Lake Trout and Grayling...

[hap]

Just returned from our annual lake trout and grayling trip... Fished for lake trout at the outlet of a fair-sized lake with a red salmon run. Right now the smolts are making mad dashes for the ocean and being pinched by the rivers taking them there. Terns watch from above and lakers hide behind every rock. Loons, grebes and otters were seen doing their share of damage as well.

Using large streamers with a polar bear hair wing, a bit of flash, including dark blue over a wrapped pearlescent braid body worked extremely well. So well there was little fly swapping done as the lakers made themselves obvious and seldom turned down a reasonable presentation.

I will post a photo when I get them downloaded... Lake trout ran 18" or so on the low end and about 8 pounds for the heavier fish. Grayling ran to nearly 20" and we caught them in huge quantities in the 12-16" range, though tapes and counters were conspicuous in their absence...
art

[Grubb]

Looking forward to the pics!

[Wild One]

Looking forward to the pics!

you're telling me! 20" Grayling?!?! WOW

[hap]

Here is a representative grayling my 15-year-old son caught and photographed with an Olympus 850 SW.


Riley with another grayling which looks to be 17-18".


A friend with a lake trout on the small side. Color is a little washed due to darkness. The little Olympus does a pretty decent job considering the conditions.


Riley with a little bigger lake trout. Note the gorgeous char coloring, even though the lake trout pictures were taken at "night" pretty far North.

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[kglissmeyer]

Hap, great report and pics. Keep 'em coming. My wish is for a Grayling someday, the bad hip seems to preclude my traveling to their local...

Kelly

[Beaver]

Hap,

Nice report and great pics. Neat to see different spots and fish. Never caught a grayling or lake trout before. Thanks for the report. Sounds like a great time.

Beaver

[hap]

This is now my favorite annual trip... Watching lake trout slashing through schools of smolts is beyond impressive and they are not fussy. Grayling are simply THE fly fishing target. They are aggressive and often take dries from above... They literally jump and take them on the down stroke a large percentage of the time.

We make a lot of dedicated trips each year to the same places we have been going for decades and we have never failed to hit this one on the money for grayling and lakers. We have had more company than we wanted and the weather has sucked more than once, but the fishing is reliable.

I first fished the spot in the late '60s, so I have a little time there, but we used cut bait there when I was young. The salmon runs have been "enhanced" and the lake trout have responded by keying on the downbound smolts.

It is actually an easy-to-access spot, just requires a little special gear and an ability to sit a bit... Thinking about taking an old chicken plucker there just for fun next week.
art

[hap]

BTW... We kept one fish again this year, as usual, of more than 50. Eight people ate plenty and there was left-over fish. Lake trout and burbot are the only freshwater fish I find worth eating... And walleye does not come close...

[JohnScott]

Hap -

Really enjoyed the report and pics.

I've only seen a couple lake trout, so I must say that I was stunned at the coloring on the big one Riley is holding.

Been thinking about hiking up to one of our mountain lakes for a shot at grayling ( the Idaho record grayling at just over 17" came out of that lake ). Your pics just make me want to do it sooner rather than later. Wish me luck.

If you have some more pics from that outing, don't be bashful ( like you ever have been best I can tell from your posts !! ). The more the better.

John

P.S. Kelly - if you come back to this thread - fish the Gibbon above the falls and you might get yourself a grayling or two.

[hap]

Just thought I might add Riley is just 15, but his hands are quite a bit bigger than mine and he is about 6'3" or so. I am a little taller still, but expect that advantage to go away soon. That lake trout looks to be over 22" and under 24".

Just noticed the underwater grayling and the one Riley is holding are one and the same, with the dorsal fin damaged from some earlier conflict.

For those without grayling experience this is a male. Females have smaller dorsals and more drab colors, especially on the edges of the dorsal.
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