# Grayling



## rifleman (Nov 27, 2007)

I have two days off the last week of July. Over the years I have seen grayling mentioned on these forums and have always dreamed of giving them a try. Please put me on to the right lake to catch one!


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

check the dwr stocking reports for the last few years and pick the lake closest to where you want to fish. The DWR has stocked tons of grayling in the last few years.


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## lunkerhunter2 (Nov 3, 2007)

rifleman said:


> I have two days off the last week of July. Over the years I have seen grayling mentioned on these forums and have always dreamed of giving them a try. Please put me on to the right lake to catch one!


How bad do you want to catch one? Can you hike 3 miles over medium terrain? I know a great place but the fish are at best 14". It is a beautiful place though. PM me if you want the info on it. 8)


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## Hounddog (Apr 9, 2008)

PM sent.

Hounddog


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

head up dry fork of weber river, near holladay park up to round lake, sand lake and fish lake. the two upper lakes, fish and sand are the best although i have caught the biggest grayling out of round which is just a big pond...
take any fly, size 16 or smaller, (18 is actually good) look for em in the water near shore and cast close. from morning till noon you should catch one nearly every cast. and take some home to eat, they are all stunted cause there are too many.
the state record grayling is only 17 inches so if you get a 14... thats a pretty good one. most of these will be in the 6 to 12 range.


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## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

I hear that hike is brutal up there. How was it for you!?


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## FishMogul (Sep 8, 2007)

fish lake your looking at about a 4.5 mile hike and roughly 2000ft gain in elevation


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## hunter_orange13 (Oct 11, 2008)

i hiked it last year. it wasn't to bad untill u get half way up then it gets real steep and rocky. but not to bad at all. they are fun to catch. our biggest was proabably only 10" we also caught more trout then graylings


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## rifleman (Nov 27, 2007)

Thanks for the tips. Any other ideas? How do I get to The Dry Fork of the Weber? Is that up past Smith and Morehouse? And why is it called Smith and Morehouse? Just curious! Is it true that the graylings will hit just about any dry fly? What other fish are in those lakes?


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

to get to dry fork: go up weber canyon till the pavement stops. there will be a big sign there, thousand peaks ranch no trespassing, no pooping, no breathing, no peeing, no looking, no fishing,no hunting, no sex no nothing. disregard the sign and have sex anyway. keep going as the road is a county road, both sides are private. keep going about 8 miles or so... just past a 3 way stop about 1/2 mile on the east side of the road is a small park lot with a trail head and sign. this is dry fork. take the trail about 4 miles or so... like they said, the last mile is pretty steep, but i make the trip every year so i figure everyone can do it.

now, flys. i use an 18 or 20 adams. they always hit it so i havent tried anything else. i imagine you can use just about anything. like i said, just look for em in the water and cast to them. bang, fish on.


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## FishHound (Sep 27, 2007)

The hike is moderate depending on how much a person hikes. Round, Sand, and Fish lake are beautiful and worth the effort to get there. You may however, wonder about that during the last 1/2 to 1 mile on the way up. It is rather steep and kind of a trudge. But, there is a creek along the way where you can rest or stop to fish for a few minutes.

Here are a few photos of the lakes and fish.

[attachment=5:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0020R.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]

[attachment=1:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0026r.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]

[attachment=3:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0029r.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]

[attachment=4:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0032R.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]

[attachment=0:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0038r.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]

[attachment=2:2xsj4kin]2005_0716Image0014r.JPG[/attachment:2xsj4kin]


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## FishMogul (Sep 8, 2007)

well done..good to see you were able to get up there.. how fast was the action? and what were you tossing?


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## rifleman (Nov 27, 2007)

Thanks fishhound. Those pictures have got me so excited...July 27 is the big day! The hike doesn't scare me....although I do have to get my kids up that mountain also! Just to help me with planning...how much time should I budget to get up to the lakes....and how much time to get back down the next day? Any recommendation on where to camp while up there?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I've been up the Dry Fork of the Weber three times. The grayling are plentiful but there are many more brookies. Some of the brookies are big up in the marsh ponds above Fish Lake.

I live in Evanston WY, so going to Holiday Park from here takes forever. We can drive up the Mirror Lake Highway and take the two-tracks up Whiskey Creek (turn at mile 37) and go back to the ridge that is east of Fish Lake. It was a short (but very tough) hike over the top and into the headwaters of Dry Fork.

You can drive within 1/2 mile of Whiskey Island Lake. At one time Whiskey Island held the Utah grayling record. Two years ago it had 11" grayling. From Whiskey Island you could scramble over the ridge top to Fish Round and Sand. The first time I ever used (relied on) a GPS was on this scramble. I got into Fish in about the same time it would take me to drive to the Dry Fork trailhead in Holiday Park.

Another time 3 of us went into Fish Lake from the Pass Lake Trailhead. We went to Cuberant, fished and then scrambled up to the top of the ridge. We walked down the ridge until we found a decent place above Fish to descend (slide down the mountain on our butts). I took the liberty of using FishHound's pic to show what I think is where we came down the mountain:









There are lots of grayling in the Uintas. Whiskey Island, Naturalist Basin, and Allen are close to me and I have fished them many times. I think Big Dog Lake, around Moon Lake, has the state record now. I haven't made that one yet.

