Meet The Fish: Grayling

With its distinctive sailfish-like dorsal fin, the grayling is perhaps the most striking of Alaskan game fish. Found in all regions of the state, the grayling is equally at home in lakes, small streams and big rivers. The grayling is available from April to November, with the peak fishing period being June through August. Most grayling average 8-14 inches and about 1 lb, but fish up to 24 inches and 4 lbs have been recorded. Feeding primarily on insects, the grayling offers one of the finest dry-fly fishing opportunities in Alaska with its decidedly un-picky feeding style.

Gear and Flies
At times, the grayling can be the fly angler's dream fish, readily rising to most any dry fly regardless of pattern or technique. Other times, Alaska's grayling will be finicky eaters of only one particular insect stage. Either way, they provide great sport for the angler equipped with a 3, 4, or 5 weight rod with a suitably lightweight reel. By far the most common fly line choice for grayling is a weight forward floating line. Tapered 9 foot leaders terminating with 4X-5X tippet are generally sufficient. As previously mentioned, grayling are mostly insectivorous, and the fly box of the angler in-the-know will contain several iterations and life stages of mayflies, caddis flies, midges, and mosquitoes.

Rods
Winston B3x 8'6 3wt
Sage One 9' 4wt
Sage Flight 8'6 3wt
Sage VPX 9' 4wt

Reels
Lamson Guru 1.5
Lamson Litespeed 1.5

Nautilus FWX 3/4

Sage 4230

Lines
Rio Grand Floating Line
Rio Indicator Taper
Scientific Anglers GPX Floating Line
Rio Avid Trout Taper

Flies
Royal Wulff
Salcha Pinkie
Red Tail Black Gnat
Delektable CDC Olive Prince
Bead Head Thin Mint

X-Caddis