# Dam Removal on the Cuyahoga River



## gonefishinbaitandtackle (Jan 30, 2009)

Dams on the Cuyahoga River
Well today is Dec 31st and I guess tradition states that we should look back on the past year and reflect on the good and the bad. I am not one of those persons, my view is any mistake that I made last year that did not kill me is best left in the past and undisturbed and anything that I did in the past year that was a success I am still doing. I like to take this day and look forward to the oncoming year.

Being a bait and tackle shop owner on the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Falls means that the number one thing to think about in 2013 is the removal of the two small dams in the city.

There are as many opinions on the dam removal as there are anglers who fish the Cuyahoga River.

For me it all depends on my mood and if youre talking to Bill one of the owners of Gone Fishin Bait and Tackle or Bill one of the owners of the In-land fishing charter business on the Cuyahoga River.

Bill the bait shop owner is at times all for the dam removal. At its basis level the idea of removing the dams is a good one for the simple fact, that faster moving water is cleaner water and cleaner water is better fishing! 

The Negative: the stretch of river that runs from Portage Trail Bridge all the way up to Silver Lake Village will no longer be a GREAT area to fish for Northern Pike. 

The Positive: that same stretch of river should see a bumper crop of small mouth bass and pan fish in the coming years and shore fishermen will have the most access to the river that there has ever been. 

The Negative: if all goes according to plan this stretch of river will be filled with whitewater rafters and kayakers, leaving less room for us fisherman (we have all had to crank in our lines like crazy so some paddler does not cross them). 

The Positive: If all goes according to plan and the rafting and kayaking and the fishing increases, maybe ODNR will start to pay some attention to this river and consider including it in its stocking program. 

The Negative: lower and faster water levels mean that the Northern Pike will move downstream, were as of today it is almost impossible to gain any access to the river below the Sheraton. 

The Positive: The City of Cuyahoga Falls is committed to making this river project work and has started to look into building a safe access route to the river below the Sheraton, which in turn will open up what I believe is some of the best river fishing in N.E. Ohio, at the very least we will be able to fish an area that has been virtually unfished for 70 years.

Bill the fishing charter captain on the Cuyahoga River has a much simpler outlook on the dam removal.

The Negative: with the removal of the dams my charter boats will no longer be able to float along the Portage Trail Bridge to Silver Lake Village section of the river. The crappie holes will be gone, the Northern Pike will be gone and my ability to take thousands of people out for a relaxing day of fishing in a wonderful and beautiful section of the Cuyahoga River will be gone. 

The Positive: If the City of Cuyahoga Falls completes a safe foot access along with docks below the Sheraton on the river, we will be operating fishing charters on virgin waters that run anywhere from 12 to 60 deep and the chances of landing tons of panfish and some really big fish will increase dramatically along an area that can only be described as breath taking. 

The Negative: If for some reason the City of Cuyahoga Falls does not provide safe foot access to the lower part of the river or is delayed for any length of time, we would have to move our fishing charters to some other body of water and I dont know about you but I am spoiled by the beauty of the Cuyahoga River and by the wide variety of fish that we can catch.

The bottom line is that we are excited at the prospect of having a new, different and hopefully better Cuyahoga River but sometime, just once in a while we wish things would stay the same.

If you have ever fished the Cuyahoga River, be it the Munroe Falls Dam site, inside The City of Cuyahoga Falls border or past the Gorge Dam I am sure you have an opinion on the dam removals and we would LOVE to hear them.

Let us know, add your two cents
Bill
Gone Fishin Bait and Tackle, LLC
1027 Munroe Falls Ave.
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
Phone: 234-525-1900
[email protected]
www.gonefishinbaitandtackle.com


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Wow, you put a lot of thought into that.

My simpler opinion -

Removing the dams is good for the river. Remove the dams.


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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

A few other flows around will still produce Pike, but No other river in the general Akron/Canton area has the Smallmouth(true river smallies) potential that the Cuyahoga does if the dams are removed. So i guess im for it.
Your charter may be gone and thats a definate negative for you in the time being... but like you said, if you are one that looks positivly into the future, the big picture will play out that way.
Last month i fished off the dock they have on the gorge trail, i didn't catch anything, but i bet theres some big fish lurking in those depths.
I am assuming they won't be destroying the big dam, or will that be in the plans someday too?
Any way it goes, good luck to you.


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## gonefishinbaitandtackle (Jan 30, 2009)

Creekcrawler, yes I guess I had alot of time to think it over when I am out on the boat! but your right at the basic level the removal will be good for the river.

buckzye11 from what I have been told regarding the Gorge Dam is that it will be several years before they start to remove that dam, unlike the two smaller dams, the EPA is making them remove all the silt behind the Gorge and that is going to be a HUGE job.


