Ohio Steelhead Rivers --The Chagrin and Rocky River

W

Wmass

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Heading to Ohio next week to visit family and I am hoping to get some fishing in. I looked at the forecast for next week and it looks like alot of rain at the beginning of the week and from Wednesday on it looks clear.

My question is how long after a good rain does it take for these two rivers to drop to fishable levels?
 
Wmass,

Wow! looked at Accuweather extended and it shows nothing to worry about a little bit of rain Monday and Wednesday, but that's about it. WeatherChannel says fair amount if rain Sunday thru Tuesday.

If it holds true to recent forecasts, they are exaggerating the amount of tain to cover their butts and it won't be bad. So I'd at least take the gear along.

About the only useful thing I can priovide right now is the USGS site for stream flow.

link

Hopefully someone else can chime in with better advice.
 
I seem to remember that after heavy rains the Chagrin was always blown out for several days after and the Rocky river was quicker to clear but I may be wrong.

Yah, I was looking at the weather channel and it showed alot of rain. Wunderground was more conservative and didn't show that much.
 
Maybe down near the lake. If you want advice about that, you will have to wait foe someone else.

Rocky likely does clear a little faster than the Chagrin, but the Chagrin clears much faster than the Grand.

If you get a rain event that doesn't completely blow out the Chagrin, it clears up in a couple days. Lower Chargin takes a little longer. Maybe 3. The chart on the link reflects that.

With Danial's park and Gates Mills dams lost to history, The Steelhead can make it quite a ways upstream, so you should be able to find fish-able water in either watershed, especially if you are willing to move further from the lake.
 
Yeah, the weather looks alright. You should fine.

The Grand will be blown out until every single steelhead makes it out of the river
 
I was actually thinking about hitting the upper half of either the Rock or Chagrin before classes tomorrow but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off. Hope to find some time this weekend maybe
 
The Rocky and Chagrin both clear at about the same rate. For fly fishing the Rock will generally fish once it is under 300cfs. The Chagrin can be more forgiving with clarity into the mid 300s. The issue we are having right now is that the ground is saturated over here and even a small amount of rain is mudding things up. There are plenty of fish in both rivers and plenty of public access.

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/Portals/wildlife/Maps/Rivers%20&%20Streams%20Maps/chagrinriver.pdf

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/Portals/wildlife/Maps/Rivers%20&%20Streams%20Maps/rockyriver.pdf

This link is pretty accurate as to fishability as well:

http://www.riverboss.com/
 
PatricKC and Streamerguy gave excellent advice. Try the Grand tribs, if the Chagrin and the Rocky are blown.
 
The Grand tribz aint got no feesh ;-)

But yeah, if everything's blown the smaller creeks will be the only game in town......and the PA tribs. Hit a couple smaller streams last week when the big water was high and had a great day. Lots of fresh fish around too.

Patrick gave great info regarding the clarity and the ground saturation, and those maps are a great starting point.

And what Farmer said, with the dams out more steelhead can make it quite a ways upstream. Doesn't mean there will be a ton of fish up there, but it's nice to find solitude on some sections.
 
streamerguy wrote:
I was actually thinking about hitting the upper half of either the Rock or Chagrin before classes tomorrow but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off. Hope to find some time this weekend maybe
Click to expand...

And here I thought you had no class. ;-)
 
I made it a point to look at the Chagrin at 322 last night. Looked fine to me. Some color, but level was good.

Of course that was as observed at 45 mph.

As far as the map of the Chagrin that Patrick linked? The dam just upstream (south) of 322 is long gone. It opened up miles more of the river. Just watch where you park.
 
FarmerDave wrote:
streamerguy wrote:
I was actually thinking about hitting the upper half of either the Rock or Chagrin before classes tomorrow but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off. Hope to find some time this weekend maybe
Click to expand...

And here I thought you had no class. ;-)
Click to expand...

Only 3 more weeks! :-D

Now that I think about it, I probably could've checked out the 'hoga this morning. 10 minutes from campus.......surprised I haven't given it a shot yet. Not sure how many steelhead make it this far upstream but I'm sure there's a few.

Doing the traditional opening day shenanigans on Saturday. Thinking steelbows for Sunday if everything works out. Need to make at least one more trip before they head out.....
 
Holly crap batman. I thought opening day was last Saturday. Good thing I missed it.

I know that opening day is always the first Saturday after the Second Tuesday in April, but I didn't sit down with a calendar to figure it out.

On the bright side, it looks like I get to miss it twice.
 
Hahaha. I haven't missed an opening day since I started fishing. Always the same little stream every year, then lunch/dinner at my grandparents afterwards as well as Friday evening. I hate the whole concept of opening day but gotta keep up with tradition. At least for one more year ;-) Could care less about the actual fishing, I can fish for troot any day I want. Kinda fun to watch the circus.
 
Yea, I hear that.

 
Never fished the Grand, what are some access points for the tributaries? How far is it from Cleveland?
 
They're about 30-45min from downtown depending on which stream, and traffic.

As far as access points, the Lake Metroparks(http://www.lakemetroparks.com/) provide a lot of access to the Grand and its tributaries. Take a look at the website and Google Maps. Easy access.

Right now there's really no need to resort to the little streams since the big water(other than the Grand) is in great shape and supposedly fishing pretty good. Plus, you'll have more elbow room on the bigger rivers.
 
With the rain predicted on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday can I expect to get good fishing Friday?
 
Depends on how much rain, but yeah, you should be able to find fishable water somewhere.

Planning on fishing somewhere in Ohio on Sunday, and if all goes well I'm hoping to shoot up to the Rock or Chagrin Thursday morning before class. I'll let ya know how I do Thursday if I get out.
 
The Rock fished very good this morning where I was at. Seemed to be a little on the low/clear side but honestly I don't like it when it's much higher. Almost took some spills on the algae covered shale today. Some new studs on my boots would probably help.

Fished two other Ohio tribs on Sunday and did great. Should be good for you if ya go out tomorrow

 
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