# Cuyahoga river???



## NEEDABOAT (May 8, 2008)

I'm hoping someone can give me a little info. I was driving through Munroe Falls on rt 91 today and saw a park off to the east side of the road. There was a river going through it that I'm guessing was the Cuyahoga. Are you allowed to fish there? If so how accessible is it. The water level was so high that I couldn't get a good look. What all can you catch there. If anyone would want to meet up there when the weather gets better-let me know. Thanks in advance for any help


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## GMfish (Feb 14, 2007)

That sounds like the area where the dam was removed. I have not been there since they took it out. At that point, there was very easy access and it did hold some fish. It is the cuyahoga.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

You're both correct. It is the Cuyahoga, and it is the area where the dam was removed. I've caught a couple of dink smallies in that area, but there are larger smallies to be had in the Hoga. GM is also correct that there is very easy access to that part of the river. In fact, the Cuyahoga has several areas with very easy access. 

West of that point you'll find access at Waterworks park in Cuyahoga Falls and also off of State. Rte 59/Front street near Bailey Road. Further west is the Gorge on the very west end of Cuyahoga Falls (by Swenson's). There are also entrance points in the valley at some of the parks in that area. 

East of that point you can find several access points in Kent. Just take 59 into town and look for the water. 

There are a TON of carp near the Munroe Falls area and there are also pike scattered throughout the river, but smallies are what I fish that river for.

Hope that info helps.


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## NEEDABOAT (May 8, 2008)

Thanks for the info! I might give it a shot in spring-I'll let you know how I do.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

I've had the most luck with tubes in the river. I've also pulled in a few with buzzbaits, which are by far the most fun. I haven't been fishing the river long, but thanks to guys on this site, I've really gotten into it. It's addictive, and the smallies seem to be easier to get at than the largemouths in the early to mid fall.


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## archman (Apr 30, 2004)

In-line spinners and grubs on a jighead work well for just about anything in the Hoga.


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## NEEDABOAT (May 8, 2008)

Thank you guys for the advice....even the Steelers guy...I appreciate it.


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## Yanky (May 7, 2008)

ill add that 2" to 3" plastic minnows are gold for the hoga. by that i mean the ones with the perpindicular-to-the-body thumper tails. i cannot possibly explain how many fish, and different species, i have caught with these. usually darker colors work best for me but you would be surprised. even cats hit these things if conditions are right.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

Yanky said:


> ill add that 2" to 3" plastic minnows are gold for the hoga. by that i mean the ones with the perpindicular-to-the-body thumper tails.


Ahh... the mighty swim bait. So simple it's surprising they work. Love those things.


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## climbingsponge (Nov 7, 2008)

Yanky said:


> you would be surprised. even cats hit these things if conditions are right.


I've never fished the Hoga, so I can't attest to anything regarding it, but those minnows you are talking about are pretty amazing. In Arizona, my wife and were fishing a little pond in our neighborhood. My wife took a little 2" minnow out of my tackle box and just put a hook through it and threw it in the water. I just chuckled to myself thinking there is no way she's going to catch anything like that. Imagine my surprise when she pulled in a 2 foot cat a short time later!
:B


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

sponge - swimbaits are great - I read an article in In-Fisherman a month or so ago that said the hollow body swimbaits are even better. I'm going to buy a slew of them next time I go to Gander Mtn.


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## Bobinstow90 (Apr 13, 2006)

The area around Rte 91 has not done well since the dam removal. Might do better around Waterworks Park, Cascade Park or further toward Kent.


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## Bluegrass Boy (May 5, 2007)

I was sad to see the dam go. I lived in Stow 15 years ago and had many VERY fun afternoons catching monster carp from below the dam on ultra-light tackle. Had to follow many of them down the river.

Waterworks and Russell Park were often good spots for pike and smallies. Used spinner baits in the deep holes with cover for pike and small jig and tube baits in ripple areas for smallies.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

The Carp are definitely still in Stow too. I just wouldn't ever want to catch those disgusting buffaloes. Now, bowfishing, I'd do that just to get rid of some of those giant goldfish.


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## chopper29 (Jan 25, 2009)

hey stunner im gona get a bunch of those hollow bellies and cabelas next weekend. i heard they were pretty sweet and seen alot of guys catching fish on them. the only problem is the berkely ones 3 like 10 bucks for like 3 and a hook. hank parker recommends splitting the belly lengthwise and sliding hook that way and also improves hooksets dramatically and doesnt effect the action of the bait. im gona give it a try


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

That park is called Brice Park.


