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Grayling

Posted By: yukonjeff

Grayling - 10/20/20 04:35 AM

Are biting.

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Posted By: Boco

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 04:50 AM

Cool looking fish.
Trout family?
Posted By: NonPCfed

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 04:52 AM

Do you have Arctic char up there as well...?
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:01 AM

Originally Posted by Boco
Cool looking fish.
Trout family?


I think so. Kind of like a Whitefish. Lives in clear water rivers only.

Originally Posted by NonPCfed
Do you have Arctic char up there as well...?


Yes we do. Called Dolly Varden. But locally they call them a trout. We don't have trout here. Wish we did.
Posted By: 330-Trapper

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:28 AM

Those are awesome fish!!!
Posted By: mad_mike

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:30 AM

Eat them quick!
Posted By: James

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:34 AM

Few things are as beautiful as a male grayling, leaping into the air in the sunlight with its sail-fin displayed, to take your dry fly as they re-enter the water.

Hungry grayling will hit just about anything. I've take them on deer-hair mouse flies while fishing for pike and big trout.

Jim
Posted By: mad_mike

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:42 AM

My favorite freshwater species to chase with a fly rod. A close second are the rainbow.
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:54 AM

Originally Posted by mad_mike
Eat them quick!


I didn't waste no time. Better along the river though.

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I find they don't freeze too bad, if you do it right. Its better than no Grayling all winter.

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Posted By: James

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 06:00 AM

I've always believed, since early experience, that grayling should be eaten within an hour or so of being caught.

I never tried freezing them, but can testify that they don't keep well on ice.

Jim
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 06:09 AM

Not as good as fresh for sure. The trick is to get them from the water to the freezer fast and do it on a cool day. You can see their colors fade fast too.

Fun to play with them on a fly rod. I did it a few times. Can catch way more than with spinners, but both are fun.

Forgot I did a video about 5 years ago. Must of posted it before.


Posted By: BernieB.

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 12:56 PM

Bucket list fish for me.
Posted By: old243

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 01:10 PM

I fly fished , and caught a couple , in yukon, on the alaska highway. Just before dark , decided I better get back to camper. Before a griz, wanted my lunch. . old243
Posted By: MnMan

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 01:28 PM

They look like they would be good smoked. How are they that way?
Posted By: corky

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 01:46 PM

Those are huge from my experiences.
Posted By: white17

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 02:02 PM

Fun to catch but I don't like eating them. I would much rather catch and eat a Dolly.

Used to catch them for dog food this time of year. There would be hundreds swarming around the set net eating the eggs squirting out of silver salmon in the net
Posted By: hippie

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 04:28 PM

Cool looking fish for sure. The scales say not so good to eat to me.
Posted By: Trapper7

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by white17
Fun to catch but I don't like eating them. I would much rather catch and eat a Dolly.

Used to catch them for dog food this time of year. There would be hundreds swarming around the set net eating the eggs squirting out of silver salmon in the net

That was my question: How are they for eating? I can't go by you because once I recall you saying you don't like salmon and that's my favorite fish to eat. grin I regularly buy Alaskan Caught Sockeye at Sam's Club.
Posted By: danvee

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:22 PM

They look the best as soon as they come out of the water but loose color fast but do look good in the pan.
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by MnMan
They look like they would be good smoked. How are they that way?


I never tried smoking them but I bet they would be good. They have a white flakey meat.
Originally Posted by Trapper7
Originally Posted by white17
Fun to catch but I don't like eating them. I would much rather catch and eat a Dolly.

Used to catch them for dog food this time of year. There would be hundreds swarming around the set net eating the eggs squirting out of silver salmon in the net

That was my question: How are they for eating? I can't go by you because once I recall you saying you don't like salmon and that's my favorite fish to eat. grin I regularly buy Alaskan Caught Sockeye at Sam's Club.


True..... White would rather eat marten than salmon in the winter smile

Grayling are considered by many as the best eating fresh water fish in Alaska.
Posted By: upstateNY

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by yukonjeff
Not as good as fresh for sure. The trick is to get them from the water to the freezer fast and do it on a cool day. You can see their colors fade fast too.

Fun to play with them on a fly rod. I did it a few times. Can catch way more than with spinners, but both are fun.

Forgot I did a video about 5 years ago. Must of posted it before.



That looks like a lot of fun.Do you scale them,,or eat the skin and all like on a brook trout?
Posted By: Trapper7

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by upstateNY
Originally Posted by yukonjeff
Not as good as fresh for sure. The trick is to get them from the water to the freezer fast and do it on a cool day. You can see their colors fade fast too.

Fun to play with them on a fly rod. I did it a few times. Can catch way more than with spinners, but both are fun.

