Fishing For Grayling In Alaska

Let’s take another ride down Richardson Hwy to Delta Junction for another of our Alaskan adventures. This is only about a 2 hour ride, but there are still lots of stuff to look at and just be in awe of the nature that God created. We saw a few more moose, but our quest on this trip is Arctic Grayling.

Our guide for this trip is Dave Bates, a friend of my son-in-law, Cory. Dave is not a native Alaskan, but his teaching career led him from Oregon to the west coast of the state to teach the Yupik people. His class, which was the whole school, consisted of 18 people.

He’s since settled in Fairbanks on a 30 acre tract of land on a hillside along Chena Hwy. The hillside makes drilling a water well too expensive so he and about 20% of the people that live in the same type of habitat resort to buying water by the truckload. Seven cents a gallon is the going rate and he buys about $100 worth every three weeks. So, you think you have water problems?

Alright, back to the fishing. Our destination is Clearwater Creek, a crystal clear, spring-fed creek nestled in some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever been in. The water temperature stays about 34 degrees and never freezes over, even when the outside temperature gets 40 below.

But first things first; after a 2 hour ride, how could we go fishing without having something to eat? Our host told about a place we could get a great burger and some curly-que fries and that sounded good to us. So we pulled in to Buffalo Center Drive-In and got what else, a real buffalo burger along with the fries and a great chocolate malt. Very cool place; they come to your vehicle and take your order and you can either eat your food there, or dine at one of their outdoor tables.

Dave is a fly-fishing enthusiast and he supplied us with all our gear which consisted of fly rods, dry flies and most importantly chest waders that keep us from freezing to death. After a short lesson on walking in high current conditions, we headed to the first pool that held some relatively calmer water.

While Cory received a short lesson on fly casting, I shook all the rust out in my fly fishing repertoire and put the fly to work. The grayling were in a co-operative mood and after about 4 or 5 casts a hungry fish ate my fly. I never got the fish to the net but the adrenaline rush of hooking up with my first grayling was really cool.

The grayling’s claim to fame and what makes them so sought after by fly fishermen is the tall dorsal fin. (See photo) {mosimage} The clarity of this stream makes the back color a light brown with a white belly and is full of spots. These are very strong fish as they spend every waking moment of their life swimming against current while in these streams.

As the insects float by on top of the water the fish has to dart forward in the current to intercept its meal, most of the strikes cause the fish to come out of the water which is very exciting to say the least. They also like to jump out of the water which only adds to the experience.

Pretty soon, all three of us were casting away and shouts of excitement were heard as we all began to have hookups with these feisty fish. We caught 7 or 8 fish a lost a few and the fishing slowed down a little, so we headed upstream to hole #2. After a short hike on land through some wild, pink roses we stepped back into the water in a gorgeous pool that was full of the hungry graylings.

The action here was pretty much non-stop and after a couple of hours, we landed about 30 or more of those beautiful fish. All of this action and lot’s more of our experience in Alaska can be seen on Ascension Outdoors, seen exclusively on Eatel FiberEdge channel 4 in an upcoming episode.

Alaska is truly the “Last Frontier” and if you ever get the chance to visit our northernmost state, take it for an adventure you’ll never forget. Seward’s Folly has turned out to be one of the most incredible buys the United States ever made. So until next time, have fun in the outdoors, be safe and may God truly bless you!!