Wallace Lake

Ice Ice Baby

February 20, 2021 by coolwaterfish Leave a Comment

BEREA, OH – Alright stop, collaborate and listen, I walked on ice and did some fishin’.

Okay, sorry about that, 1990 was calling me.

As someone who is hyper-cautious about ice being safe, it’s pretty rare when I can get out ice fishing. It just doesn’t seem like we get those nice long periods of time below freezing. Many winters, I don’t even make it out once. With the recent prolonged freeze, I was ready to take full advantage of the opportunity. What made it even better, I sufficiently assured my wife it was safe, so my son could join me. I’ll get right to the point and acknowledge we were skunked, which was beyond disappointing as it was my son’s first ice fishing experience – but surprisingly he still thought it was fun! Kid’s can be pretty amazing, and today I learned from him as he played and laughed, thoroughly filled with joy, despite a single bite.

Bryce with his created fishing buddy!

We felt isolated, no action, and found ourselves talking to “Wilson”

Big shout out to my buddy Greg for providing sled rides while I watched the rods

Fishing is always more fun when you are catching, there’s no denying that. I’m sure there are even people wondering why I would post on a trip that wasn’t successful in the slightest way. I guess it is an attempt to remind people it isn’t only about the fish. If I would have stayed home, I wouldn’t have remembered what I watched on TV within a few days, my son wouldn’t have remembered what video game he played. I am certain he will remember this day, how much fun it was, and only marginally diminished by not catching fish.

If you were here only to see fish, and were unmoved by attempt to inspire, remember you can always view the more talented anglers around the Cleveland Metroparks on their Fishing Report.

Filed Under: Ice Fishing Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Wallace Lake

Ending and starting the year, at Wallace Lake

January 3, 2020 by coolwaterfish Leave a Comment

Arriving at a favorite fishing destination

BEREA, OH – Just getting out fishing, regardless of success or not, seems to be the goal of late. I didn’t do nearly as well as I hoped in 2019 as far as the amount of time spent fishing. With the holidays providing a little extra time off from work, I tried to make up for some lost time. While I do enjoy ice fishing, if it’s not cold enough to create good safe ice, I prefer it to be mild enough to go out on the kayak in relative comfort. The unseasonably warm weather allowed just that, and my final fishing of 2019 and first fishing of 2020 would be from the ‘yak.

The last fish caught of 2019

The kayak fishing wasn’t very successful, with just one fish was caught. While it was a nice fish, a rather healthy Crappie, it wasn’t like I was catching them in great numbers. It also wasn’t a mixed in catch amongst the trout I was targeting, it was just a lone fish. I reminded myself what a blessing it was just to be out, healthy enough to be kayaking, and reminisced over 2019. Fishing is a lot like life in general, moments of great joy and success, and pain and failure. This past year had it’s share of pain with the loss of two close relatives, that has remained too difficult to blog about.

The author with a limit of Wallace Lake trout

A few fish that will serve finely for table fare

While I would end 2019 with some tough fishing, my second time fishing in the new year was marked by tremendous success. It may have been that I wasn’t as rusty as I had thought, but just the reality that the fish stocked on December 16th may not have spread out across the lake as I had expected. With some advice from a friend, I hit an area that I had not covered on the kayak in previous trips. This resulted in a total of 8-9 landed Rainbow Trout, quite the difference to be catch and releasing after a limit, than fighting to get a single bite!

The color and markings on this small fish were beautiful

It can sometimes be challenging to determine whether to keep or release a fish. I never want to have more than two until I am leaving, just in case one of those bonus fish find their way to my hook. If you read the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Blog, you can see some of those choice specimen get landed now and then. These fish provide a little more fun and excitement, just knowing they are out there. I have managed only one, a very interestingly colored Brown Trout on my first kayak outing of 2019 (can see that fish here). On today’s trip, it was just a wide range of size, shape, and color of Rainbow Trout. One of the reasons I love the species, is just how much diversity there is within it. The above pictured fish, was one of the smallest of the day, but most handsome. It was released. A nice couple fishing near me, showed me their stunning Brook Trout that was deeply colored with the bright orange fins tipped in white. A spectacular fish!

