# Cold Creek Trout/Steelhead



## BigFishAddict

I saw an add in a magazine for cold creek trout camp and I went on their website. It wasnt much help. Can anyone explain what exactly it is? Is there a fee? And what about the rest of the creek for trout in the winter?


----------



## mokabe

They charge $5.00 to fish off their docks. Popular in fall,winter and spring for trout, both strays from the clubs and steelhead. A fellow I know has caught pike from the creek, I've caught yellow perch. I have never fished it in summer though.


----------



## silverbullet

Its hit or miss but when its good, its good. Spent allot of time there in the 80's and caught allot of species from that crik 
Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Perch

I was just up there in June and my Wife and I gave it a shot. 2 Gobies each. The owner charged us each 5 bucks and suggested a half nightcrawler 2 ft under a float. Water was gin clear that day.


----------



## Angler ss

Is a campground on the creek. They have boat docks you can fish from.The best thing to do is to put a small boat in at the ramp and go south to the waterfall behind the Mrgaritaville the trout like to lay in the deep pool at the bottom of the falls.There are trout that get out from the state fish hatchery in Cstalia. The Trout Camp is over rated if you ask me most guys who live around here fish under the rt 6 car bridge or take a boat up to the falls some park at Mrgaritaville and fish wade the area by the falls. ( don't think you are supposed to wade they will ask you to leave when the are open). The trout camp dose have good fishing sometimes of the year steelhead are caught by the rail road bridge where the creek dumps into the sandusky bay.


----------



## 47dipseydivers

The only thing I've ever caught trout on there is minnows

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## BigFishAddict

ive seen pictures of people wading the falls. I wonder if they let you of you ask permission. 

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## 47dipseydivers

Margaritaville most definitly will throw you out if they catch ya up there if your gonna fish the falls go early I think they come in about 11 

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Jmsteele187

Can you fish it with a kayak?


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## mike003

My son caught this one at CCTC in August a few years ago.


----------



## fishinnick

I fished there once 2 years ago. Yeah, it's overrated. The owner(?) was there and said all the trout there are wild, no stockers. I got a good chuckle out of that, but the only trout I caught out of there was a brown that looked pretty wild to me. After looking at their website all the browns(and even one brookie) looked to be wild. Does the state raise browns and brooks at the hatchery? I always thought they just raised rainbows, and if that is true, then it's very sad to see a wild Ohio brook trout go on a stringer. There is a trout club on that stream though, right? And do they stock browns and brooks? The rainbows seemed to be stocked(probably hatchery escapees) and the steelhead, well, I assume they're stockies also(strays obviously).


----------



## Fishguy777

Years ago 15-20...my father new the owner of margville & he let him fish there. He has one mounted on the wall from there around 14lbs. Steelie although still has quite a bit of pink. Also caught a nice 10lber.


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## dmaphukn

fishinnick said:


> I fished there once 2 years ago. Yeah, it's overrated. The owner(?) was there and said all the trout there are wild, no stockers. I got a good chuckle out of that, but the only trout I caught out of there was a brown that looked pretty wild to me. After looking at their website all the browns(and even one brookie) looked to be wild. Does the state raise browns and brooks at the hatchery? I always thought they just raised rainbows, and if that is true, then it's very sad to see a wild Ohio brook trout go on a stringer. There is a trout club on that stream though, right? And do they stock browns and brooks? The rainbows seemed to be stocked(probably hatchery escapees) and the steelhead, well, I assume they're stockies also(strays obviously).


Just asking I don't want to start a debate, but why is it sad to see a brown trout on a stringer?

D.


----------



## salmon king

dmaphukn said:


> Just asking I don't want to start a debate, but why is it sad to see a brown trout on a stringer?
> 
> D.


Dont mean to be a smart alick but he actually said brook trout. Im not sure but I think hes saying that because theirs not alot of brook trout in ohio( almost none in our tribs of Erie.) The only place I know of is bass lake ..


----------



## LilSiman/Medina

salmon king said:


> Dont mean to be a smart alick but he actually said brook trout. Im not sure but I think hes saying that because theirs not alot of brook trout in ohio( almost none in our tribs of Erie.) The only place I know of is bass lake ..


Where's bass lake located? that would be cool to catch same lake brooks (if they exist)

Erie tribs are pretty much the only place they are located. Unless you know the "secret spots" people talk about where there is little holes piled up with brookies. Mad River tribs hold a few also if I'm correct.


----------



## fishinnick

Yeah, I said brook trout. Really there would be no way to actually have a fishable population of wild trout there(because of all the hatchery rainbows, etc.) but if the state hatchery nor the club stocks browns(or brookies), then maybe this stream is trying to tell us something. The water certainly stays cold enough(it's a spring creek), it just needs the right spawning habitat, which it may in certain sections(certainly not by the camp). 