My "go to" fly in the Uintas is a #14 Renegade. Fish it wet or dry, trim it with nail clippers and make a nymph, it's hard to beat. Grayling love it under a bobber with spinning tackle.

Good luck to all.


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## HighLakesDrifter (Sep 13, 2007)

rifleman said:


> Thanks fishhound. Those pictures have got me so excited...July 27 is the big day! The hike doesn't scare me....although I do have to get my kids up that mountain also! Just to help me with planning...how much time should I budget to get up to the lakes....and how much time to get back down the next day? Any recommendation on where to camp while up there?


I have hiked/fished these lakes several times since 2002. I'm an avid runner, and hike alone (I don't stop for breaks), and only go up for the day (minimal gear). The fastest I have ever got up to Round is a little under two hours. If the trail's drier (it's never completely dry), the going is quicker. It should be much drier by 7/27.

Getting down takes nearly as long, and is more dangerous, IMO. My legs/knees are very tired by the time I'm near the end, and every rock in the trail can cause you to do a face-plant (I know from personal experience).

Good luck! You'll have a lot of fun, I'm sure!


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## rifleman (Nov 27, 2007)

Now I am excited! Thanks for all the input. If I can drive to within 1/2 mile of Whiskey Island Lake, maybe that would be the best starting point? I am going to the map store on Monday to figure this out. 
From the pictures, fly casting looks limited. Is it possible on these lakes? We can carry spinning gear also but really want to fly fish for grayling.


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## Ryfly (Sep 13, 2007)

Use a small fly because they can have trouble getting a big bushy one in their mouth.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

rifleman said:


> Now I am excited! Thanks for all the input. If I can drive to within 1/2 mile of Whiskey Island Lake, maybe that would be the best starting point? I am going to the map store on Monday to figure this out.
> From the pictures, fly casting looks limited. Is it possible on these lakes? We can carry spinning gear also but really want to fly fish for grayling.


Whoa mule. 
I went into the Basin from Whiskey Island because it was faster than driving all the way around to Holiday Park from Evanston. The scramble from Whiskey Creek on the east side is very steep, and then the west side is a boulder field, loose boulders that is. When you go back you get on top and say "Oh Sh)*&^T "How did I get up here".

I did it when I was a kid, in my mid-40s. If I lived over on the other side of the mountain I would go in from Holiday Park, it's only 4 or 5 miles.

You can camp around Whiskey Island. Get on the ridge south of the lake. Go west on the ridge. Eventually you will be between Cuberant Lake and Fish Lake. Take your pic, slide on your butt down to either one.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Ryfly said:


> Use a small fly because they can have trouble getting a big bushy one in their mouth.


Small flies work very well.

But grayling can swallow up a hook that is seemingly much larger than their mouth. One of my favorite grayling flies is a #12 red Double Humpy. A heavily weighted #12 black BH Girdle Bug is my favorite wet fly. The guides use #10 and #12 Muddler Minnows at my favorite Wyoming grayling hole.

For years we tried to break the Wyoming state grayling record. We kept a postage scale in the boat and weighed the bigger grayling right out of the water. The biggest and the most grayling were caught on #4 Black Panther Martins. The treble hook on them is the size of a dime. Many would swallow it whole. So we would bend all the barbs down to minimize injury to the fish.

In the Uintas it doesn't matter much. Most times I just carry #14 Renegades.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> .......................................................................................
> 
> I live in Evanston WY, so going to Holiday Park from here takes forever. We can drive up the Mirror Lake Highway and take the two-tracks up Whiskey Creek (turn at mile 37) and go back to the ridge that is east of Fish Lake. It was a short (but very tough) hike over the top and into the headwaters of Dry Fork.
> 
> You can drive within 1/2 mile of Whiskey Island Lake. At one time Whiskey Island held the Utah grayling record. Two years ago it had 11" grayling. From Whiskey Island you could scramble over the ridge top to Fish Round and Sand. The first time I ever used (relied on) a GPS was on this scramble. I got into Fish in about the same time it would take me to drive to the Dry Fork trailhead in Holiday Park.....................................


Geeze, I have a lot of pictures, most of which are of poor quality. Fish Lake is over my shoulder in this 1996 pic:









You have to scramble over this steep piece of rock to get from Whiskey Island Lake to the Dry Fork of the Weber:









No wonder I broke so many fly rods!


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## rifleman (Nov 27, 2007)

Only nine days until the trip! It will only be two days, one night but I am so psyched! Thanks for all of the tips here. I will write a great report upon my return


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## TLB (Jul 13, 2008)

Rifle,

For excellent maps you might consider Mytopo.com. You can pick an area, put the big red box over it and have it printed and sent to you in about two to four days. No more two or three maps you have to tape together. They come in waterproof paper, and with lat/long grid lines if you like. I have about a dozen of them, wouldn't go any other way ever again.


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## catmando (Sep 10, 2007)

IF you look real good there is a old, over grown trail off the top down to fish lake. I was told it was the main trail the Indians used. My Grandpa summered sheep in that area for many years.a long time ago.


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## tap (Jun 27, 2008)

This mytopo site sounds like a great idea!


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