interesting/confusing

[the local angler]

so today i decided to try and knock off the grayling off my bucket list and hit a small pond for the elusive grayling. so after fishing for a bit i hear this guy huffing and puffing up the same trail i came up on carrying alot of gear. then followed by two others 10 mins later. at first i thought they were camping out for the nite and thought to myself this is a day use area and then i hear a loud hissing coming from them and to realize it was a big air tank they had. everyone that was fishing there including me were kinda puzzled as we realized they were all gearing up with full scuba gear. this i have never ran into before so wasnt sure if they were biologists doing research. but the woman swam cause of a malfunction in her gear so she just swam and came up where i was. so i chatted with her to find out what they were doing, and it apparently was just for fun and practicing for their cave diving. didnt know they allowed scuba diving in such a small pond, i have heard of lake minnewonka (sp) and thats about it. any ways i sorta knocked off the grayling off my list sorta, caught one and got it to shore and tried digging out my camera and as i did and tried to take the picture dam bugger spit the hook and into my wrist it went. even though i didnt get to see it better cause it was still in the water. not sure if that counted. lol

[waterninja]

don't know about diving rules, but if you held or even touched that grayling i'd say it's off your bucket list.
nowadays if a fish is barely lip hooked i give it slack at shore or at the boat hopeing it spits the hook and still call it a catch.

[the local angler]

unfortunately i didnt get to even touch the bugger but the good news is i went back today and finally caught landed took pics and landed my first and my biggest grayling today. so happy.

[Flight01]

They are a beautiful fish. Fly fishing in small creeks for these guys is amazing fun. They are very cooperative and often school especially in the fall. I'm a beginner and have landed somewhere around 35 this year on the fly.

[the local angler]

i gotta say they are a much harder fighting fish then i anticipated. so far i have not caught them in a creek or river yet. i dont know much about where they are located but a buddy says ussually farther north.i think i might have to keep hitting this particular species for a few more weeks. love them. last nite was day one for me hitting the grayling and i must say it took me a while to figure out what they would take. i first tried dries but surprizingly no takers. then i tried a something to go deeper and got one hit. near the end of the day was when i finally figured out what they were taking. had a blast today.