About the brookies. If someone stocks them in there, well, then they're stocked. Case closed. But if only rainbows are stocked in there, then that brook trout in the pic on the website is wild. If it is a genetically pure native Ohio brook trout or not, we don't know, that debate could go on forever. If there is no history of brook trout stockings in there then it could be a native. 

I'm not a huge expert on Ohio brook trout, but from what I understand is there are 10 streams with wild(natually reproducing) brook trout in them, and through DNA testing all of those fish are a native Ohio strain. There's a whole story behind the brookies here, if someone else want to tell it go ahead. One(maybe 2?) of Bass Lake's tribs near Chardon have wild, native, Ohio brook trout. Both streams are off limits to fishing, and you can't even walk by them since they are protected. The other 8 streams are either in a preserve, or on private property. The ones on private property I guess you could fish, but, well, they're on private property. From my understanding it is legal to fish for them, but you definitely can NOT keep them, or have any in your possession(ie. bucket, etc.). The possesion part really isn't clear, but in PA for example before trout season begins you can fish for trout in special regs streams by C&R but can't have any in your possession. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Either way it is totally frowned upon to fish for them though imo. If you want to catch a wild brookie please head to MI, PA, WV, or if the one's in Cold Creek are wild have at it, just please release them, but they probably aren't native so I guess it doesn't really matter much.


----------



## dmaphukn

fishinnick said:


> Yeah, I said brook trout. Really there would be no way to actually have a fishable population of wild trout there(because of all the hatchery rainbows, etc.) but if the state hatchery nor the club stocks browns(or brookies), then maybe this stream is trying to tell us something. The water certainly stays cold enough(it's a spring creek), it just needs the right spawning habitat, which it may in certain sections(certainly not by the camp).
> 
> About the brookies. If someone stocks them in there, well, then they're stocked. Case closed. But if only rainbows are stocked in there, then that brook trout in the pic on the website is wild. If it is a genetically pure native Ohio brook trout or not, we don't know, that debate could go on forever. If there is no history of brook trout stockings in there then it could be a native.
> 
> I'm not a huge expert on Ohio brook trout, but from what I understand is there are 10 streams with wild(natually reproducing) brook trout in them, and through DNA testing all of those fish are a native Ohio strain. There's a whole story behind the brookies here, if someone else want to tell it go ahead. One(maybe 2?) of Bass Lake's tribs near Chardon have wild, native, Ohio brook trout. Both streams are off limits to fishing, and you can't even walk by them since they are protected. The other 8 streams are either in a preserve, or on private property. The ones on private property I guess you could fish, but, well, they're on private property. From my understanding it is legal to fish for them, but you definitely can NOT keep them, or have any in your possession(ie. bucket, etc.). The possesion part really isn't clear, but in PA for example before trout season begins you can fish for trout in special regs streams by C&R but can't have any in your possession. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Either way it is totally frowned upon to fish for them though imo. If you want to catch a wild brookie please head to MI, PA, WV, or if the one's in Cold Creek are wild have at it, just please release them, but they probably aren't native so I guess it doesn't really matter much.


Good info I dont know much about trout, I do want to catch and eat some, I guess the best ones to keep would be rainbows

D.


----------



## Flathead76

Caught a brook trout in bass lake when I was a kid fishing for bluegill. It was where the creek dumps into the lake by the club house. Also caught one about 5 years ago on the chagrin river above todd field. Was fishing for smallmouth and caught it on a roostertail.


----------



## LilSiman/Medina

Flathead76 said:


> Caught a brook trout in bass lake when I was a kid fishing for bluegill. It was where the creek dumps into the lake by the club house. Also caught one about 5 years ago on the chagrin river above todd field. Was fishing for smallmouth and caught it on a roostertail.


That's pretty cool!


----------



## trout4u

Cold Creek has no wild Brook Trout or Brown Trout. The fish present are escapees from the trout club upstream. The state hatchery raises no brooks or browns at Castalia. Native brook trout are protected in Ohio and only exist in a limited number of streams in Northeastern Ohio. As a member of the Ohio Brook Trout Advisory Comm. and a hatchery owner who raises brook and brown trout for private trout clubs, I try to keep up on their presence. Tight Lines.


----------



## yonderfishin

Funny thing about brookies , they have been known to turn up now and then in places nobody expected.


