Thymallus Arcticus

[smittyts]

I went up to Smith & Morehouse last night after work. First I tried the Weber with my fly rod just below Rockport, but the flow has increased from 2 weeks ago, and I suck at fly fishing. After about 2 hours of frustration and laughing at myself, I got in the car and headed up to Smith & Morehouse. I got there about 7:15 and fished until about 8:45. I was casting from shore using Jake's, Blue Fox, Rapalas, spoons etc. They seemed to like whatever I threw at them. I was able to land 6 fish, one of which was my first Arctic Greyling (Thymallus Arcticus) ever. Beautiful fish. I did a double take when I went to unhook him. He was small, about 12".

I guess I forgot that there were Arctic Greyling in there since I have been fishing it for 10 years without ever hooking into one of these. I caught 5 trout from 10" to 14", one of which I took home and fried up for a late night dinner. I wonder how I would have done if I could have taken my canoe out on the lake. I iwll probably try that soon.

I was the only one there. The sky was grey and the air was brisk, but I was too focused on fishing to really notice. I wish I would have brought a good camera with me. There was a large Hawk or Eagle who was perched on the top of a tree a ways off. He would take to flight for a bit and then just come back and hang out. The wind wasn't bad at all, and it only sprinkled on me for about 10 minutes. I hit a huge down poor coming down Parley's. All in all, very enjoyable.
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[doggonefishin]

Nice job! Grayling are one of my favorite fish to catch. A 12 inch grayling is not bad for most of our lakes, although they can occasionally get a good bit bigger. What did you think of the huge dorsal fin?

Thanks for the reminder that I need to do a day trip to one of my favorite grayling lakes this year.
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[albinotrout]

Thanks for the report. Grayling are fun to catch.
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[smittyts]

The long dorsal fin was amazing. It was grey with streaks of irridescent blue, green and purple.

BTW, do you use special techniques to target Greyling, or is it the luck of the draw?
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[SkunkedAgain]

All the grayling I've ever caught have been on flies...when I've found them surface feeding... However, I don't get into them very often so I'm not a great reference... J
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[doggonefishin]

[quote smittyts]
BTW, do you use special techniques to target Greyling, or is it the luck of the draw?[/quote]


Grayling have never met a dry fly they didn't like. (OK, that a bit of an exaggeration) They are usually relatively easy to catch using a "fly and bubble" or traditional fly gear. In the Uintas, the mosquito pattern usually just pounds them.
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