Grayling...just for fun.

[MarlinMark]

Ok, just for fun lets start a discussion about where is the closest population of catchable grayling.

If you had to drive from the Portland metropolitan area and catch a grayling where would you go?

I understand (and actually hope) that some hiking will be involved. :meme:

If you are offended that I'm asking for your secret grayling fishing hole I apologize. I'm just enamored with these fish. It's probably because I've never caught one and hear that photagraphs can never correctly display their beauty.

Mark

[Lamplighter]

Ok, just for fun lets start a discussion about where is the closest population of catchable grayling.

If you had to drive from the Portland metropolitan area and catch a grayling where would you go?

I understand (and actually hope) that some hiking will be involved.
Mark

My wife and I found and fished grayling from a pool at the mouth of Graves' Creek on Hungry Horse Reservoir (Columbia Falls Montana).

You will have a long hike, but you can get there by summer if you start now ! :wave:

[leadeyedbugger]

Yellowstone is a good place to start

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1869.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1870.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1872.jpg

[Kevin2023]

It's not close but interior alaska can have some very good fishing. I used to frequent piledriver slough, chena river, and salcha river. Best fishing was late June - August for me anyway. I have more 30+ fish days than any other species.

[MikeT]

Here's one from the Alagnak River taken in August '07.



14278

[sweeper]

Jow Wright Reservoir in Colorado. 10,000 ft elevation, but only a quarter mile walk to the lake. Grayling on every other cast. The state record (17") came from Joe Wright. We didn't get any that big, but numbers of fish and the scenery were worth the lack of oxygen.

[Pelhament]

Yellowstone is a good place to start

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1869.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1870.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1872.jpg

Werd Lyfe

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Yellowstone_Grayling.jpg

[Wingdam]

The shortest drive for trophy grayling would be to the Portland Airport. From there you could make the long flight to the Ugashik Narrows in Alaska however, the hike is short; just hop out of the float plane and within a hundred yards your fishing. Big grayling though!

This ones a common 18 incher. They get bigger there.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Ugashik_Grayling1.jpg

[Ty]

Ah yeah... There are a few oportunities in the rockies in high mountain lakes and even a few some of the rivers.... But, the real opportunites are in Alaska... Esp for BIG grayling.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC00355web.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC00365web.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC00456web.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC00462web.jpg

[Ty]

On a side note, these pics posted from above our great illistrations of sex ID.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1872.jpg
Male... Notice the exaggerated colorful dorsal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/metolius/DSCF1870.jpg
Female or immature fish will have the smaller less colorful dorsal.

[Lamplighter]

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC00462web.jpg

People often say photos don't do justice to the beauty of a Grayling.
Ty's last photo from above comes closer than any I have seen...
almost half way to the beauty seen when they are flashing and fighting a tight line. :wink:

Great pictures, Ty.

[Grantspastor]

Great grayling fishing on many Alaskan rivers, but three that stand out in my experience are the Alagnak, the Koktuli, and Kvichak. I also caught some very large grayling on Lake Creek. I caught and released a very large Grayling on the Branch river once. I don't have a photo but it was for sure in the world record class of 4-5 pounds

[Dullhook]

Great grayling fishing on many Alaskan rivers, but three that stand out in my experience are the Alagnak, the Koktuli, and Kvichak. I also caught some very large grayling on Lake Creek. I caught and released a very large Grayling on the Branch river once. I don't have a photo but it was for sure in the world record class of 4-5 pounds

Are you sure it wasn't a carp, Gp? :p :wave:

[raptorschild]

I have an answer for you. Search out a high-lake in the North Cascades in Washington. It's called GRANITE LAKE. It has the only catchable population of grayling in Washington.

The hike is easy if you can find the logging road that goes up to the lake.....it's a real bear if you bush wack, and can't find the logging road.

When I hiked it, we didnt find the logging road until about half way up....lets just say the first half of the hike took us 8 hours, and the second half took about 1 hour.

We caught many cut-bows, and quite a few grayling. Mostly around 10-12" long. Beautiful scenery. Lots of mosquitos. That lake was kinda funny as every color worked as long as it was copper! Thomas Buyant's were king that weekend.

[FrogPond]

I found some in a little lake above Helena Montana once. Sorry not much help, I know. I would say you are 12 hrs by car at least away from good grayling populations.
But they do have some amazing colors! I second the post that called out Ty's picture for as close as I have ever seen to an accurate depiction of their colors.

[leadeyedbugger]

Those pics i posted were the best out of about 40 grayling pics a group of us took on a fishing trip to yellowstone last year. Pel was there.....The colors cannot be accurately described with words or photos. They must be seen in person. And they are a blast to fish for too.

[gthfish]

Lots of high lakes in Id (central) have grayling, but usually a long hike. Easiest close grayling I know of are in Yellowstone. Combine a family vacation with a chance (GOOD chance!) of adding grayling to your life-list.Easy hike of a half to 3 miles into Ice ,Grebe, Wolf (?) lakes in the center of the park at the head of the Gibbon river. Even an occasional fish in the Gibbon.

