Catching Arctic Grayling in Alaska: A Bucket List Fishing Adventure

What started as a childhood dream of catching the unicorn of freshwater fish turned into a wild Alaskan summer chasing arctic grayling in remote lakes and pristine streams deep in grizzly country.

Hear how one angler chased a childhood dream to catch his bucket list fish, an arctic grayling in Alaska. | Dreamstime.com | © Vitali Valasevich | 196186135

Childhood Dreams of Catching a Grayling

I first heard about arctic grayling from an episode of the television fishing show, Babe Winkelman's Good Fishing when I was a kid. Those gorgeous fish with the impossibly large dorsal fins seemed so exotic; like they were from another planet. And they might as well have been. These fish of the far north were just a pipe dream for a Midwestern boy.

An Alaska Road Trip to Find the Fish of a Lifetime

Arctic grayling are curious fish with impossibly large dorsal fins. They live in the far north in some of the most beautiful places you'll ever fish. | Joe Shead

But fantasies sometimes have ways of becoming realities. When the 2008 recession hit, I found myself out of work. I was left with two choices: hunt around for a job or just be crazy and drive to Alaska. I chose to be crazy. So my friend, Cody, who also got laid off from the same company, joined me on the trip. We didn't know if we were heading to Alaska for two weeks or the whole summer, but we packed the truck as if we were planning to stay. We had no game plan, but he'd gone to high school with a friend who was living in Kenai, so we decided to visit her.

I made a few goals for my first trip to Alaska. Somewhere, in the deep, unused recesses of my brain, I dug out the childhood memory of those high-finned fish and decided to make catching an arctic grayling Number 1 on my Alaskan to-do list. As it turned out, it didn't take long.

We made it to Alaska on our fourth day, after driving 16-hour days. We stopped in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Tok and asked where we might catch some grayling. They gave us the name of a stream and we set out.

Catching My First Arctic Grayling

The author admires the dorsal fin on this arctic grayling. This fish, caught on his first day of grayling fishing, still ranks as his largest. | Joe Shead

I quickly learned that grayling are as stunning in person as they are on T.V., but also that catching them is about like catching a bluegill in a farm pond. They will hit pretty much anything and they aren't very hard to catch. I was casting spinners while Cody used his fly rod and some dry flies and we both caught fish. In fact, one of the fish I caught that day turned out to be the biggest grayling I've ever caught.

Alpine Lake Adventures and Bear Encounters

With my grayling itch scratched, I didn't do any more grayling fishing that first summer. But Cody and I spent that summer and the next two in Alaska. The second year I got wind of a little alpine lake. It was a 3-mile hike in and it was said to be chock full of grayling.

I made the hike in there a handful of times in the next two years. A little creek flowed out of the lake and that's where I usually fished. It was always an adventure.

Grayling don't live in ugly places. The author hiked 3-miles to this little alpine lake to fish them. | Joe Shead

One time, I encountered a very large brown bear as I was hiking back down the mountain. I made some noise and the bear and I went about our business, but the encounter certainly got my heart rate up!

I Introduced My Brother to Grayling. My Mistake?

Another time, my brother Jack joined me. He was having a field day catching grayling on my fly rod. I only had one fly rod, so I was relegated to using spinning tackle, but the fly rod was more fun. I sat and watched him catch a fish on almost every cast.

Finally, he asked if I wanted a turn. I said sure. The cast before he handed me the rod, he snagged a log, but I didn't think anything of it. I sent the elk hair caddis out on the water and a dimple soon formed around it. I set the hook but missed the fish. I cast again. Same result. I tried a third time. Missed it again. Finally, I realized that when Jack snagged the log, the point of the hook broke off in the log and all that was left was a fly tied on the shank! We had quite a laugh at that one!

Arctic grayling face | Joe Shead

Can You Eat Grayling?

Jack wanted to try a grayling, so we kept one for supper. I thought it tasted pretty much like trout. They're generally considered pretty good eating.

Why Arctic Grayling Are Worth the Trip

It's been more than a decade now since I caught my bucket list arctic grayling. Maybe I'll never catch another. But I'm glad I got the chance to venture north to catch one of these bizarre-looking fish. The best part of grayling fishing is: grayling never live in ugly places! Whether you’re a seasoned fly fishing enthusiast or a kid chasing a dream, if you ever get the chance to fish grayling in the far north, it’s an experience you won’t regret.