Arctic grayling

Silvery gray to purple fish with a huge sail-like dorsal fin spotted with blue, red and green, small black spots near the head, and a small mouth.

12–16 in.

About 30 in; anything over 18 in is a trophy.

Insects, salmon eggs and flesh, sculpins, smolts, leeches and small fish.

River and lake fish that hold behind rocks, at the tail of pools and along seams where slow water meets fast water. In salmon country they follow the spawning salmon to eat their eggs.

Found from Alaska, Yukon, NWT & Nunavut, Canadian Prairies and British Columbia. Clear, cold rivers, creeks and lakes of interior and northern Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the north of the prairie provinces and British Columbia.

Clear, cold rivers, creeks and lakes of interior and northern Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the north of the prairie provinces and British Columbia.

1–6 ft; holds in riffles and the heads of pools.

1–8 ft in rivers; drop-offs and inlets of lakes.

Spring after ice-out, and late summer through fall when the salmon are spawning.

Morning and evening; overcast days fish well all day.

No tide — in rivers, steady or slowly dropping water is best.

Cloudy, cool days; avoid high, muddy water after heavy rain.

Small worms or insect larvae where bait is legal.

Dry flies (mosquito, elk hair caddis), small nymphs, and tiny spinners.

9 ft 5–7 weight fly rod, or a 6½–7 ft light to medium-light spinning rod.

Size 6–14 flies; single barbless hooks on spinners and spoons where required.

4–10 lb mono, or floating fly line.

3X–5X tippet (4–8 lb), 7½–9 ft.

Cast a small dry fly upstream and let it float drag-free over the riffles. Grayling rise to the surface readily and are one of the easiest fish to catch on a fly.

Bring a 3- or 4-weight fly rod and a box of small dry flies. On a summer evening in the north, grayling will rise for hours.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Good eating when fresh.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Mild, white meat that is best eaten very fresh, pan-fried over a campfire. Most anglers release them.

Cold, fast rivers — wear a wading belt and a life jacket in boats, and in Alaska and northern Canada carry bear spray and make noise.

Many waters have small limits or catch-and-release rules for grayling; check the local regulations. In Alaska, rules are set by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (adfg.alaska.gov); in Canada, by each province and territory. Many trout and char waters are single-hook, artificial-lure or catch-and-release only — check before you go.

Keep only what you'll eat, release the rest quickly, and follow size and bag limits.