[Pelhament]

Thats what I get for posting at work, post the same exact picture in the post I quoted thinking I am being original... I hate how my work blocks stuff.

[Moe]

I've caught and released thousands of them in the Yukon Territories but that's really not an easy drive. lol

I read somewhere that there are grayling in a few lakes on the east side of the Sierras in California but can't remember which ones.

[MarlinMark]

Thanks everyone for the replies and tips. I will get out an atlas and start planning/dreaming.

Anyone want to do this thread again with Golden Trout?

Mark

[mnfisher]

There are a few lakes in north ID out of avery that i've caught them out of. I can't remember the names but it was about a 3 mile hike somewhere in the north fork of the clearwater drainage. They were really small and abundant, never got one over 13 inches.

[Lamplighter]

Thanks everyone for the replies and tips. I will get out an atlas and start planning/dreaming.

Anyone want to do this thread again with Golden Trout?

Mark

I already had that thought...

But like Moe's posting above, I've only heard of Golden Trout in high lakes of the Sierras, somewhere near Mt Whitney.

I'd sure like to see one au natural

[Z. Kodaly]

If you had to drive from the Portland metropolitan area and catch a grayling where would you go?
Mark

I go to the Montana/Idaho area most summers, and have for almost twenty years. There are several places I fish most summers that have good-sized grayling --ranging from 13 to 17 inches---that you can catch on virtually every cast. Bigger fish are generally caught as they swim up feeder streams to larger lakes during their spawning migration.

They're fun, but the novelty wears off fast.

[elkthumper]

The shortest drive for trophy grayling would be to the Portland Airport. From there you could make the long flight to the Ugashik Narrows in Alaska however, the hike is short; just hop out of the float plane and within a hundred yards your fishing. Big grayling though!

This ones a common 18 incher. They get bigger there.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Ugashik_Grayling1.jpg

wow. never thought i'd hear that river on a public forum. SSSSHHHHH!!!!!!!! :flowered:

[gottafish]

This post brings to mind old memories of years gone By, My grand father use to catch grayling in Michigan when he was a boy, henc the Name "Grayling Michigan" There hasnt been a grayling trout in Michigan for close to 100 years now. They were lost to the logging industry as the logs were floated out to larger rivers they were scowered out of the rivers.
Now were they ever native to Oregon? I would imagen they were. Why have the ODFW not tried to restock some rivers? I would think the Sandy and clack would support a healthy population. :whistle:Oh FYI There are catchable populations of Grayling in the Oregon cascades south of sisters, Its lake fishing and its a back pack trip. Im not sayin where. LOL

[Moe]

They're fun, but the novelty wears off fast.

I've fly fished rivers just north of Anchorage standing in one spot and caught and released over 100 grayling in a morning. Anybody that's fished for them can tell you the same story. They're not much of a challenge but the colors in the fins is remarkably beautiful. It fades the instant they die and it's difficult to capture on film. I do have some pictures that I took with a Canon 35mm camera, tho. I broke my daughters into fly fishing on a grayling stream near Haines Junction in the Yukon Territories. You can catch a fish every cast and it takes no skill.

Larger grayling that have been filleted with the skin removed are very good eating.

[Mad Mikey]

I've been priveleged to have fished some remote fly in/boat in streams just N/NW of Anchorage.(Canyon Creek off the Skwentna). The fish in CC averaged 16"-18" with a few over 20".

Grayling need the utmost high water quality to survive. If you have Grayling that means you have pure water. That might explain why you have to go so far from civilization to catch them.

They could not survive in the Clack or Sandy for sure.

I was never impressed with their fighting ability but a Grayling makes the sweetest porpoise-like rise on a dry fly.

Take photos fast, the fin color fades very quickly.

[Lamplighter]

This thread started me Google-ing ("grayling elevation") to see if these fish were present only in the "high lakes" of our country. It seems that Grayling are not trout, and are named "Artic Grayling". In earlier days they were found in many rivers and lakes of North America... not just the high lakes.

It seems that they just do not compete well with some other kinds of (sport) fish. There were stocking programs thru the 1990's, but these programs have (all ?) ended now out of fear of the "whirling disease" which is spreading through some trout populations.

In Colorado, there are a couple of lakes where Graying are multiplying well, but elsewhere in that state the Grayling (and the Golden Trout) are dying out. I mention the Colorado lakes because Mark can just drive over and park at the water's edge... no hiking at all. But I leave it to him to discover the names of these two lakes. :wink:

[Ty]

Great grayling fishing on many Alaskan rivers, but three that stand out in my experience are the Alagnak, the Koktuli, and Kvichak. I also caught some very large grayling on Lake Creek. I caught and released a very large Grayling on the Branch river once. I don't have a photo but it was for sure in the world record class of 4-5 pounds

There are many other great grayling rivers in the Bristol Bay Region... Newhalen, Tzimina, Ugashik Narrows, Wood / Tikchik river lake systems, Mulchatna Drainages...

