Weather forecast calls for return of steelhead trout fishing: Northeast Ohio Outdoors Notebook

The fall season has arrived, and the cool, rainy weather is already luring steelhead trout up Northeast Ohio's rivers and streams.

View full sizeD'Arcy Egan, The Plain DealerThe Rocky River, which winds through Cuyahoga County, is a good place for steelhead trout fishing.

Autumn officially arrived today, which should bring the first runs of steelhead trout up the local rivers and streams. Chalk one up for the recent cool nights and rainy weather, which have the trout cooperating this year. Fair catches are already being reported around Northeast Ohio.

Getting anglers in a steelheading mood is the upcoming 18th-annual Steelhead Expo at Rocky River Nature Center on Oct. 1, a combined effort of the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland Metroparks. The location is ideal, with the show perched on the banks of the Rocky River in the Cleveland Metroparks, one of the most accessible steelhead trout streams in the Midwest.

The Rocky River Nature Center is on Valley Parkway in North Olmsted, between Shepard Lane and Cedar Point Road.

Local experts will host sessions on fly tying and casting for trout with flies, spinning and center pin tackle. The seminar schedule ranges from beginning fishing to advanced techniques with spey rods. Local tackle shops have steelhead gear for sale. Ohio Division of Wildlife biologists will update Ohio's world-class steelhead trout fishery.

Most anglers wait for the first Arctic blast to lure spawning trout from Lake Erie, where they have been fattening up all summer. Aquatic biologist Mike Durkalec of Cleveland Metroparks reports that the chilly nights have enticed a few steelhead trout to the lower stretches of the Rocky River this week. Most have been smaller "skippers," the young 14- to 17-inch male trout getting a head start on the spawning season, but a few bigger trout have been hooked.

On the Grand River, steelhead trout are being caught as far upstream as Harpersfield Dam, a 23-mile swim from Lake Erie, says Don Moore of Harbor Bait and Tackle.

More trout talk: Chagrin River Outfitters in Chagrin Falls has its annual Shop Day on Oct. 8, with a list of local experts on tap. The seminar schedule at the free show includes guides Greg Senyo and Brett McCrae of Steelhead Alley Outfitters, Patagonia's Jerry Darkes and Jeff Liskay of Berkley. The seminars range from catching brown trout to swinging streamers with switch rods. They begin at 8 a.m. and run through 3:30 p.m. For a full listing of seminars and times, visit chagrinriveroutfitters.com.

Trout stockings cut: Castalia State Fish Hatchery renovations resulted in a 35 percent reduction in the number of yearling steelhead trout stocked in the Rocky, Chagrin, Grand and Vermilion rivers and Conneaut Creek in 2011. This week, state officials also announced a major reduction in catchable rainbow trout this fall, with stockings of foot-long trout slashed from 25,000 to just 4,000. The only Northeast Ohio waters to be stocked with state trout this fall are ponds at the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks, although some park systems will be releasing trout.

With the hatchery work to be completed soon, look for steelhead trout stockings to return to the traditional 400,000 6- to 9-inch fish in 2012, as well as stockings of about 80,000 catchable rainbow trout around the state next spring. Next year's fall stockings of catchable trout are still being discussed, said Ohio fisheries supervisor Ray Petering.

Bowhunting for deer: Ohio's four-month archery deer season kicks off Saturday, and Ohio wildlife officials predict about 345,000 bowhunters will be in the Buckeye woods this fall with longbows and crossbows. Last year, archery hunters killed 85,012 deer, a 7 percent decline. Crossbow hunters tagged 44,123 deer, while longbow hunters checked 40,889 bucks and does.

Bowhunters killed 35 percent of the 239,475 deer taken last season with bows, shotguns, pistols and black-powder rifles. Deer management supervisor Mike Tonkovich estimates Ohio's deer herd at 750,000 and has forecast a harvest of a quarter of a million deer. Deer hunters can check their deer this year on the Internet (wildohio.com or ohiogamecheck.com), by telephone (1-877-824-4864) or at a license agent.

Don Smith benefit: A benefit dinner in Wooster is being held Sunday for longtime firearms and hunting activist Don Smith, a field representative for the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and a former state official at the National Rifle Association. Smith is a candidate for heart and kidney transplants at the Cleveland Clinic. The dinner is being held at Church of the Saviour, 480 Fry Road, Wooster. Tickets are available at the door and at The Gun Shop, All Seasons Sport Center and The Ranch in Wooster.

Plentiful hawks: Trained hawk watchers were stationed at Michigan's Lake Erie Metropark and Pointe Mouillee State Game Area on the western Lake Erie shoreline Saturday. The area is a mid-September hot spot for migrating hawks, and the volunteers were busy. The one-day tally was an amazing 190,417 hawks, almost all the broad-winged variety, and it wasn't a record. In 1998, 517,000 migrating hawks were tallied as they soared past the two sites in a single day.

Donate some venison: Buckeye hunters are encouraged to donate venison to the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program this fall and winter. The ministry provides the venison to food banks and local food programs. Local shops accepting venison include Hall Brothers Inc., 27040 Cook Road, Olmsted Falls, and Geauga Farms Country Meats, 14320 Main Market Road, Hiram. To find a participating Ohio butcher, hunters can contact Pete Banks at 440-988-5495 and pete@fhfh.org, or visit fhfh.org.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/09/weather_forecast_calls_for_ret.html

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