Arctic Grayling

[dude1125]

Is it time to put a zero limit on Artic Grayling and close a few grayling streams to fishing for a few years?

[bigbowtrout]

Yes and no maybe

[ÜberFly]

Yeah it's a pretty broad statement without any rational or further info!!

 

P

 

Is it time to put a zero limit on Artic Grayling and close a few grayling streams to fishing for a few years?

 

[dude1125]

I was just thinking that Grayling are in the same shape as Bull trout were before they got protected. Grayling are an easy species to over fish.

[ÜberFly]

Maybe up north, but the 2 places that have them down here (Wedge & Quarry) from what everyone says, they seem to be pretty difficult to catch. I've only caught 1 in Quarry last year, and I've been skunked twice at Wedge (from the bank)... But really haven't put in all that much effort...

 

Are there any stats/studies on the pops declining?!

 

P

 

I was just thinking that Grayling are in the same shape as Bull trout were before they got protected. Grayling are an easy species to over fish.

 

[birchy]

Maybe up north, but the 2 places that have them down here (Wedge & Quarry) from what everyone says, they seem to be pretty difficult to catch. I've only caught 1 in Quarry last year, and I've been skunked twice at Wedge (from the bank)... But really haven't put in all that much effort...

 

Are there any stats/studies on the pops declining?!

 

P

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Haven't been there myself yet, but everyone I talk to says they're tricky to catch! Very picky eaters.

 

[ironfly]

With natural populations, yes. With stocked lakes, well, they call them put and take for a reason.

 

Yes, there have been studies. One came out in 2005-ish that claimed, if I recall correctly, a 40% range reduction and a 90% population reduction over the last 50 years.

 

I think Arctic Grayling should be the poster-fish for C&R; as soon as you take them out of the water they lose all their beautiful colours, but regain their iridescence when you put them back.

[ÜberFly]

Wedge and Quarry are both C & R (zero limit)!! Are there actually stocked Grayling lakes that are keep?

 

P

[dude1125]

With natural populations, yes. With stocked lakes, well, they call them put and take for a reason.

 

Yes, there have been studies. One came out in 2005-ish that claimed, if I recall correctly, a 40% range reduction and a 90% population reduction over the last 50 years.

 

I think Arctic Grayling should be the poster-fish for C&R; as soon as you take them out of the water they lose all their beautiful colours, but regain their iridescence when you put them back.

 

Here's the report from 2005 that I was reading. There are couple other reports that I read that focus in on the Pembina river.

 

http://srd.alberta.ca/biodiversitystewards...ic_Grayling.pdf

 

 

 

 

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

i think is not the right group of people to be getting this started, we jsut dont have the # of places or populations of graying down here. I cant think of anyone on this forum who is a specific AG fisher and the Grand Cach is too far away for most to do the drive to fish for them.

 

i jsut want to know one thing.....how do they taste?

 

are they native or originally stocked? if they are not native then i say hit'em all you want, they dont belong unlike beavers and such.

[BBBrownie]

Although I can't say anything particular in regards to population numbers in Alberta as a whole, they sure seem to have declined markedly in the Pembina drainage, they used to be in most tribs of the pembina in large numbers, creeks like Rat Creek near Cynthia, Nelson Creek, upper Pembina, goes on and on, but Grayling are a bit of an indicator of water quality and habitat quality in that they are quite sensitive to changes in water chemistry and are negatively correlated with silt substrates and suspended silt. The upper Pembina, as well as many of the athabasca tribs (from swan hills to fort McMurray) have been affected by relentless industrial development over the years...Sure ain't what they used to be...And to whoever asked if they were native, yes, they are up there and also in the Belly down south (disjunct population), but not in Iron or Bear.

 

Edit- Yes, they can be easy to catch in a river, i've never fished em in a pond but in rivers they are generally willing. They seem to be attracted to red, so red humpies and things like that are quite effective, as well as small nymphs. I've seen a lot of pictures from the 70's and 80's with long stringers of grayling, may have fished em too low, species population dymnamic shift towards a different dominant in the systems? Pembina was absolutely infested with rockies last couple times I fished it.

[Blaine]

I live "Up North" and do believe that there should be a zero limit on all wild Arctic Grayling in this province.

 

My grandfather tells me of streams teeming full of Grayling when he was younger but due to the Logging and Oil-and-Gas industries, reckless ATV drivers, as well as some of the driest years ever in Alberta, the Grayling population has been decimated.

 

A zero limit on wild Arctic Grayling would be a band-aid at this point, but it would be a step in the right direction. To lose such a beautiful fish from our streams would be an absolute tragedy.

 

 

[Smitty]

Well, as Barry Mitchell would point out, we're pretty much de facto at catch and release already, provided people follow the rules. LSR is already at C&R, and most streams that you are allowed to keep, the minimum size is 12". So it goes without saying that the majority of fish should be released. Few watersheds right now produce 12"+ grayling on a regular, consistent basis.

 

Secondly, as everyone as pointed out, unlike bull trout, I don't think grayling have suffered as massively from overfishing, over-keeping. To be sure, sportfishing plays a role in diminishing the pops, but in grayling's case it really has been widespread habitat degradation. You think changing the sportfishing regs will significantly affect the decline, should it be absolutely proven the decline is mostly due to habitat loss? We should get to the cause or root of the problem. Rightfully so that someone said it could or would merely be band-aid.

 

Having said all that, I do favor approaches that embrace the "couldn't hurt, and might help" philosophy. So you wouldn't even have to twist my rubber arm to get the regs changed, but lets just keep our eyes wide open on this one, knowing full well that it may not be a significant difference maker.

 

Smitty

P.S. Grayling taste fine, but not as good as brook trout.

[HeadwatersHunter]

I fish for grayling alot up here in the G.C. There are very large numbers of grayling here, in fact most rivers that do contain grayling have such good numbers in them that a person often gets bored with catching them after only a few hours. These rivers hold significant numbers of fish within the 14 - 17" range and are extremely easy to catch. I can completely understand how bumping up the catch limit of grayling could easily wipeout a population. As far as I know, there is a very restricted catch limit for grayling on some waters up here while others are C&R (I never bother to look at the catch limits as I treat all rivers out here as C&R).

 

I say protect the grayling, they feed the bull trout, and everybody loves giant bull trout.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

I fished grayling a lot over the years. I saw the fishing get harder and harder. Then you hear from locals that they target them when they migrate and bunch up and no different than today's slaughter of mountain whitefish. I have caught 100 grayling in a day on streams around Whitecourt. 60 was not hard at Bear. Caught plenty at Quarry and Wedge...albiet you had to know where to fish and what to use.

 

While grayling were once way more plentiful...managers today are younger and have a different perspective on between the past and present. Can we get any fishery back to where is was 100 years ago? Highly unlikely but hopefully we can maintain a lesser fishery but still be a fishery versus just a day out wading in the water watching dippers...

 

IMHO