The entire Yukon and Kuskokwim have extensive grayling populations and many other regions of the far west and north in Alaska... They even have grayling on the North Solpe, some that even leave one river and enter another river or lake via the Artic Ocean... Highly varied life histories they have; three main forms.. Fluvial (river), Ad fluvial (lakes and spawn in tributaries rivers and streams.

[MarlinMark]

This post brings to mind old memories of years gone By, My grand father use to catch grayling in Michigan when he was a boy, henc the Name "Grayling Michigan" There hasnt been a grayling trout in Michigan for close to 100 years now. They were lost to the logging industry as the logs were floated out to larger rivers they were scowered out of the rivers.
Now were they ever native to Oregon? I would imagen they were. Why have the ODFW not tried to restock some rivers? I would think the Sandy and clack would support a healthy population. :whistle:Oh FYI There are catchable populations of Grayling in the Oregon cascades south of sisters, Its lake fishing and its a back pack trip. Im not sayin where. LOL


So there are Grayling in Oregon...? I hadn't heard that before. Interesting. They must be in the stocking records.

Anyone know about this besides Gottafish?

[PharmFisher]

Kodaly is right I know if a few places in montana that have grayling. small rivers and lakes. Lamplighter you asked about seeing a golden well i have heard talk of golden trout in a small lake on mount hood that have golden's. Have you guys been. I think I might venture up there this summer and check it out.

[palouser]

Henry lake, Montana.

[Moe]

In revisiting this thread I remembered something about grayling. They're a natural for a fly rod and dries. They have a strange quirk that makes them fun to catch. Trout come to the surface and gulp or sip a dry fly but grayling actually leap out of the water and hit the fly on the way down. Folks that are used to catching trout have some difficulty in hooking grayling because as soon as the water explodes they try and set the hook. The grayling misses the fly because it's been pulled away too soon.

[palouser]

I may be heading to the wigwams in Idaho soon, lots of grayling.:)

[tfisher]

I see that those Grayling liked that egg + the green patterns.Nice pics!
Shake and bake!:yay:

[WyomingFisher]

Ok, just for fun lets start a discussion about where is the closest population of catchable grayling.

If you had to drive from the Portland metropolitan area and catch a grayling where would you go?

I understand (and actually hope) that some hiking will be involved. :meme:

If you are offended that I'm asking for your secret grayling fishing hole I apologize. I'm just enamored with these fish. It's probably because I've never caught one and hear that photagraphs can never correctly display their beauty.

Mark
Hi Mark,

Close is probably subjective, but there is a great grayling lake about 15 miles from my house. Meadow lake just above Boulder, Wyoming. Unlike most lakes in the Wind River range, you can actually drive to this one.

Grayling aren't hard to catch. Here they will bite almost anything that is black and could be interpreted as a leach pattern. A 14 wooly worm is a good pattern to start with. During a caribou hunt in Alaska I caught one on the hoholitna river with a hand line and a spinner. Some where here there is a thread about 3wt fly rods. That would be perfect. They have a lot of fight for their size, but they aren't that big.

Their flesh is light and a bit bony. Try poaching them in white wine with a bit of tarragon.

Have fun.

[WyomingFisher]

Thanks everyone for the replies and tips. I will get out an atlas and start planning/dreaming.

Anyone want to do this thread again with Golden Trout?

Mark
Hi Mark,

We have goldens too, but you need to do a pretty good hike to get to them, here they hang above 10,000 feet. These guys are much more difficult to catch than grayling. They are in several lakes towards the north end of the Winds. Take the Green River Lakes trail head, climb around Osborne mountain and try any lake you find. This is at least 5 miles each way so you may want to take the gear to spend the night. Once again they are small so a light rod makes it more fun. I've had a lot of success with a royal wulff.

These taste almost like salmon. A smoked golden trout will make your knees buckle.

Have fun.

[ogrejager]

Some where here there is a thread about 3wt fly rods.

There's other ways to catch grayling?

As a transplanted Alaskan, I've caught a lot of grayling (as has everybody that's caught more than 3). By far the best way to fish them is light flyrods and dry flies.

[Dave Miller]

The last place I fished for Grayling was in Switzerland. My daughter married a swiss and when we go over to visit, my son in law and I spent several days fly fishing for trout and grayling. They actually have decent Grayling fishing, and I was amazed at the size of them in the smaller streams in the low farm lands.
I've also fished alot in Scotland (stationed there for 3 yrs)for trout & their great sea run trout along with salmon, and also for trout in the French Alps.
I'd like to fish Eastern Russia, but my traveling days outside of N. America I guess are over.

[Nw dukn]

Looks like a lot of fun..