Grayling

Cool I did not know about those fin colors either

Heres a photo I found (not mine) that also shows those fins

I was lucky enough to do some fishing in Slovenia last summer. I caught dozens over the course of a couple days.

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When I was 9 yrs old my family drove to Ak. to visit relatives, on the way up somewhere in the Yukon the exhaust system started falling off the truck. We were at a wide spot in the road with a gas station/store and my dad was under the truck trying to Joe McGee it back together. There was a stream behind the store, so I asked my Dad "do you think there's any fish in that crick?". He said " How the hell would I know", with some exasperation, "go ask the guys in the store". And so I did. The guy gave me a spoon and told me to throw it in the fast water and let it swing. So off I went, following his instructions and sure enough was quickly into a fish. as I brought the fish to hand I notice it was not a trout, it had a weird big fin on the back, so I let it go. I walked back up to the truck and told my Dad that I had caught this weird fish and he replied " throw the S.O.B. back then". I told him I did and that this fish had a strange tall fin on it's back. I heard the tools drop, he scrambled out from under the truck and asked me to describe the fish again. He grabbed his rod and came down to the crick with me and we caught a good number of the little silver beauties. Evidently, the truck could wait.( 50 yrs ago)

I read somewhere that this is one of the last photos taken (around 1886) of the Michigan Grayling, now an extinct species....

Greg Armstrong said:

You are certainly correct in part.

Here's the sad tale of what has been written of what happened to the Michigan Grayling;

Click to expand...

Thanks for the continuing education, Greg. That is indeed sad. I'm also sure that over-harvesting/eating contributed to the low numbers in the Big Hole drainage. As in other states & with other species, the "golden age" of fishing & thriving populations was also characterized by liberal limits, less-than-effective conservation & environmental control practices, and the misconception that high population levels/huge runs would always "be around." I shoulder my personal share of the blame - we lived on wild fish & game & although Dad taught me to follow the rules & that certain species should be released (Dad wouldn't keep Bull Trout or Grayling), but as a family we certainly kept lots of other trout species & Whitefish. I guess I was the first generation in our clan to embrace, acknowledge & value the "catch & release" concept and was able to exert at least some influence on others back in the day. Thankfully, "I got a limit" isn't the goal today relative to fishing as it once was and that is a good thing but there is still lots of room for improvement.