An example of two very different variations of Rainbow Trout caught today

The two fish pictured above are great examples of the uniqueness of each individual fish. I’m not sure if I am the exception or other anglers are like me, in that I appreciate each catch. Even if I only inspect it briefly before a quick release, I always find myself taking a quick note of it’s characteristics. Maybe it’s my inner child, that simply has never stopped enjoying anything I catch!

Filed Under: Fishing, Kayak Fishing Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Crappie, Rainbow Trout, Wallace Lake

A cool catch on the first kayak outing of 2019

March 23, 2019 by coolwaterfish 1 Comment

This 16″ Brown Trout ranks as one of my favorite kayak caught fish

BEREA, OH – It’s always special to get out on the kayak for the first time of the year. Not just because it is a fun way to catch fish, but it usually (yes it does try to snow in April at times) marks a tangible measure that winter is over for me. This past winter, for some reason, just seamed exceptionally long. I had some extra motivation to make Wallace Lake the first outing due to a stocking that had taken place that included Brook, Brown, and Golden Trout along with the Rainbows. I wasn’t able to get out, even for shore fishing, and was agonized seeing all the amazing catches featured on the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Blog. The ‘recent’ stocking suddenly went from days ago, to weeks ago… and I just hoped some were left.

Arriving at the lake, my hope turned to confirmation as a shore angler was leaving with a fine Rainbow Trout on a stringer. I launched quickly and began covering a lot of water offering an inline spinner. My only taker was a small Largemouth Bass in the first hour. It’s impossible to know if conditions, fishing pressure, or total number of fish available was the reason, but the fishing was slow. I rarely had less than 6-8 fisherman within view and my bass was the only fish I saw caught. About the moment my mind started second guessing my decision to fish at Wallace over the river or a different venue… my spinner got smacked. The fantastic strike was followed by the rod revealing a decent sized fish that was giving plenty of fight. It didn’t take long to get it to the boat, but I did get very nervous about successfully landing it when I saw the distinct markings of a Brown Trout! It’s a species that I haven’t encountered a lot and I was so excited to get it landed. Weeks after the last stocking, I had somehow managed one of the ‘bonus fish’! Pure Joy.

While admittedly the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Blog has shown plenty of examples of bigger or more interestingly marked up fish, this one was my catch, and it was prized. In fact I was so enamored by it, I found it almost difficult to continue fishing. I was so thrilled with that single bite it made me content that I didn’t need to do more. I fished a little less vigorously but did carry on another hour and a half. I managed another trout, this one being a small colorful Rainbow Trout, that was returned to the water.

Filed Under: Fishing, Kayak Fishing Tagged With: Brown Trout, Cleveland Metroparks, Wallace Lake

Wallace Lake, multi-species from the kayak

May 25, 2018 by coolwaterfish Leave a Comment

BEREA, OH – I returned to Wallace Lake a few days after the fishing derby, solo this time with the kayak. A bit of mixed emotion with the day’s success after the poor showing with the kids. I would have gladly traded these catches for just a single fish for each of them to reel in. That’s how fishing goes though and I certainly wont say that just because I didn’t catch any with them, that I hoped I wouldn’t catch any without them! Just a little fisherman’s honesty there!

A very nice sized Wallace Lake catfish

The fishing started fast as I caught a Largemouth Bass on one of my first few casts. I had also used a second rod to still fish (and slightly drift) which yielded a very nice 22″ catfish. After those two catches I decided to focus on the trout as that was my main target of the day. While I did have to work for them, I did get a limit.

Typical stocker Rainbow Trout

After catching the 3 fish limit of trout (only 1 was kept that wasn’t fit for release), I played around in the shallower areas sight fishing. I got a few bumps and follows but nothing else was caught except a single Bluegill. The day had grown exceptionally hot, and I was pleased with catching four species and accomplishing the trout limit goal. Being more than content, I called it a day.

