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Short grayling fishing trip on Nome Creek



By Troutnut on June 22nd, 2013
This evening my wife and I took a short drive for some eager small stream grayling on dry flies. Unlike trout, grayling seem to bite best under the most pleasant conditions for fishing: bright sun and low, clear water. Today I caught thirty fish in two hours, while giving Lena first crack at all the holes (she caught plenty, too). This was the kind of day where every likely spot produces a guaranteed rise to a dry (sometimes several) and several fish wind up hooking themselves without my help as the fly line drags behind me while I'm taking pictures.

The main challenge was coping with the mosquitoes. This has been a nasty mosquito year throughout Alaska, and here they were about as bad as I've ever seen except on the North Slope. I was drenched in deet and picardin, which mostly kept the cloud buzzing around me without landing, while Lena was covered head to toe in bug-proof garb. Our defenses kept the bugs at a tolerable distance for a couple hours.

Photos by Troutnut from Nome Creek and Miscellaneous Alaska in Alaska

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The dorsal fin of a grayling is one of the prettiest sites in Alaska. From Nome Creek in Alaska.
The dorsal fin of a grayling is one of the prettiest sites in Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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A very nice grayling for this small stream. From Nome Creek in Alaska.
A very nice grayling for this small stream.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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Beautiful grayling brought to hand. From Nome Creek in Alaska.
Beautiful grayling brought to hand.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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Lena landing a feisty grayling. From Nome Creek in Alaska.
Lena landing a feisty grayling.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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Playing around a bit with backlighting and demonstrating how not to hold a fish. From Nome Creek in Alaska.
Playing around a bit with backlighting and demonstrating how not to hold a fish.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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View of lower Nome Creek at the canoe launch for floating Beaver Creek (the next take-out is at the Yukon River bridge a couple weeks downstream). From Nome Creek in Alaska.
View of lower Nome Creek at the canoe launch for floating Beaver Creek (the next take-out is at the Yukon River bridge a couple weeks downstream).
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraNikon Coolpix P7700
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Midnight (okay, fine, 11:50 pm) sun on the drive back up the Steese Highway from grayling fishing. From Cleary Summit in Alaska.
Midnight (okay, fine, 11:50 pm) sun on the drive back up the Steese Highway from grayling fishing.
StateAlaska
LocationCleary Summit
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraNikon Coolpix P7700

Underwater photos by Troutnut from Nome Creek in Alaska

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From Nome Creek in Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationNome Creek
Date TakenJun 22, 2013
Date AddedJun 23, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
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Most recent comments on this post (latest on top)

Jmd123June 29th, 2013, 12:49 pm
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611		Wow Jason, I would say other than the mosquitoes (and Spence is right, they are bad here too) it looks like you live in freakin' Paradise! Such beautiful waters and beautiful fish, AND a wife who will not only tolerate but enjoy a day of fishing even though she has to wear one giant mosquito net!

Lucky dog you...although I suppose the incredibly long winters make up for that...

Jonathon

P.S. Spence, as I always like to say, Grayling is the town named after the fish it killed!
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Jdw4rfJune 24th, 2013, 10:43 am
Posts: 1
Their fondness for the dry fly didn't serve them well here...


not to argue but the overfishing is only a small part of why there are no longer any michigan graylings. Pollution destroyed their habitat, and just like cutthroats, they prefer clean clean water!

awesome catch, hope one day to get up there!
Shakes2582June 23rd, 2013, 8:45 pm
Fort St John, BC

Posts: 1		Great photos. I also love to fish for grayling and armed with a 3wt they are my very favorite small stream fish. Love their eager attitude towards the dries and as you mentioned, their feeding isn't slowed by a wonderful sunny day. I am really jealous of your day. My wife and I were up at one of our Grayling hotspots this weekend. We found abundant insects of all types, especially some very large stonefly nymphs that would have made some exciting fishing. Unfortunately, we also found the creek swollen beyond its banks and chocolate milk colored, no fish. Maybe in a couple of weeks................
CrepuscularJune 23rd, 2013, 8:32 pm
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 923		Nice Jason! Beautiful photos. The shot of the dorsal fin is really cool.

Eric

PaulRobertsJune 23rd, 2013, 1:05 pm
Colorado

Posts: 1776		Wow. Just beautiful.
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