Forgot I did a video about 5 years ago. Must of posted it before.



That looks like a lot of fun.Do you scale them,,or eat the skin and all like on a brook trout?

Interesting video. Looks like you're using a small spinner of some sort. They're pretty scrappy; like a trout.
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 06:10 PM

Upstate NY They do have scales bigger than a trout. I don't scale any fish anymore. It makes the meat mushy . I fry them with the scales, and the skin, and scales are crunchy goodness when done.

Trapper 7 I was using a Panther Marten that day but they bite about any small Mepps. They like the squirrel tail ones. They think they are mice. I have caught them with belly loads of Voles before.
Posted By: white17

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by Trapper7
Originally Posted by white17
Fun to catch but I don't like eating them. I would much rather catch and eat a Dolly.

Used to catch them for dog food this time of year. There would be hundreds swarming around the set net eating the eggs squirting out of silver salmon in the net

That was my question: How are they for eating? I can't go by you because once I recall you saying you don't like salmon and that's my favorite fish to eat. grin I regularly buy Alaskan Caught Sockeye at Sam's Club.


To me, grayling are soft, mushy fish with billions of bones the size of human hairs. You expend more energy eating them than you gain.

The only way I will eat salmon now is if it is dried in cold smoke.

If you like fish, try some black cod. You'll never eat that Sam's Club dog food again.
Posted By: Ouananiche

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by Trapper7
Originally Posted by white17
Fun to catch but I don't like eating them. I would much rather catch and eat a Dolly.

Used to catch them for dog food this time of year. There would be hundreds swarming around the set net eating the eggs squirting out of silver salmon in the net

That was my question: How are they for eating? I can't go by you because once I recall you saying you don't like salmon and that's my favorite fish to eat. grin I regularly buy Alaskan Caught Sockeye at Sam's Club.



Grayling ARE salmon.

If you like one, you are likely to enjoy the other.

As with Lake Trout actually.... But they are more environment dependent.
Posted By: bfisch

Re: Grayling - 10/20/20 08:04 PM

Ice has been flowing on the river here for almost a week. How long ago did you take the video? I am lucky to catch one ice fishing each year otherwise they are way, way up river other times of the year.
Posted By: J.Morse

Re: Grayling - 10/21/20 12:38 AM

Totally cool fish Jeff, thanks for sharing them with us. The Grayling disappeared from my area before I was born, having died out around the turn of the 20th century in the Lower Peninsula. They lasted in the Otter River of the U.P. until around 1932. When my Great Grandfather was born Grayling were wildly abundant in our local rivers. People didn't take long to totally rid our area of them. I grew up with the idea that Grayling were the Holy Grail of fish. I wanted to experience the thrill of fishing for them that was available to my family before I was born, but it was decades before I was able to fish for them. A road trip up the Alcan in 1981 was when I caught my first ones. There is a project in the works that may return a self-sustaining population to Michigan within the next 4-5 years, but I won't hold my breath. The state has tried several times to bring them back. This time I hope it works, I'd love for my grandsons to be able to fish for them near home like their Great Great Great Grandad could.
Posted By: yukonjeff

Re: Grayling - 10/21/20 04:40 AM

Originally Posted by bfisch
Ice has been flowing on the river here for almost a week. How long ago did you take the video? I am lucky to catch one ice fishing each year otherwise they are way, way up river other times of the year.


That was 5 years ago today. Looks the same today. No ice here yet. I still have the net set in front of the house.

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Originally Posted by J.Morse
Totally cool fish Jeff, thanks for sharing them with us. The Grayling disappeared from my area before I was born, having died out around the turn of the 20th century in the Lower Peninsula. They lasted in the Otter River of the U.P. until around 1932. When my Great Grandfather was born Grayling were wildly abundant in our local rivers. People didn't take long to totally rid our area of them. I grew up with the idea that Grayling were the Holy Grail of fish. I wanted to experience the thrill of fishing for them that was available to my family before I was born, but it was decades before I was able to fish for them. A road trip up the Alcan in 1981 was when I caught my first ones. There is a project in the works that may return a self-sustaining population to Michigan within the next 4-5 years, but I won't hold my breath. The state has tried several times to bring them back. This time I hope it works, I'd love for my grandsons to be able to fish for them near home like their Great Great Great Grandad could.


I hope you can reestablish them. They live in the headwaters of spring fed streams most of the summer, so I think they are susceptible to warm waters, and yes easily overfished. We dont have limits here but they only bite well in early spring and late fall.

Some will catch 20-30 about now when they are biting, but not alot of people here and not much fishing pressure yet. They do eat salmon eggs so as a commercial fisherman its a love hate relationship, but I am always happy to share with nature, and would hate to see their demise.
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