Filed Under: Fishing, Kayak Fishing Tagged With: Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Cleveland Metroparks, Rainbow Trout, Wallace Lake

One day, three kayak fishing locations

May 28, 2016 by coolwaterfish Leave a Comment

A fine Rainbow Trout from the kayak, at Wallace Lake

BEREA, OH – The previous weekend’s Kid’s Fishing Derby at Wallace Lake had me wondering if there were any stocker Rainbow Trout remaining. If you read my previous post covering the event, you will know I did not give the fishing it’s due effort, which also left me feeling a bit bummed. I was hopeful fish would remain, but also knew the lake would have had considerable pressure.

With an opportunity to fish nearly all of the day, I was fortunate that my plan could include multiple destinations. I decided I would fish Wallace Lake for a few hours before moving on to the Rocky River at Emerald Necklace Marina and then into Lake Erie.

Getting on to the water at Wallace Lake, I was greeted with a nice Bluegill on my second cast. This didn’t end up meaning anything as to the pace of the fishing as I would go nearly an hour and a half before the next strike. That strike turned out to be a small Largemouth Bass. Fortunately, I got this bite or I may have been out of the water by the time I hit the two hour mark where I had planned to leave. As I fished on, I began to convince myself that it was unlikely many fish remained. The lake is not so big as to not see a good number of shore anglers at any given time, and I had not seen a single trout taken by anyone. I am not sure what motivated me to keep throwing my inline spinner and revise my departure time, but I did. Finally, I got another hit and felt the pull of a bit better fish than the previous two. As I got the fish close to the boat I could see it was a trout, and a fine sized one for a stocker. Fish landed without issue, just under 17″.

The kayak view at the mouth of the Rocky River

With goal number one for the day accomplished by catching a trout out of Wallace Lake, it was on to the next missions. While not so specific, I just wanted to catch some fish in the Rocky River and Lake Erie. I headed north through the Rocky River Reservation and put the kayak in at Emerald Necklace Marina. The river was pretty busy with boat traffic, both large and small crafts. Who knows if this contributed to keeping fish out of the area but I had no hookups, just conversations with other paddling enthusiasts. Moving on to the lake, my luck didn’t change. All of my offerings were refused other than drifting worm harnesses that were getting destroyed by Round Gobies. I landed a few of them to confirm what species was bait robbing me, and gave up on trying to get anything else to bite. The weather changed too, and I called it a day.

I wish the river or lake would have given up a nice fish or two, but I was happy I got out, and I always get ideas for the next trip and how to be more successful.

Filed Under: Kayak Fishing Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Lake Erie, Ocean Kayak, Rainbow Trout, Rocky River, Wallace Lake

Christmas hangover at Wallace Lake

December 26, 2015 by coolwaterfish 2 Comments

A nicely colored Wallace Lake Rainbow Trout

BEREA, OH – When I recently posted my “Year end recap…” I fully expected that I would not get to fish in the last few days of 2015. Surprisingly, the unseasonably mild weather and some other favorable circumstances found Bryce and I fishing at Wallace Lake the day after Christmas. The hangover spoken of in the title isn’t related to anything alcohol related, rather the emotional refueling required after getting a 4 year old and nearly 2 year old through Christmas.

This trip was somewhat on a whim and the fact that my 4 year old was eager to tag along, kept expectations low. I took very little tackle and assumed Bryce would wear out quick. I was lured to the lake by a recent trout stocking that included Rainbow Trout that were fed higher amounts of beta carotene increasing their colors, some Brown Trout, some Golden Trout, and even a single Cutthroat Trout! All of these potential catches made even the shortest of efforts worthwhile.

As unpredictable as fishing can be, this marginally prepared for, highly distracted by toy dinosaurs, and completely under geared trip, was hugely productive. In the few hours we fished, I would hook up with 9 Rainbow Trout. Bryce was thrilled and enjoyed helping out and this was his first time seeing live trout. We kept a stringer of one legal limit (3 fish) and it was like looking at myself watching him pull the stringer up to look at the fish over and over. I emailed Cleveland Metroparks one of the photos of him admiring our biggest trout, which ended up being the cover photo for the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Blog for the December 31st weekly report. It can be seen here. Bryce was very proud of this accomplishment and made sure everyone knew.

