A big fish tale in Northeast Ohio that's all truth and will catch your attention. It also raises awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving our natural wonders, which include our waterways.
On a cloudy, chilly autumn day at Emerald Necklace Marina, not typically what most people would consider a good day to be outside recreating, you'll find Steve Moldovan.
"No, it’s still a good day," Moldovan said.
That is because Moldovan is in his happy place. He says there’s nothing better than fishing. Rod in hand, casting away along the banks of the Rocky River.
"It's just relaxing," he said. "It’s my favorite thing to do."
He said so far this season, he's yet to hook his first big one.
"Hopefully, it’ll happen right now,” he smiled.
Steelhead fishing is peaking in Northeast Ohio. It is fall through spring with peaks in late fall and again in mid-spring, said Mike Durkalec, aquatics biologist at Cleveland MetroParks.
"They're stocked by our state DNR, and they’re wired biologically to come into the rivers when the water temperatures get cooler," explained Durkalec.
He said the Steelhead season in Northeast Ohio reels in fishermen from Michigan to Pennsylvania.
"They're a big rainbow trout that are a little bit more salmon-like in appearance," said Durkalec. "They average about two feet long, but they can be bigger."
This past week, an out-of-stater was on the other end of the line.
Cleveland-area angler Brent O’Neill was fly fishing in the Rocky River, just about a mile upriver beneath the I90 bridge, when he hooked a 3-foot king salmon. An unexpected and fun find in our waters.
"They're related to the steelhead but like the steelhead’s bigger cousin," said Durkalec about the king salmon also known as the Chinook Salmon.
The big question is how it got here.
Durkalec said neither steelhead nor king salmon are native to the Great Lakes.
"They’re brought to the Great Lakes for recreation opportunities for fishing, but no agency puts that in Lake Erie anymore," he said about the king salmon. "So, that fish actually had quite a journey. It most likely came from Lake Huron, all the way through the St. Clair River, in Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, into western Lake Erie to end up here," he explained of the crazy journey.
While the king salmon was certainly a rare catch -- maybe one or two a year reported in Northeast Ohio that Mike says he hears about -- he says this past week there were actually two even more unusual catches.
"There was a burbot, which is a funny name; it’s a type of freshwater cod that's actually native to Lake Erie," he said. "They’re a threatened species. It was caught by a perch angler right out of E. 72nd, one of our public marinas. Then, an Atlantic salmon was caught over in Euclid Creek on the east side. So, yeah, it’s been a crazy week for wayward stray fish."
He said it's not uncommon for fish to travel several hundred miles. They have seen it before in data from tagged fish. Durkalec said he thinks the recent rush of random catches is likely due to the recent cooling temperatures and rain. However, he also said it’s a good sign for clean water and the environment to have diversity.
"Whatever the case, the fishermen appreciate them, and they’re thankful for them here just in time for Thanksgiving,"
He said that the reintroduction of the sturgeon, which is a state-endangered species, to the Cuyahoga River in October is an even stronger indicator of how far we’ve come with improving the health of our water since the 1960s and ’70s.
The goal with the sturgeon, he said, is to keep restocking them for the next 30 years until their population hopefully becomes self-sustaining.
For Moldovan, he's still waiting to reel in his next big steelhead.
"There's nothing like it," he told Katie while casting his line. "You can’t beat it. It’s like an adrenaline rush!"
Like so many anglers, he's hooked on the hope of that next big catch and the peaceful patience of dropping in a line.
"It's just one of my favorite pastimes here in Northeast Ohio," he said.
Durkalec keeps a fishing report about all the fish that are found in our waterways on theCleveland Metroparks website.
