Anyone familiar with Cuyahoga River near Kent Ohio?

mkile

mkile

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Oct 19, 2007
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My daughter is a student at Kent State and I've been looking for fishing in the area. Its a long drive I would like to have something to do when we make weekends out of our visits. I have not had a lot of luck finding information. The Cuyahoga River runs through town but most of the info about this river only mentions Steelhead fishing much further down stream. Does anyone have any experience in this river around Kent and up stream from Kent?
 
I've not fished it, but if you Google "smallmouth bass fishing, cuyahoga river" there is a lot of info. It evidently is an at least decent smallmouth bass destination.
 
Not good for wading, lots of river traffic, and the fishing isn’t the best near Kent. Some smallies around but nothing to write home about.
 
It is supposed to be pretty good pike fishing around Kent, and further upstream, but I never did it. But don't tell anybody. It's a secret.;-)
 
I tried google and found some info on the pike fishing. Apparently there are decent numbers of pike in and around Kent. Here is a link to a conversation that has some info. Note that Rockwell Lake is a major water supply for Akron (upstream of Kent), so it is completely closed. No telling what is in that. But it might be worth checking upstream of that certain times of the year. ... or so I have heard.

A former neighbor used to hit the C up near 422 in the Spring which is why I said upstream in my first response.
 
hooker-of-men said:
Is this common knowledge?
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Yes, it's common knowledge, or at least was. In fact, the main reason looked at this topic (having no knowledge of the fishing there) was to see how many responses it would take until somebody mentioned it.

Almost literally the poster child for industrial pollution. (There and Boston Harbor.)
 
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hooker-of-men said:
Is this common knowledge?

www.smithsonianmag.com

The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times, but No One Cared Until 1969

Despite being much smaller than previous fires, the river blaze in Cleveland 50 years ago became a symbol for the nascent environmental movement
www.smithsonianmag.com www.smithsonianmag.com

If not, a little tidbit for ye
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Yes, it's common knowledge. There is even a song about it. "Burn on Big River" by Randy Newman.

I had heard about the river catching fire for years. But when I first saw the photos of it on fire, it was still shocking.
 
A lot has changed for the better on the Cuyahoga. There is even some discussion of stocking it with steelhead in the future.
 
Zipper said:
A lot has changed for the better on the Cuyahoga. There is even some discussion of stocking it with steelhead in the future.
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Good to hear. Getting national attention does have some benefits.
 
What? Not even one like for pike?;-)

Yea, its common knowledge that the river that flows through the mistake on the lake was at one time very polluted, and even caught fire several times. There is even at least one beer named Burning River, but it's a pale ale, and I don't like pale ales, so I never tried it. I'm not defending it, but the reality is that the C probably wasn't much worse than the Mon (for example) back in the day, and it's a lot smaller. Now it is likely a whole lot cleaner than the Mon.

Ironically, I was watching Cleveland channel 8 news this morning and Kenny was out at the 5 mile crib. It was built between 1896 to 1904 if my memory is correct. I only watched a small part if it, so no summary. It was actually built because the old water intake was closer to shore and pollution from the river was getting in. Right away I thought of this thread. 5-mile crib is a large unique structure that was actually occupied until the 1960s (also from memory) and is still in operation (fact). It's worth checking out on the internet if you are into that kind of thing.
 
My in-laws live on the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It really is a beautiful area, especially in the fall. The Cuyahoga River runs through the park and features some great hiking trails and areas to view wildlife, including otters, beavers, herons, and eagles, among other animals. I can’t speak for the fishing in the park, but I have seen quite a few anglers on the river in the wintertime and during the spring. I assume they are trying to catch steelhead coming upriver from the lake.

I know Cleveland is often the object of jokes, but it really can be a nice area and the river has been vastly cleaned up since the 1960s when it became the symbol of industrial pollution.
 
Thank you for the Cuyahoga information. Sounds like I need to learn how to fish for pike! That could be interesting too. The Kent area doesn't seem to offer much trout fishing.
 
To be totally honest. Ohio doesn't offer much for trout fishing. If you mean trout streams, the nearest to Kent is probably over an hour drive. Mohican State Park area. However, there are a few lakes in NE Ohio that get stocked with trout. Punderson State Park comes to mind, and I think it is less than 30 miles from KSU. It probably takes 40-45 minutes to get there from KSU. There is a campground there, and cabin rentals and it's a nice little park. There might be one or two lakes even closer that are stocked with trout, but I didn't look it up. You could check the ODNR website.

If you are into private trout clubs, I know of one (Pine Lake) that is only about 20 miles, though it probably takes a good 40 minutes to get there from KSU. They have a couple of ponds and a small creek that they stock. I used to live in the area and checked it out. It was nice then, and even looks nicer now based on the website. Reminded me of PA. Very peaceful. I didn't join though. They used to have a small fly shop (Orvis I think) over 20 years ago, and it was up for sale. I was considering buying it, but after crunching the numbers, I would have had to keep my regular job. So I decided not to pursue it. I don't know if the fly shop is still there, but it probably is.
 
Oops. I'm starting to repeat myself.
 
FarmerDave said:
To be totally honest. Ohio doesn't offer much for trout fishing. If you mean trout streams, the nearest to Kent is probably over an hour drive. Mohican State Park area. However, there are a few lakes in NE Ohio that get stocked with trout. Punderson State Park comes to mind, and I think it is less than 30 miles from KSU. It probably takes 40-45 minutes to get there from KSU. There is a campground there, and cabin rentals and it's a nice little park. There might be one or two lakes even closer that are stocked with trout, but I didn't look it up. You could check the ODNR website.

If you are into private trout clubs, I know of one (Pine Lake) that is only about 20 miles, though it probably takes a good 40 minutes to get there from KSU. They have a couple of ponds and a small creek that they stock. I used to live in the area and checked it out. It was nice then, and even looks nicer now based on the website. Reminded me of PA. Very peaceful. I didn't join though. They used to have a small fly shop (Orvis I think) over 20 years ago, and it was up for sale. I was considering buying it, but after crunching the numbers, I would have had to keep my regular job. So I decided not to pursue it. I don't know if the fly shop is still there, but it probably is.
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FarmerDave, thanks for the information. I'll look into Pine Lake or find a guide. Maybe the best way to find water in the area. I had found Mohican State Park, which looks like a great place to investigate whether fishing or not.
My back up plan is to find new places to fish in Western Pa. I'm from Eastern Pa and haven't fished a stream west of State College.
 
mkile said:
FarmerDave, thanks for the information. I'll look into Pine Lake or find a guide. Maybe the best way to find water in the area. I had found Mohican State Park, which looks like a great place to investigate whether fishing or not.
My back up plan is to find new places to fish in Western Pa. I'm from Eastern Pa and haven't fished a stream west of State College.
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You are welcome.
 
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