It would have been very cool to catch any of the other ‘special’ trout that were stocked, but it would be hard to complain about the day’s success. All of these traditional Rainbows had beautiful color and we were fortunate that mixed into our catches was one of the bigger class fish (pictured above). While Wallace Lake continues to be a ‘hit or miss’ fishing venue for me, I am happy that I am having more good days than bad.

Filed Under: Fishing Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Rainbow Trout, Wallace Lake

‘Launching’ into kayak fishing

May 17, 2015 by coolwaterfish 6 Comments

Behind the scenes, for at least a year, I had been considering getting deeper into the sport of kayak fishing. While I have had a cheap recreational kayak for many years, it was a big decision to fully invest all the resources necessary to take it to the next level. Kayak fishing has evolved into a niche within the angling community that you could literally devote every aspect of your recreational time to. While I am still just scratching the surface of custom- ization and all aspects of rigging, I am far enough along that I made a trip out, had success, and wanted to get the readers up to speed on this endeavor.

Before I get into my first excursion report, there have been numerous entities that have helped in one way or another to motivate me into the sport. Although I am fearful I will inadvertently omit someone, my ‘shout outs’ of appreciation go to; Brookfield Angler, CLE Kayak Anglers, KFGL, YakAddicts, Hook1, Lucid Fishing, Ocean Kayak, ACK, NRS, and The Backpacker’s Shop. I know many people will be curious what yak I bought and why. While that could be suitable for an entire post itself, I will just say the decision largely came down to the following… 1. Kayak weight vs. kayak weight capacity 2. Ability to handle a decent day on Lake Erie, yet small enough for creeks 3. Size as it relates to transport and storage when not in use. Other aspects were considered as well before making a final decision.

My 2015 Ocean Kayak Trident 11 Angler in Orange Camo

A few weeks ago, a maiden voyage took place, but it was for an overall familiarization with the boat from comfort to safety. Today’s trip was for getting down to serious fishing business. I knew Wallace Lake (Berea, OH) had been stocked the prior week for a kids fishing derby yesterday. I was optimistic that the snotty nosed little brats (err… I mean little angels) hadn’t fished everything out the first day. My species of choice would be Rainbow Trout, but more importantly I just hoped to catch fish. Everything would be catch & release, other than the trout. It is doubtful there is much, if any, carryover. The first few hours on the water were not overly productive as I only caught a few small panfish. I saw a number of Largemouth Bass, some rather decent, but nothing could convince them to strike. I also came across a nice catfish resting in the submerged timber that I was only successful in waking long enough to swim away.

So much of fishing success is knowing when to switch techniques or a pattern. It suddenly occurred to me that if I kept doing the same thing, I’d get the same result. I then paddled to the deepest portion of the lake, put a split shot above a small inline spinner and started casting. This was something completely different than I had tried all day. After letting my spinner sink for a few seconds, I began a slow retrieve. After 3 or 4 casts, I felt the smack of a fish hitting the lure and a minute or two later I had my first ‘real’ fish landed from the yak. It was a dandy 15 3/4″ stocker Rainbow Trout. My experience with most trout stocking events is that the fish are 10-12″ and often drab in coloration and markings. This fish was nice in size and plenty handsome, I was thrilled. The next step was getting an opportunity to test my solutions for kayak self photos, and overall, I was pleased with the results.

The first noteworthy catch in the new yak

The ACK Hawg Trough removes all doubt when it comes to measuring fish

The second trout was a clone of the first

A three fish trout limit was exactly what the author hoped for

While I was content with the catch, I was eager to see if I could reproduce the success again. Fifteen minutes later, a second similar sized fish was guided to the net. With complete confidence, a third trout was landed within 30 minutes of the second. My day was complete as I had my 3 trout limit on the stringer, but I did fish a bit longer. A fourth trout was caught and released, and I called it a day, I had achieved complete contentment. As I paddled to shore I thought about the fact that people could argue there are far more exotic locations and fish out there to be had, but this moment, this water, this day… was perfect to me.

