# Brecksville Dam Removal Update



## Morrow (Jul 29, 2018)

https://www.cleveland.com/rock-the-...-river-slated-for-removal.html?outputType=amp

Still no ETA on when exactly the dam will go down, but the contract has gone out. From what I recall, the last time I heard about the dam it was supposed to go down in fall of 2018 which obviously didn't happen. The article says that this will bring several new species upstream like northern pike and walleye but I think the only thing this visibly affects is the steelhead run at Rt 82. In terms of pike, anyone who fishes the Cuyahoga knows that the opposite is true as there are already larger populations of pike upstream which are effectively blocked from going downstream by the Edison Dam, which is the real problem in my opinion.


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## RipitHard (Sep 28, 2014)

Morrow said:


> https://www.cleveland.com/rock-the-...-river-slated-for-removal.html?outputType=amp
> 
> Still no ETA on when exactly the dam will go down, but the contract has gone out. From what I recall the last time I heard about the dam it was supposed to go down in fall of 2018 which obviously didn't happen. The article says that this will bring several new species upstream like northern pike and walleye but I think the only thing this affects is the steelhead run. Anyone who fishes the Cuyahoga knows that there are already has larger populations of pike downstream which are effectively blocked by the Edison Dam, which is the real problem in my opinion.


I've caught Pike before, downstream from the 82 dam. there is defineatly not a targetable amount in that area. I agree with you, that the Pike populations wouldn't increase in that area. There's a possibility of an increased walleye run in the Spring. IMO, the removal of the Munroe Falls dam hurt that area for fishing. The volume of water drastically decreased and most of the deeper water holding pools vanished. I'm very curious how the waterway will be affected when the Rt. 82 dam comes down. I'd like to be there when it comes down. There's probably hundreds of lures hung up in the pool below the dam. I've lost quite a few myself there.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I think there are higher pops of northerns above the Edison and SR 82 dams than below either.
I'm going to miss the 82 dam when it goes.


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## Morrow (Jul 29, 2018)

RipitHard said:


> I'm very curious how the waterway will be affected when the Rt. 82 dam comes down.


I agree. When they removed the small dams in the Falls a lot of spots were hurt like you said. From my understanding the Brecksville Dam also serves the purpose of diverging water into the Ohio & Erie Canal, so I am curious how they will solve that problem. I think they said they were going to be installing a pump for that purpose.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

I can't wait to see what comes upstream after the Brecksville Dam is removed! Definitely more steelhead. Hoping for some walleye and flathead catfish. Probably some sheephead and suckers too. Hoping the smallmouth get bigger too with the increase in forage fish. I spoke with Bill Zawiski, the EPA river guru. He said that historically, sturgeon used to spawn below the waterfall in the gorge! Maybe one day the river will be clean enough for that to happen again!

I used to have a spot between the gorge and the brecksville spillway that always produced pike! Used a creek chub or small bluegill. Threw it in the big pool and let it drift near the wood structure. Biggest one I got there was 31". The pool has since changed and is not as deep as it used to be so I don't fish it anymore. Here's an old pic of an average sized Cuyahoga river pike.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

RipitHard said:


> I've caught Pike before, downstream from the 82 dam. there is defineatly not a targetable amount in that area. I agree with you, that the Pike populations wouldn't increase in that area. There's a possibility of an increased walleye run in the Spring. IMO, the removal of the Munroe Falls dam hurt that area for fishing. The volume of water drastically decreased and most of the deeper water holding pools vanished. I'm very curious how the waterway will be affected when the Rt. 82 dam comes down. I'd like to be there when it comes down. There's probably hundreds of lures hung up in the pool below the dam. I've lost quite a few myself there.


I kayaked that section of river upstream of the Monroe Falls Dam a couple of years ago. It's pretty much featureless. The pools are not very deep. The wood structure is still growing along the banks. Need it to get old, die, and fall into the river to create some structure! I did catch 2 little smallmouth there.


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## Morrow (Jul 29, 2018)

bdawg said:


> I can't wait to see what comes upstream after the Brecksville Dam is removed! Definitely more steelhead. Hoping for some walleye and flathead catfish.


Flatheads in the Cuyahoga? That's the first time I've ever heard of them. You are an extensive catfisherman bdawg, how many have you pulled out of there?


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

Morrow said:


> Flatheads in the Cuyahoga? That's the first time I've ever heard of them. You are an extensive catfisherman bdawg, how many have you pulled out of there?


They are in lake Erie. Just not in big numbers. I'm not much of a catfisherman. Only caught one flathead in my life. That was in a river that drains into the ohio river. Caught it while fishing for smallies. It was tasty!


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

I caught a flathead in the Hoga yesterday while fishing for smallies


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

Also fished below the dam that’s to be removed and hooked into a few massive carp/buffalohead. Broke off my 6lb mono three times. The largest belly rolled at the surface about five feet in front of me, rolled itself up in the line and snapped off while I was reaching for the net. Also anyone ever notice the smell around the dam? Smells like an air freshener around there for some reason. Noticed the last few times I tried there


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## Popspastime (Apr 1, 2014)

Only problem is upstream pools get lower and some completely disappear.


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## Morrow (Jul 29, 2018)

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> I caught a flathead in the Hoga yesterday while fishing for smallies


That's a channel cat not a flathead. Those are everywhere in downstream Cuyahoga.



TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> Also fished below the dam that’s to be removed and hooked into a few massive carp/buffalohead.


No idea what a buffalohead is, never heard anyone from Ohio reference such a fish unless you mean sheepshead/freshwater drum.