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## thelatrobe33 (May 19, 2008)

They've been talking about removing these dams for a very long time and each and every time it gets caught up in bureaucratic red tape. It seems that the day is getting closer and closer though (although I think it will be a LONG time before we ever see the removal of the big Gorge dam). This shouldn't come as any surprise. 

I'm on the fence about the whole issue. My mom has a house on the river just East of the Oak Park Blvd bridge where the river bends. I've spent quite a bit of time fishing there over the last 6-7 years and IMO there are far more productive places to fish (admittedly not as scenic though) in the Akron area. As stated before, the only real prize in this stretch are the pike, but most of them run relatively small. The bass fishing is poor at best and most of the ones I've caught have been pretty unhealthy.

In terms of river health I'd love to see the dams come out. If you're one of the select few that fishes the stretch of river in question though it's got to be bittersweet. I'll be interested to see what the river looks like once they're gone since this area acts almost like a reservoir in its current state.


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## gonefishinbaitandtackle (Jan 30, 2009)

I agree with you I think in the end it will be a good thing for the river as long as they do things in the right way. Here to hoping that the fishing will get better.

Have a great New Year


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

I wouldn't assume the pike will be gone. Plenty of rivers with riffles and runs holding good pike.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

From what I know about it and my experience, there is so much elevation drop from SL to below the Edison dam, that section of the river will be so fast and racing North that the only real use will be for white water recreationalists! It will be unsafe the majority of the year to wade, or otherwise try to fish! I havent tried to fish it in years so really no big deal for me but I think the dam removal is a BAD idea(as I did with the MF dam removal.)JMHO.


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## Wow (May 17, 2010)

The pike will not be gone. They will be less concentrated and harder to find for a few years. If they have more range they may very well find more favorable haunts and thrive in the expanded territory. A savvy fisherman should be able to find them where they would ordinarily be, only over longer stretches of water. 
With increased flow, the river will change for the better, over time. New holes will be carved out and fishing opportunities should increase eventually.
As for the yak traffic. Longer flows and access points should spread out the traffic and alleviate the congestion caused by dam stoppages. I'm all for the dam removal. The river will be better in the long run.--Tim


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## Drew318 (Mar 25, 2010)

Good: white water rafting
Bad: fishing 


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

I don't have a lot of experience on the hoga, but don't overlook whitewater sections for smallies....


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Heck, aren't the pike bigger above Rockwell anyhow?


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

I'm all for the removal of these 2 dams in Cuyahoga Falls. It will open up more oppurtunities for smallmouth fishing since the area between Waterworks park and the Sheraton is mostly rocky. The smallies don't mind the whitewater, but it's a bigger danger for the fishermen. It will greatly decrease the number and size of the pike as they prefer slower pools with lots of woody structure. It will probably increase the number of pike in the waterworks/monroe falls area at least temporarily. Some will also get flushed down to the Edison pool, which is known more for its carp than anything. I would love to see the metroparks develop a small boat ramp where the power plant used to be. The dam removal will flush more sediment to the edison pool. I hope they never remove the Gorge dam because even if they do dredge the pollutants before they remove the dam there will still be some remaining and a whole lot of sediment that will get flushed. When they removed the monroe falls dam, so much sediment was flushed down to waterworks that it made the boat ramp unusable at times and filled in all the deep holes in the park. I have not fished in monroe falls in a long time because of this. 

I just wish that I would have had a chance to take the kids on the fishing charter or the tour boat before they removed it. Wanted to do it last year, but couldn't find the time or money for it. I'll be going to the bait shop though for some night crawlers or minnows before I hit that section of river after the dams are removed!


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## Donohuezer5000 (Apr 28, 2012)

Having fished the river for the past two years, mostly below Gorge, I am in favor for the removal of the dams in the long run, including the Gorge. 
Positives: Increase in aquatic life which would lead to better fishing in the longer term.
Negative: Being a little selfish with my very peaceful and solitude river trips (minus my wife, I have only have seen two kayakers and one other fisherman), I feel that after the two dam removals, a short term increase of human activity would populate the river. Meaning people have short attention spans and I feel the first few years post dam removals we will see more people on/fishing this portion. I hope that the activity would decrease over time. 


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

c. j. stone said:


> From what I know about it and my experience, there is so much elevation drop from SL to below the Edison dam, that section of the river will be so fast and racing North that the only real use will be for white water recreationalists! It will be unsafe the majority of the year to wade, or otherwise try to fish! I havent tried to fish it in years so really no big deal for me but I think the dam removal is a BAD idea(as I did with the MF dam removal.)JMHO.


That sounds like it will do wonders for forage/rare udder fish habitat. Not to mention dissolving oxygen into the river.


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## CoolWater (Apr 11, 2004)

Returning rivers to their natural flow is always the best imho. Let the fish go up and down any waterway or seasonally back and forth to the lake as nature intended... something about that just seems right.


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