Filed Under: Fishing, Kayak Fishing Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Ocean Kayak, Rainbow Trout, Wallace Lake

Trout Derby at Wallace Lake

February 14, 2015 by coolwaterfish Leave a Comment

I have to say NE Ohioans are a ~~hardy~~ ‘hearty’ bunch (Valentine’s Day pun intended). A rather dire forecast of temps, wind, and snow did not discourage the masses from participation in an ice fishing trout derby to benefit the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund. Still somewhat new to NE Ohio and not knowing what to expect, I have to admit I was pretty surprised to see the parking lot nearly full at 8:15 a.m. I guess I have a lot of kindred spirits here that wouldn’t let the holiday or weather keep us from fishing.

The event format was straightforward and very organized, registration from 8 to 9 a.m., fishing from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. and have your longest trout measured by a roaming crew of staff. A good selection of bait was offered for sale on site, which I thought was a nice gesture to encourage novices and others who may not be well geared or prepared. I also want to mention that everyone from park staff, rangers, police, and even fellow anglers were very friendly. Anyone with perceptions or stereotypes of urban areas would have had those shattered today with the amount of camaraderie I experienced and witnessed.

I was on the ice about 30 minutes before the start horn would be sounding. Of all the fishing types I do, those that follow this blog with some regularity know that I am not a very good or confident ice fisherman. In fact of all the types of fishing I do, it is easily what I have the least success with. So I wasn’t going to over think where to drill holes, or come up with some crazy creative idea of where to fish. I saw where everyone was, and simply chose a reasonable and respectable distance to set up. While I was a little disappointed I was in an area only about four and a half feet deep, the Aqua-Vu camera showed some submerged branches and it looked ‘fishy’ enough on the monitor to try my luck. The next 20 minutes was spent talking with nearby anglers as we all waited for the starting signal. There was some healthy bantering between some of the people, likely locals who knew each other, but I had no problem jumping right in. One of my contributions was a young lady who complained about being cold as she sat outside of the Shanty her group had brought. I mentioned that being in, opposed to next to the Shanty, would prove to be warmer. Her reply, “well I want to watch what’s going on!”.

With all of the conversations, time flew by and soon enough it was time to get down to fishing business. I had a small jig tipped with two waxworms on one rod and a jig tipped with trout worms on my other. No more than 90 seconds after the horn sounded, I looked up to see a local (Brian) hooked up and landing a small Rainbow Trout no more than 30 feet from me. Returning to my own task at hand, I saw three Rainbows on the Aqua-Vu monitor. I was sure I was the next to catch a fish, however, all of the fish in view showed no interest in my offering. This scenario would play out multiple times over the next few hours. I was simply seeing too many fish to move, yet I was unable to trigger a bite. When I finally decided to switch to Powerbait, the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. Rather intense snow and wind, found me huddling over my holes, with no desire to re-rig.

While I would catch no fish, plenty of others had success throughout the morning around me. In fact, I would say more people caught fish than didn’t. I was happy to hear people cheering when a fish was caught, and many of the people that I had gotten to know through conversations earlier kept me in the loop with what was going on. I learned of a girl who caught her first fish ever, many youngsters having success, and plenty of savvy veterans catching numbers of fish – seeking to constantly upgrade into a prize winning catch. The photo above of Mike Durkalec, Cleveland Metroparks, measuring a nice trout would be an example of one of those savvy veterans, Brian Kich, who put on quite a fishing clinic. He had to catch & release as his success took him within one of his limit in the first 45 minutes of the derby. At the time, the above fish qualified as 3rd on the overall leaderboard.

Sadly, there would be no prizes for the author, in fact there wouldn’t even be a single catch. The photo above is so you know the exact person who needs to have his ice fishing man-card revoked or maybe you’ll know who to come up to and say, “my four year old with a Snoopy Pole outfished you”. My other thought is to make a silkscreen of the photo and have it slapped onto a T Shirt that reads, “I went to the Cleveland Metroparks Trout Derby, and all I got was this lousy selfie”.

In all seriousness, I had a great time and it was a fun event. Bravo to the organizers and attendees. To the fish in Wallace Lake, in my best Schwarzenegger voice, “I’ll be back”.

Filed Under: Ice Fishing, News & Announcements Tagged With: Cleveland Metroparks, Rainbow Trout, Wallace Lake