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jacenbeers
04-20-2010, 09:15 PM
Catching a grayling is on my 2010 fishing bucket list and I live in Calgary. Where should I go around here to find one? I heard that there is a good place near Canmore. Any thoughts?

fishstix
04-20-2010, 09:23 PM
I know that you can catch them at wedge pond. They are stocked there.
http://www.srd.alberta.ca/FishingHuntingTrapping/SportFishing/FishStockingMap.aspx
Check out this map from SRD

Fishstix!!

uicehole
04-20-2010, 11:42 PM
I think the lake near Canmore is Quarry. I haven't been to Wedge in a few years but when they can overwinter a few seasons they get to a decent size. As both lakes get some heavy traffic, I find the best time to fish them is early in the year. South of Calgary, there's Bear pond and Big Iron Lake.
http://www3.telus.net/public/uicehole/Pics/grayling.jpg

gunner72
04-20-2010, 11:54 PM
The Little Smoky river's got em. Lots of walleye too! Goes threw the town of little smokey, up by fox creek.

luckyme
04-21-2010, 12:02 AM
I only see them from the regulation book and tv.Do you think i can catch them with spinning set up???i don't fly fish.

McLeod
04-21-2010, 07:32 AM
You can catch them on wet flies .Black Gnats work well ..or small panther martins with yellow and black bodies. Be kind with the release.

nicemustang
04-21-2010, 07:40 AM
I've caught them on a five of diamonds as well.

gunner72
04-21-2010, 08:02 AM
They were biting any thing once we found them. I caught some on white curly tails, panther martins, and flat fish. What ever we were catching the walleye with.

thumper
04-21-2010, 08:41 AM
Quarry Lake - just outside of Canmore. Just a 3 minute walk from the parking lot and you're fishing for grayling. Every two years F&W nets some at spawning time in May and strips their eggs and milt for use at the hatchery. This little lake (pond) provides the hatchery grayling for the province.
C&R only.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/Canmoron/kayak%20fish/IMG_1987.jpg

SwampShark
04-21-2010, 09:15 AM
I don't know what the grayling are like in the Calgary area (I didn't know that they were even that far south) but you shouldn't have a problem catching them with spinning gear. I usually do about twice as well flyfishing than a friend of mine who only spin casts but he still catches fish. Grayling are rather aggressive. Use smaller spinners and spoons like you would for trout.

deerassassin
04-21-2010, 09:37 AM
I don't know what the grayling are like in the Calgary area (I didn't know that they were even that far south) but you shouldn't have a problem catching them with spinning gear. I usually do about twice as well flyfishing than a friend of mine who only spin casts but he still catches fish. Grayling are rather aggressive. Use smaller spinners and spoons like you would for trout.

or almost any dry fly i find works to

Scott N
04-21-2010, 10:16 AM
Wedge Pond, right off HW 40 in K-Country is another place close to Calgary with Arctic Greyling.

Sundancefisher
04-21-2010, 11:59 AM
I don't know what the grayling are like in the Calgary area (I didn't know that they were even that far south) but you shouldn't have a problem catching them with spinning gear. I usually do about twice as well flyfishing than a friend of mine who only spin casts but he still catches fish. Grayling are rather aggressive. Use smaller spinners and spoons like you would for trout.

There are 4 lakes down south stocked with Grayling. There is a river in Montana with Grayling also.

http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AFCHA07010.aspx

http://www.fishalberta.com/20season/Ponton/Grayhot.htm (note they tried grayling in Champion but they did not work out. Grayling are not there now)

McLeod
04-21-2010, 12:39 PM
If you head up north some day we can put you onto some grayling..

walking buffalo
04-21-2010, 02:32 PM
I only see them from the regulation book and tv.Do you think i can catch them with spinning set up???i don't fly fish.

If you don't have any luck with the hardware, use a torpedo bobber with a fly. It's a good way to get to the fish out of flycasting range.

SLH
04-21-2010, 04:02 PM
Quarry Lake - just outside of Canmore. Just a 3 minute walk from the parking lot and you're fishing for grayling. Every two years F&W nets some at spawning time in May and strips their eggs and milt for use at the hatchery. This little lake (pond) provides the hatchery grayling for the province.
C&R only.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/Canmoron/kayak%20fish/IMG_1987.jpg

Interesting that they get their hatchery fish from there, it is an easy place to get at.

