8 lb. test).  Common lures in the fall, early winter, and again in the spring include small (1/16 to 1/80 oz.) marabou or synthetic hair jigs tipped with maggots rigged with split shot under a light pencil-thin bobber.  Spoons (Little Cleo, KO Wobblers) and spinners (Rooster Tails, Vibrax, etc.) are commonly used on piers, beaches and lower stream reaches. Flyfishers (using 6-9 wt. rods and weight-forward lines) prefer larger, weighted fly patterns, such as nymphs and streamers like woolly buggers, princes, egg-sucking leeches, stonefly and shiner patterns and clouser minnows.  Egg fly patterns (single or cluster, sucker spawn, etc.) work well as a single fly or in tandem with a nymph or streamer once the fish move upstream.  Salmon or trout eggs are fished as either individual eggs or grouped together in mesh "spawn bags" about the size of a dime or nickel.  Eggs can be bounced along the bottom with the current or fished at or near the bottom suspended under a bobber.  The fish will be oriented to cover or moderate to deep water pools in the fall, and move into cuts or gravel runs as they make their way upstream for spawning.  As stream temperatures warm during the spring, expect fish to be more likely to chase flies, lures or bait and to be found in riffles and runs. Then in mid April - mid May, they move back downstream and into Lake Erie for the summer.  Click on the following links to learn more about Basic Steelhead Fishing techniques and Advanced Steelhead Fishing techniques.

Recent Stocking Numbers (yearlings):

Stream	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Chagrin	105,763	90,467	60,537	90,009	108,353
Conneaut	75,005	75,001	44,719	75,086	75,184
Grand	105,058	105,001	60,871	91,288	90,149
Rocky	90,090	90,293	61,058	109,327	106,996
Vermilion	83,192	72,684	38,284	55,077	67,917

Steelhead Growth Chart (below)

Years in Lake	Average Length (Inches)	Average Weight (Pounds)
1	17	2-3
2	23	4-5
3	26	6-7
4	28	8-10

 

 To contact us:

Division of Wildlife Information: 1-800-WILDLIFE 

Related Links