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3. Grayling Migration Question

Hi Fellow Fly Fishers,

This is probably a question for Jason, but if anybody else can answer that would be great also.

I know that in the spring-early summer the grayling start working there way up stream to spawn. I also know that some then migrate back down to winter in the larger rivers like the Tanana.

What I was wondering is what percent of grayling if any remain in the upper part of a stream over the winter.

The reason I was asking is that today I went fishing in the upper part of a grayling stream and I did not see or feel any action. I don't know if the higher water and low visibility led to that, or if the fish migrated back downstream already.

Sam,

Although I'm sure Jason can provide more insight into your area of the state, here is a summary from USF&WS/ANWR:


Based on that, it would seem that your grayling might have moved to overwintering areas. However, here is a personal anecdote about a similar high water/low visibility situation that may (or may not) have some bearing:

In late September and early October of 2005, a friend and I were fishing the "Three Rivers" area north of Anchorage (as well as the Kenai to the south). At the beginning of that time, we had fast and easy fishing for a mix of grayling, dollies, and rainbows in the mainstem of the Talkeetna near some of its tributaries. When we moved up one of the tribs (Clear Creek), we found good numbers of dollies and rainbows associated with the last of the spawning silvers, but no grayling. Later on, after some fabulous rainbow and dolly fishing on the Kenai, we returned to fish the Talkeetna again. There had been some significant snow and rain that had raised the level quite a bit and discolored the water. The same stretch that had produced so well about a week before seemed to be virtually fishless.

Best,
Lloyd

Hi Sam,

I don't know if anyone's documented exactly what percentage of grayling remain in clear streams during the winter, and how many move all the way down to the big glacial rivers. It would be really hard to quantify that since you can't sample them effectively under 3 feet of ice. I would guess that many, if not most, overwinter in rivers like the Chena, but in a small number of ideal locations.

During my fieldwork on the Chena I spent plenty of time grayling fishing while my cameras were rolling on the juvenile salmon, all the way through into October. I was seeing grayling in the river throughout this period, all the way to ice-up, but the fishing really slowed down in late September and October. I think that's caused by both fish moving out of the system and fish feeding less aggressively as the water cools down.

Thank You Lloyd and Jason. That answered my question.

I know a couple people who have fished this creek in the same place that I did and have very good success, but unfortunately none of them remember what time of year they fished it.

The stream is about 1-3 feet deep with some pools that might be closer to 4' or 5'. So I'm figuring that most if not all were gone with the remaining ones not striking because of higher water and low visibility.

Thanks again,

Sam

Mind telling me which creek? (In a private message if you don't want the public to see.) Maybe I know something about it specifically.