What's the ice like up there right now??

jacenbeers
04-21-2010, 06:28 PM
I might hit up Wedge Pond this weekend then. Does anybody know if the ice has melted yet?

uicehole
04-21-2010, 06:58 PM
Wedge had ice right across as of last Sunday but it looked pretty soft from the highway. Hopefully not too much longer before it melts away.

thumper
04-21-2010, 07:22 PM
I checked Quarry Lake this afternoon. Still iced in, although melting around the edges and open in the shallow beach area. Give it a few more days for ice-out, and then about a week/10 days for temperatures to hit 10C - and then the fish will be spawning.

fishstix
04-21-2010, 08:30 PM
I just looked up quarry lake in the 2009 stocking report and it says that there were 1900 arctic grayling stocked with an average length of 3 cm.

jacenbeers
04-21-2010, 09:29 PM
There are 4 lakes down south stocked with Grayling. There is a river in Montana with Grayling also.

http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AFCHA07010.aspx

http://www.fishalberta.com/20season/Ponton/Grayhot.htm (note they tried grayling in Champion but they did not work out. Grayling are not there now)

That is pretty crazy that they had them in Champion. What happened to them? Were they fished out or did they just die? I love fishing Champ.

luckyme
04-21-2010, 09:47 PM
wow i never thought about it:eek:.torpedo bobber and a fly.thanks walking buffalo.

Spidey
04-21-2010, 10:20 PM
Marked one at approx. 14" at Quarry earlier this evening. Ice is approx 6ft off around the edges. Quarry is less than 500m from our house so I'll try and post another update in a few days.

arcticgrayling
04-21-2010, 11:34 PM
Hopefully the ice will be off enough this weekend. I will be in Canmore with lots of time to kill between games and was hoping to do a little fishing.

Beazer
04-22-2010, 02:11 AM
Please keep us up to date, i missed going to Quarry last year, and I wanna do Yam soon as well.

Steven Noel
04-22-2010, 07:58 AM
Arctic Grayling was my first sport fish caught, when I was five on the Swan River. :D

whitewolf
04-22-2010, 10:14 AM
what kind of fly to use with a torpedo bobber as i think my daughter would love to catch one of those...never even caught one myself...she loves going to the ponds out there

Spidey
04-22-2010, 05:33 PM
I've had luck with very small EHCs, Grif. Knats, and Chironies under a torpedo bobber at Quarry in the spring when they are just out of fly casting distance (which for me is about 8ft....) :o

SLH
04-22-2010, 08:17 PM
I checked Quarry Lake this afternoon. Still iced in, although melting around the edges and open in the shallow beach area. Give it a few more days for ice-out, and then about a week/10 days for temperatures to hit 10C - and then the fish will be spawning.

Thanks Thumper, I'm supposed to be up that way in two weeks hopefully I'll get a few hours to head over there.

whitewolf
04-23-2010, 10:20 AM
thanks for the info....i will get her to give it a go and see what happens

Dgirl
05-13-2012, 09:56 AM
Yeah, I'm reviving this old thread. I'm really stumped. Tried Quarry lake the other day and they weren't aggressive at all and I tossed everything legal at them from tiny spinners, to floating flies under a bobber, I even jigged a Rap just to see if they'd strike. I'm new to greyling... was the bite just off, or is it the wrong time of the season?

tight line
05-13-2012, 10:03 AM
Try small Walleye jigs w/ dark colours, black Panther Martins, for flies any dark streamers. Got this Guy in N.W.T

simmered
05-13-2012, 10:29 AM
Catch them all the time up here in the freeman river on little mepps spinners. Recently I switched to a fly road and I now have a much higher sucess rate :sHa_shakeshout:

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/FlyFishing21.jpg

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/FlyFishing31.jpg

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/FlyFishing7.jpg

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/FlyFishing9.jpg

pickrel pat
05-13-2012, 10:38 AM
kakisa........womp womp womp......

chad66
05-13-2012, 10:50 AM
kakisa........womp womp womp......

X2 This is the first place I thought of when I saw the title of the thread. Even the guys from Yelowknife drive south to fish Kakisa for grayling. If I had the cash I would go back to the Katseyedie River on Great Bear Lake.

pickrel pat
05-13-2012, 11:05 AM
X2 This is the first place I thought of when I saw the title of the thread. Even the guys from Yelowknife drive south to fish Kakisa for grayling. If I had the cash I would go back to the Katseyedie River on Great Bear Lake.

ya... living in manning for 35 years, i always made the trip to yellowknife each year stopping in at kakisa for grayling and ft providense for huge pike....... after that it was up to yellowknife bay/river for eyes and prosperous lake for da trouts.... or when buddy(who was a pilot for ptarmigan ) was free, up to mckay lake for more trouts.....I is a nordern boy!