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## Fishers of Men (Jul 29, 2005)

When they took the dams out it messed up the fishin, even between kent and rockwell.


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## collinwoodie (Sep 23, 2005)

Keep that in mind when you consider all the enthusiasm for removal of the downtown Cuyahoga falls and Gorge dams currently going around...


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## Yanky (May 7, 2008)

well...every report and interview that i saw said that it would be better for the rivers health. perhaps it just takes some time for things to even back out again?


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## Fishers of Men (Jul 29, 2005)

Maybe in that way, but we had a LOT of huge fish that grew up trapped between kent and rockwell all those years, and when they opened the fence all the cattle took off. I mean every about 2-3 casts was a hookup. Now...uhhh.


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## Cheesehead Cory (May 16, 2004)

The park on the east side of 91 is actually called Brust Park.

At normal pool, that area where the dam was removed is now a pretty shallow riffle, too small to hold much but the eddy that forms there does usually have a few small crappie or rock bass in it.


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## FSHNERIE (Mar 5, 2005)

I grew up fishing the dam.I had a blast,Hit the drive Thru up,Build a fire and fish all nite.Sorry to hear the dam is gone.I need to get up to the Stow area for a visit,I bet it has changed alot.It's been about 26 yrs.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

It's definitely different if you haven't seen it without the dam. There are still some decent holes between Brust and Waterworks if you're willing to hike a bit.

Similarly, have any of you ever fished the pond on the bike & hike trail that's about 1/4 mile west of 91?


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## Riverman (Apr 13, 2004)

Getting rid of the dams and washing out the silt that filled in upstream of the dams with some heavy rains will eventually make the river a better breeding ground for game fish. I beleive it is going to keep getting better and better for more species, fishermen and children of fishermen.

It will also open up the river for the Steelhead to run all the way to downtown Hogafalls and further.

But we still need Akron to seperate the sewer system from the storm drains so the water is clean!


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## Erterbass (Jul 4, 2005)

chopper29 said:


> hey stunner im gona get a bunch of those hollow bellies and cabelas next weekend. i heard they were pretty sweet and seen alot of guys catching fish on them. the only problem is the berkely ones 3 like 10 bucks for like 3 and a hook. hank parker recommends splitting the belly lengthwise and sliding hook that way and also improves hooksets dramatically and doesnt effect the action of the bait. im gona give it a try


Chopper, I use the Yum Money Minnows - there are 5 in a pack for 7 to 8 bucks. They already have a split in the belly so you don't have to take the time to cut it like Parker demo'd on his show. Use a weighted (1/8oz) 6/0 wide gap hook and you're ready to go. Great for bass, cats, pike, etc.

I've tried a couple of other swimbaits and they don't have the same action as the Yum and they need to be cut so the plastic doesn't ball up in the belly of the hook.

Bass on Yum Money Minnow

You guys have given me the incentive to throw some swimbaits in the Hoga. Totally weedless and multi-species to boot. Perfect!

Bob


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## FSHNERIE (Mar 5, 2005)

I think that pond is an old gravel pit.If it is the one I'm thinking about,A guy I went to school with drowned in it,his Senior year at Stow High.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

FSHNERIE said:


> I think that pond is an old gravel pit.If it is the one I'm thinking about,A guy I went to school with drowned in it,his Senior year at Stow High.


If that was a gravel pit, it was a little one. There are fish in it, just not sure about any larger fish. It doesn't seem very deep.


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## crg (Dec 7, 2006)

before the damn was removed you could catch largemouth, smallmouth, and pike above and below the damn, more pike and smallies below and pike and largemouth above, but since the damn was removed there really isnt any pools for the fish to hold. mostly i have caught pike in that stretch since the removal with a few smallie but it seems the largemouths have almost disappeared. if you fish that stretch look for any log jams to create any slack water pools, thats where the fish are going to be holding. it is going to take some time though for that stretch of river to recover, meaning time to carve new channels through the river bed, creating undercut banks, which eventually lead to trees being washed into the river creating more more pools for the fish sit in out of the heavy current. target the pike in the spring and fall and smallies in the summer months.


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## tractor5561 (Aug 17, 2008)

Anybody know where or even if the steelies are still running in the hoga?


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

tractor5561 said:


> Anybody know where or even if the steelies are still running in the hoga?


I wouldn't waste my time in the Hoga for Steelies. I don't think you'd consistently find any - maybe a stray here or there.


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## tractor5561 (Aug 17, 2008)

wheres the best place to go right now then?


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

For steelhead? Check the steelhead section of the forum. I don't have any expertise on targeting them, but the guys on this site who do can point you in the right direction.


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