# Why don't they stock the Hoga?



## monkfish (Apr 3, 2010)

Anyone have an official explanation? Such a shame. Yes, I know there are still fish in there, but not as many.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Because its disgusting

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## BobcatJB (Mar 30, 2005)

Fishin216 do some research. The Cuyahoga isn't what it used to be. It is home to 60+ fish species, some of which are considered highly INTOLERANT to pollution. The majority of the river, other than the shipping channel is in attainment of Ohio EPAs warmwater criterion.

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## BobcatJB (Mar 30, 2005)

Monkfish, I've heard it has a lot to do with access and fishability. Much of the stream is in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where fishing with live bait and eggs is illegal. The state would rather stock steelhead where fishermen have relatively easy access to them. The Cuyahoga is wide and deep, very different than our other steelhead rivers, the fish would have a lot of room to spread out no matter how many the state stocked, which leads to low catch rates- not what the state wants.

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## Steel Cranium (Aug 22, 2005)

I doubt that the state's decision has anything to do with the 'Hoga's accessibility. Even if you remove the CVNP portion, it probably has more public streamside access as any other river/stream in Ohio. Add CVNP land, and it has more public access than all other Erie-trib rivers/streams in Ohio combined.

I also don't think that any bait restrictions in CVNP has anything to do with stocking decisions. Only live minnows and spawn are disallowed. This leaves a lot of alternatives, live or artificial, including larval baits and worms.

I think the issues are coming from a few different places - Akron's outdated sewer system and periodic releases into the river and and low oxygen levels in the lower end of the river. If the 'Hoga gets enough strays from other stockings, why take fish from other currently stocked streams to add to it? Maybe this will change when the hatchery expansion is complete and there is a capability to produce more steelies.

The stocking location itself is probably an issue. Most stocked tribs have stockings done near the first riffle that isn't that far from the lake. The 'Hoga is different, where the first riffle is quite a bit upstream and the water between the first riffle and lake suffers from low oxygen levels. Maybe they don't think that the initial survival rate would be sufficient.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

To heck with steelies, they ought to be stocking sturgeon. . .


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## ohiojmj (Apr 16, 2004)

I'm ashamed to say that my City of Akron Public Utilities stocks it with millions of brown trout every year, instead fighting the federal requirements as the cost of the project to stop dumping sewage escalates with time.


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## BobcatJB (Mar 30, 2005)

On a sidenote, Ill be at the Cleveland Aquarium this Sunday manning a booth set up by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District showcasing pollution intolerant species found in the Cuyahoga. Stop by and say hey!

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## westbranchbob (Jan 1, 2011)

correct me if I'm wrong but.....I belive that Ohio is only allowed to stock a specific number of smolts each year as part of an agreement between Ohio,Michigan,P.A.,and New York.Now if that information is correct then by stocking the hoga they would be thinning the overall numbers stocked in the other rivers correct?If thats true i'm not sure the return rates would look so good per river anymore.That is why the salmon stocking stopped I belive.


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## brodg (Sep 6, 2010)

ohiojmj said:


> I'm ashamed to say that my City of Akron Public Utilities stocks it with millions of brown trout every year, instead fighting the federal requirements as the cost of the project to stop dumping sewage escalates with time.


I'm ashamed that the city I live in dumps sewage into the Hoga. On a side note though, does the city of akron really stock the Hoga with browns? I've never heard of this.


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## flyphisherman (Jul 7, 2009)

I think by saying Akron stocks "Brown Trout"......they were referring to the sewage problem.......

That river is something special. "They" need to figure that out already and build a new treatment plant so they can keep it clean.


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

flyphisherman said:


> I think by saying Akron stocks "Brown Trout"......they were referring to the sewage problem.......
> 
> That river is something special. "They" need to figure that out already and build a new treatment plant so they can keep it clean.


A new treatment plant will do nothing to solve the problem. The problem is the Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO's) that are common throughout the length of the river from Akron to the mouth at Lake Erie. When there is a large amount of rainfall, snowmelt, etc, this water combines with the sanitary wastewater in the sewers. The sewers are overwhelmed by the volume of this water. The CSO's are release points throughout the sewer system to prevent damage to the infrastructure. This is how the sewage enters the Cuyahoga River, NOT from inadequate treatement plants. These CSO's were designed decades ago, before the push of environmental laws of the early 1970's. Even after these law's were passed (AKA the Clean Water Act), a vast majority of these CSO's went "overlooked" per say. Recently, the Federal EPA has been in court with the different sewer organizations to address the problem of the CSO's. As many of you know, the City of Akron has been fighting this for a long time. Over time (25-30 years), the problem of CSO's on the Cuyahoga River will be addressed, the pollution will decline, and the river will rebound


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## Steel Cranium (Aug 22, 2005)

westbranchbob said:


> correct me if I'm wrong but.....I belive that Ohio is only allowed to stock a specific number of smolts each year as part of an agreement between Ohio,Michigan,P.A.,and New York.Now if that information is correct then by stocking the hoga they would be thinning the overall numbers stocked in the other rivers correct?If thats true i'm not sure the return rates would look so good per river anymore.That is why the salmon stocking stopped I belive.


Yes. They have a total limit for all tribs in the state. They should take some away from the Connie and put them in the 'Hoga. PA also stocks the Connie in the upper (PA) reaches and the amount of public land in the Ohio portion of the creek dwindles more each year. Much more miles of stream per stocked fish in the 'Hoga since only periodic eagle nesting will take away public shoreline.


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

westbranchbob said:


> correct me if I'm wrong but.....I belive that Ohio is only allowed to stock a specific number of smolts each year as part of an agreement between Ohio,Michigan,P.A.,and New York.Now if that information is correct then by stocking the hoga they would be thinning the overall numbers stocked in the other rivers correct?If thats true i'm not sure the return rates would look so good per river anymore.That is why the salmon stocking stopped I belive.


I always heard the return on salmon was so low (with them reaching maturity then dieing,floating down the streams stinking up the lower accesses and the river mouths, not to mentionthe tremendous expense) was the reason for discontinuance.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

The river has been cleaned up quite a bit from where it was, but I don't think it's in good enough condition for the steelies to have any spawning success yet. The shipping channel is still bad. There is still a spillway in Brecksville that slows down the fish. Though I believe it will be torn down in the next couple of years. There is also the CSO problem with the city of Akron's sewers. Akron finally started construction on some of their problems a couple of years ago. I believe they will have more construction going on this year to help the CSO problem. Once these issues are addressed, the water quality should make enough of a jump to warrant stocking of steel in the Hoga. There are plenty of good gravel sections in the Hoga for spawning habitat. Not sure how successful they will be, but any success is better than none!


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

The Hoga would be a good place to stock kings.


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