The spring run of steelhead in Lake Erie were a little later this year. This worked out very well for my spring trip to Cleveland. It is not easy to adjust to the location of one of the best steelhead rivers in the area. We fished two miles from Hopkins International Airport, one mile from our hotel and between to municipal golf courses.
Did I mention that the Rock and Roll hall of fame was within 5 miles. This is VERY urban fishing.
The Rocky River was full of fresh run steelhead and they were strong, big and fiesty. Most of the fish were over 4 pounds and we were able to take several each day that were around 10 pounds. Of all of my trips to New York and Ohio, this was the absolute best.
Many of our fish were caught on size 14 Pheasant Tail nymphs, we were very successful with egg patterns and about 25% of the fish were caught on streamers.
Of course the streamers provided the most drama and best fights. We had to abandon our "light" 3x tippets and move to 1x and 0x to be able to absorb the tremendous energy that the steelhead were able to apply at the take. Then the fight was on! Not one fish gave up easily, many were lost just before landing and many were lost after the first big jump or headshake. This is a great gamefish.
Although the spring rains kept us off of other rivers, this area provides lots of opportunities, some more remote. The trick is to catch the water conditions and the spawning run just right. This year were were lucky, other times we were able to catch some fish each day.
The Great Lakes Steelhead fishing is worth your time and effort. It is also an excellent value, compared to the Northwest US steelhead fishing.
FishON!
Harry