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Steelhead Season · Oct to Apr

Lake Erie Steelhead Stream Conditions, Live from the Gauges

Is the creek in shape? Eleven steelhead streams from the Vermilion to Eighteenmile, each read from its own USGS gauge every 15 minutes and compared to what's normal for today's date, with water temperature, clarity and the rain coming. Right now 8 of 11 reporting streams are in shape.

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Stream conditions board

Updated Oct 13, 11:48 PM ET

How to read it: Flow is the gauge's current discharge next to the median for this date over its whole record. Trend is the change over the last 12 hours. The status word comes from where the flow sits in that record, so it means the same thing on a 20 cfs creek and a 2,000 cfs river.

Ohio

  • Vermilion River
    Gauge near Vermilion
    In shape
    Flow
    22
    normal 10
    Trend
    ↓ 22%
    12 h
    Water
    --
    sensor down
    Clarity
    Stained
    estimated from flow

    Dropping through the window steelheaders look for: above normal, falling, and clearing.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook
  • Rocky River
    Gauge at Berea
    In shape
    Flow
    68
    normal 38
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    --
    sensor down
    Clarity
    Stained
    estimated from flow

    Flow is close to normal for the date. Good conditions.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook
  • Chagrin River
    Gauge at Willoughby
    In shape
    Flow
    58
    normal 74
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    --
    no sensor
    Clarity
    Clear
    estimated from flow

    Fishable, but on the low side. Fish will be in the deeper, slower water.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook
  • Grand River
    Gauge near Painesville
    Low & clear
    Flow
    22
    normal 117
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    82°F
    Clarity
    Clear
    estimated from flow

    Low and clear. Fish are easy to spook and tend to hold in the deeper pools. Needs rain.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook
  • Conneaut Creek
    Gauge at Conneaut
    In shape
    Flow
    13
    normal 28
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    --
    no sensor
    Clarity
    Clear
    estimated from flow

    Fishable, but on the low side. Fish will be in the deeper, slower water.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook

Pennsylvania

  • Elk Creek
    Brandy Run near Girard (stand-in)
    Low & clear
    Flow
    1.0
    normal 2.0
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    --
    no sensor
    Clarity
    Clear
    estimated from flow

    Elk Creek has no USGS gauge. Brandy Run is a small Elk tributary a few miles upstream, so treat this as a hint about Elk, not a reading. Low and clear. Fish are easy to spook and tend to hold in the deeper pools. Needs rain.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook
  • Walnut Creek
    Gauge near Erie
    Low & clear
    Flow
    9.5
    normal 16
    Trend
    steady
    12 h
    Water
    66°F
    Clarity
    Clear
    1 FNU measured

    Low and clear. Fish are easy to spook and tend to hold in the deeper pools. Needs rain.

    7-day flow chart & rain outlook

New York

Stream data: U.S. Geological Survey real-time gauges, provisional and subject to revision. Rain: National Weather Service gridpoint forecast at each gauge. Elk Creek has no gauge of its own; Brandy Run, a small Elk tributary near Girard, stands in and is labeled as such. Lake Erie Pulse reports water conditions, not fish.

What the status words mean

These are the words you'll see in fly-shop reports and the state hotlines. Each one is tied to where today's flow sits in the gauge's own historical record, plus the turbidity sensor where there is one.

Low & clear

No rain in a while. Flow is below the 25th percentile for the date and the water is gin-clear. Fishable but tough: fish are spooky and hold in the deeper pools, and few new fish move in from the lake.

In shape

Flow is in the normal band for the date (25th to 75th percentile). Often the stream is dropping after a rain with a green tint and fresh fish in the system. This is the window steelheaders watch for.

High & off-color

Above the 75th percentile, or the turbidity sensor reads muddy. The crest has passed, but the water is still high and stained. Getting close; some people fish the edges.

Blown out

Above the 90th percentile, or above normal and still rising. Chocolate-brown, running hard, unsafe to wade. Nobody fishes a blown-out creek. The Grand takes four to six days to clear; smaller creeks a day or two.

Too cold

Water temperature at or below 34°F. Fishing slows to a crawl and the edges may be iced. Only shown on streams with a working temperature sensor.

Get a push when your creek drops into shape

Save your streams in the Lake Erie Pulse app and we'll notify you when one drops into shape after a rain, when a blowout is in the forecast, or when the water gets too cold. Same gauges, same words, in your pocket.

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Lake Erie steelhead FAQ

When is the Lake Erie steelhead run?

Steelhead start staging off the creek mouths in September and push into the tributaries with the first good fall rains, usually October. The run builds through November, slows in the coldest part of winter, and picks up again with the spring thaw through April. Fish are in the streams for roughly seven months; what changes week to week is whether the water is in shape to fish.

What does "in shape" or "blown out" mean for a steelhead stream?

They describe where a creek is in the rain cycle. After a rain the stream rises fast and turns muddy (blown out), then crests and starts to drop while still high and stained (high and off-color), then drops into shape: flow coming back toward normal, color clearing to a green tint, and fresh fish in the system. With no rain it slides to low and clear, when fish are spooky and hold in the deep pools. This page rates every stream on that scale using its own USGS gauge and its own historical record, not a one-size cutoff.

Which Lake Erie streams are stocked with steelhead?

Ohio stocks the Vermilion, Rocky, Chagrin and Grand rivers and Conneaut Creek (about 450,000 yearlings a year, with the Ashtabula River recently added). Pennsylvania stocks more than a million a year across its Erie County creeks, led by Elk and Walnut. New York stocks about 230,000 across nine tributaries, with Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Canadaway and Eighteenmile the most fished. Each stream page lists its stocking and links to the state agency's report.

Where does the stream data come from?

Flow, gage height, water temperature and turbidity come from U.S. Geological Survey real-time stream gauges, which report every 15 minutes. "Normal for today" is the median flow for this calendar date over the gauge's full record, some going back to the 1920s. The rain outlook is the National Weather Service forecast for the next 36 hours at the gauge. Real-time USGS readings are provisional and can be revised later.

Does this tell me whether fish are in the creek?

No. Nobody counts steelhead in real time, and we won't pretend to. This page reports water conditions, which decide whether a creek can be fished and whether fresh fish are likely moving. Pair it with the weekly reports from ODNR, the PA Fish and Boat Commission and NYSDEC, linked on each stream page.

Fishing the lake instead? See the fall walleye board →

All 11 streams: Vermilion River · Rocky River · Chagrin River · Grand River · Conneaut Creek · Elk Creek · Walnut Creek · Chautauqua Creek · Canadaway Creek · Cattaraugus Creek · Eighteenmile Creek