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

Morrow said:


> That's a channel cat not a flathead. Those are everywhere in downstream Cuyahoga.
> 
> Wrong. It’s a flathead or a very large bullhead. Channel cats have forked tails
> 
> ...


Buffalo head, buffalo fish, buffalo carp, bigmouth buffalo. And I’m not from Ohio originally but it seems like the fisherman around here know what a buffalo is. You might be the only person out of the loop


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> Buffalo head, buffalo fish, buffalo carp, bigmouth buffalo. And I’m not from Ohio originally but it seems like the fisherman around here know what a buffalo is. You might be the only person out of the loop


I knew what you meant. Do you have any more pictures of that catfish?


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Morrow said:


> upstream which are effectively blocked from going downstream by the Edison Dam, which is the real problem in my opinion.


Even when the Edison dam is removed, there will be natural waterfall barriers to migration up through the gorge. The waterfalls that Cuyahoga Falls are named for are largely underwater in the dam pool.


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

1MoreKast said:


> I knew what you meant. Do you have any more pictures of that catfish?


I know man just busting chops haha. I just noticed the first pic had the bottom cropped off. This one you can see the tail a little better. Only pic I took of it though


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

There's more flatheads out there than people think.
Caught several down lower near the flats. Years back, a bud hooked a huge one about 16 miles from the lake. Biologist said they make a spawning run a bit after the steelhead are done. Two people did some night fishing on the west branch of the river downtown and caught some real beasts a year ago.


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

Here’s one I caught last year. Wasn’t sure on this one either. Channel cats I used to catch growing up had more split tails than what I’m noticing on these cats. I thought both may be bullhead


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## RipitHard (Sep 28, 2014)

40-50 years ago, we used to catch Great Lakes Whitefish in the Brecksville Dam pool. They were very plentiful. Is this a species that have become somewhat extinct? You can Google pictures of them. I haven't heard of them in recent years. Just curious. I'm 100% positive, that was the species that we caught there in the 1970's.


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

RipitHard said:


> 40-50 years ago, we used to catch Great Lakes Whitefish in the Brecksville Dam pool. They were very plentiful. Is this a species that have become somewhat extinct? You can Google pictures of them. I haven't heard of them in recent years. Just curious. I'm 100% positive, that was the species that we caught there in the 1970's.


I’ve talked to a few guys that have caught them trolling on Erie but they seem to be very few and far between at this point. They still catch them on some of the other Great Lakes regularly.


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## Morrow (Jul 29, 2018)

RipitHard said:


> 40-50 years ago, we used to catch Great Lakes Whitefish in the Brecksville Dam pool. They were very plentiful. Is this a species that have become somewhat extinct?


They are still around. We caught one of those last year at Rocky River Marina. The scales and color are visually similar to the Asp of Europe, which was a very common catch when I did fishing in Poland.



TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> Here’s one I caught last year. Wasn’t sure on this one either. Channel cats I used to catch growing up had more split tails than what I’m noticing on these cats. I thought both may be bullhead


It's definitely not a bullhead. Even the largest ones only typically get to be around 1 foot in length. Bullheads out of the Cuyahoga have distinctive brown/gold bellies.

I am not ruling out the possibility of a flathead finding its way into the Cuyahoga, but I extensively target catfish on most of my fishing runs and the Cuyahoga is the closest river to me. Last year between myself and a buddy we pulled up around 60 catfish along the Cuyahoga, and we have only ever seen channels and bullhead.

I am familiar with the difference between the tails. I have seen flatheads in the Maumee and Sandusky Bay and they look completely different, hence my skepticism. The larger ones typically go for cut bait like bluegills or shad, and I use that alongside shrimp for general catfishing.


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## TheRealEyeCatcher (Jan 9, 2019)

Yeah once I looked up state record bullhead in OH I figured that was out. I believe you though, only way I knew how to tell any difference was the tails and they can definitely adapt to different bodies of water differently. I caught the more recent one on a wacky rigged 6inch white worm bouncing it through deeper pools. Wasn’t what I thought I would catch haha


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> I know man just busting chops haha. I just noticed the first pic had the bottom cropped off. This one you can see the tail a little better. Only pic I took of it though


It looks somewhat like a flathead to me...but I can't be 100% sure. Anybody else tell what it is? I thought channels have more of a "split or forked" tail vs a more fanned out shape...I don't know, would be cool if it is a flathead. Regardless, nice fish!


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> Here’s one I caught last year. Wasn’t sure on this one either. Channel cats I used to catch growing up had more split tails than what I’m noticing on these cats. I thought both may be bullhead


This has got to be a flat...no forked tail.


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## Shed Hunter 365 (Dec 3, 2007)

Flathead for certain.


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## fishon (Apr 20, 2004)

Any updates on this damn Rt 82 dam removal? - the last article I from the the beacon journal was work was to start in fall and then delayed into spring - I drive by once week. Still nothing


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

They're getting started finally. The towpath is now closed entirely from 82 down to the Frazee house at Sagamore Road. They're dredging the canal first - Something to do with how they're
going to divert some river flow into it. With the canal being dredged out, it sure would e nice to see them put a canal boat into service in that stretch,


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## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

1000% flathead


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

TheRealEyeCatcher said:


> I know man just busting chops haha. I just noticed the first pic had the bottom cropped off. This one you can see the tail a little better. Only pic I took of it though


Flathead for sure


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## gbourne (May 21, 2008)

yep


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## GobyOneGnoby (Apr 21, 2004)

They started removal a few weeks ago. Started with jack hammering a slot in it to let the water and sediment pass more gradually.

http://cuyahogariver.net/brecksville-dam-progress/


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## TODD64 (May 7, 2015)

Edison dam removal may start 2023 at the earliest according to spectrum news

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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