fish gunner
05-13-2012, 12:43 PM
what little experience I have at quarry, the fish respond best to a lifted fly on very light line. retrieve as normal till the fly is exactly one rod length out. pause long enough to let the fly sink fully, then very slowly lift your rod with a flat wrist. they seem to strike just as the fly reaches the half way point of the lift. the south west corner as the path around the lake goes up the hill has deep water close to shore.

chad66
05-13-2012, 12:44 PM
ya... living in manning for 35 years, i always made the trip to yellowknife each year stopping in at kakisa for grayling and ft providense for huge pike....... after that it was up to yellowknife bay/river for eyes and prosperous lake for da trouts.... or when buddy(who was a pilot for ptarmigan ) was free, up to mckay lake for more trouts.....I is a nordern boy!

Indeed, the north country is truly the last frontier when it comes to these types of pursuits. Heading up to the mackenzie river in a week or so myself to try my luck. I see the ice is out already.


Shortcut to: http://www.dehchobridge.info/

Bhflyfisher
05-13-2012, 01:11 PM
As to what thumper said about the hatcheries getting their fish for the entire province down south... I'm pretty sure they also take some from freeman lake as well up near swan hills, that might be in the past though.

Small olive hares ear/flashback when they aren't rising. Adams when they are. Beautiful fish, going to try and do some more of that kind of fishing this year.

Dgirl
05-13-2012, 02:48 PM
what little experience I have at quarry, the fish respond best to a lifted fly on very light line. retrieve as normal till the fly is exactly one rod length out. pause long enough to let the fly sink fully, then very slowly lift your rod with a flat wrist. they seem to strike just as the fly reaches the half way point of the lift. the south west corner as the path around the lake goes up the hill has deep water close to shore.

Thanks for the tips. I did try something similar. I got a half dozen to turn around and come back to LOOK at the fly, swim around it twice and then swim away. They seemed more interested in chasing each other than the flies. I'm not sure if I should have twitched the fly at that point, let it continue to fall or just stop it dead still.

Kingfisher
05-13-2012, 03:01 PM
Quarry Lake - just outside of Canmore. Just a 3 minute walk from the parking lot and you're fishing for grayling. Every two years F&W nets some at spawning time in May and strips their eggs and milt for use at the hatchery. This little lake (pond) provides the hatchery grayling for the province.
C&R only.

Your right Thumper. The grayling are in full spawning mode right now. In fact a good friend of mine was one of the biologists that were out last week netting grayling from Quarry and getting eggs and milt from the grayling for the hatchery.

Might be wise to let them be for a few weeks. Let the grayling finish their spawn cycle. Then have at em.

Rob

fish gunner
05-13-2012, 03:09 PM
Thanks for the tips. I did try something similar. I got a half dozen to turn around and come back to LOOK at the fly, swim around it twice and then swim away. They seemed more interested in chasing each other than the flies. I'm not sure if I should have twitched the fly at that point, let it continue to fall or just stop it dead still.

that is what happened to me as well. I was there for a wedding. I had just the time it took for the wedding pics to fish lol. change flies often to see if they will respond to differnt sizes,colors,type of fly. I had luck with a prince nymph. the bride got a little grumpy with me all the folks in the park were taking pictures of the guy in a kilt fly fishing. lol. I think I ended up with a 2 lb test tipit.hope that helps.

mosbos
05-13-2012, 05:13 PM
Was out yesterday and the grayling fishing was hot. Lots of action and solid fish. River was in great shape too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/mosbos/P5110084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/mosbos/P5110077.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/mosbos/P5110079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/mosbos/P5110048.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/mosbos/P5110053.jpg

Fished a San Juan dropper rig and the fish were about 50/50 between the worm and the dropper.

fish gunner
05-13-2012, 05:26 PM
^^^^^so jelous ,our local rivers are high and dirty ,with no sail fins. great pics of one,if not the prettest fresh water fish.

BGSH
05-13-2012, 05:29 PM
That is unreal, i need to start fishing the feeeman river, i have yet to catch a arctic grayling in Alberta. You all do it with ease, keep the pics awsome, awsome thread. Freeman or lil smokey?? which produces more fish...

Alberta Bigbore
05-13-2012, 05:52 PM
Great fish and pictures that was just recently posted. Good stuff. Dusting off my Sages as we speak.

pickrel pat
05-13-2012, 06:51 PM
That is unreal, i need to start fishing the feeeman river, i have yet to catch a arctic grayling in Alberta. You all do it with ease, keep the pics awsome, awsome thread. Freeman or lil smokey?? which produces more fish...

LIL SMOKEY......... or come up north with me for a week, couple days at kakisa.......... you have no idea if you never fished the north!