----------



## trout4u

Yonder,
I would be interested in knowing of any populations of brookies outside the Lake Erie watershed. Not wanting to fish, just would like to establish the fact that they can live other than in the Northeast part of the state. I think they are out there, just do not know where. Thanks.
Dan


----------



## Jvthoma

I caught a couple of smallmouth out of cold creek. They were under the bridge of the railroad tracks right by the bay. The one smally was over 20 inches I would say. Didnt see many trout though, just one steelie swimming under the tracks


----------



## Richman

Trout4U....many decades ago in my college years I did some research at a place called Cedar Bog. They claimed native Ohio brookies in Cedar Run. Just looked it up and yes they still claim them:

http://www.cedarbognp.org/education.htm


----------



## Lewzer

Here's a Cold Creek fishy. What kind is it? I had it in my gallery as a brook but someone commented it looks like a brown. To me all trout are small pretty fish that taste bad. I know others think differently...


----------



## BigFishAddict

That's a brown. 

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Lewzer

Thanks BFA. How can one tell a difference between a wild and stocked trout? Or can they?


----------



## DeathFromAbove

DNA. I dont think there are any wild trout in ohio except some of the brookies they discussed earlier in this thread.


----------



## BigFishAddict

I'm not sure how to tell a wild from a stocked. All the trout I've caught have been in stocked streams so I wouldnt know the difference. 

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## PARK92

thats a brown....and they taste good. went out west fishing in a creek about 10 ft wide and couldnt keep them off my line.


----------



## fishinnick

Yeah definitely a brown, and if I had to choose one or the other, without knowing where it was caught, I'd say it's wild. But to be honest on that fish it's a little hard to tell.

On one PA forums I visit/post regularly, lots of "is this stocked or wild?" threads pop up every now and then, as the state has lots of streams with stocked and wild trout, and lots of streams with both. The best way to tell, other than knowing if the stream is stocked or not, is to look at wear and tear on the fins and such that are caused by the fish rubbing against the concrete raceways in the hatcheries. Other indicators are coloration(usually wild fish are more colorful/cleaner looking), blue spot behind the eye, and red on the adipose fin. 

Now fish that are stocked as fingerlings will usually look wild when they grow older, as the will live many years in the streams and the fin wear will heal and they will get more "wild" looking. That's one reason why we can never tell if we caught a wild steelhead or not.

Thinking twice on that brown, it could be stocked, depends on how small they stock them. On one of my favorite stocked streams in PA the local TU chapter also stocks some smaller(smaller than the state raised fish) browns every year that look kinda like the one in the picture. If one didn't know they stocked those smaller browns in there then they'd think they were wild fish, as they were small and had good coloration.

IMO it's usually pretty easy with brookies. It can be tough with rainbows though if there's no wear on the fins. I've seen some pretty good looking stocked fish in streams that can't support wild trout.


----------



## trout4u

This would be a year old brown that got mixed in with a load of stockables at Sunnybrook upstream. There are no wild fish in Cold Creek due to constant silting from rain storms. Small browns and brooks will show up down stream from Sunnybrook as they wash over the weir during high water. The fin ID idea is only noticable with larger fish as the fingerlings do not rub against the concrete. Beautiful little guys no matter where they come from. Remember, the legal lenth is 12 inches. Good luck.
The Troutdude


----------



## fishinnick

^ That would make sense, so my predition in my second to last paragraph was kinda right. To bad Cold Creek has the siltation problems. It definitely has the water temps since it's a spring creek, just needs the spawning gravel and better habitat.


----------



## JoeFish

Jvthoma said:


> I caught a couple of smallmouth out of cold creek. They were under the bridge of the railroad tracks right by the bay. The one smally was over 20 inches I would say. Didnt see many trout though, just one steelie swimming under the tracks


Howdy Jake!


----------



## yonderfishin

trout4u said:


> Yonder,
> I would be interested in knowing of any populations of brookies outside the Lake Erie watershed. Not wanting to fish, just would like to establish the fact that they can live other than in the Northeast part of the state. I think they are out there, just do not know where. Thanks.
> Dan



I dont know of any place in Ohio , but in other states they have turned up in some places where they were previously thought not to be. Their small average size and ability to exist in small numbers in creeks no larger than a ditch , smaller if there are a few deep pools and cover along the way , can hide their existence pretty well. Depending on the water they live in they can run so small that people dont recognize them when they see them. Its just a guess , but I kinda think as long as the water temp and chemistry was right , and the creek hasnt been bothered very much , they "could" be there for a long time without anybody knowing about it.


----------



## Jvthoma

JoeFish said:


> Howdy Jake!


Howdy partner!


----------



## Jvthoma

I did catch a Steelhead out of Cold Creek last week. only about 18 inches though. Under the tracks, and it was right after rain, and was cloudy. I think more trout will be at the campground come fall. hope this info helps someone


----------

