Lower 48 Grayling

http://www.flyrodreel.com/Fly-Rod-and-Reel-Online/November-December-2007/Conservation/
More than 20 years ago, I caught one small Grayling in a tiny tributary (Nez Perce Creek?), of the Gibbon River, in YNP, so the Author’s words got my attention.
Doug

Great article. Thats a fish i would like the chance to catch. How do they compare to trout in terms of a fight? The article says they are far less selective and easier to catch than trout, is this true?

Twism86.

I would agree with the article. But like most everything in fishing there are exceptions to the rule. I remember one day near Fairbanks when I tried every fly I had and could not get a touch and the grayling were jumping all around me.

Tim

I have caught a few grayling in the Gallatin and the lower Madison, as well as Grebe Lake in YNP. I also found them in a lake here in western Colorado:

Pretty fish, they seem to fight about as well as a trout of that size, but then I have never caught one large enough (the one in the photo is about tops) to give me much trouble.

[paragraph on the trials and tribulations of endangered species management deleted] S

I caught one about the size shown by Dennis from the Big Hole river near Wisdom, Mt.
There was a school of them porpoising in the middle of the river. I put a fly in the middle of the mess and caught one. I don’t remember a significant fight to land it…rather uneventful as I recall.

I caught some on a Blackfeet Reservation lake in Montana. Nothing big, fight wasn’t memorable, but boy they looked cool. I’ve been back there a number of times since but never caught another one.

Regards,
Scott

That’s a pretty good grayling based on what I know. I dream of casting to those but don’t think I’ll be pulling any out of our GA tailwaters :rolleyes:. What conditions do grayling need anyway? Are there stocking programs for them anywhere?

Grayling Habitat: Cold water and clean gravel.

Link: http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/fish/grayling/grayling.htm

Doug