Inexpensive And Easy-Access Grayling Fishing Near Fairbanks Alaska

Article Date: April 2010

If grayling is on your list of fish to catch, check out these opportunities near Fairbanks, Alaska. This is inexpensive and easy-access fishing, according to correspondent Gary Lewis. He writes: Want to add a grayling to the life list of fish you have caught? Correspondent Gary Lewis checked in this month with a report on some inexpensive and easy-access fishing for this species near Fairbanks, Alaska. He writes:

"Alaska is a land of big rivers and big fish. So why would anyone bother to chase grayling there in the spring when there are salmon in the rivers all summer? Because grayling, to me, are the very essence of the far north. They are beautiful fish that require pure water and wild country to survive.

"I focused on these interesting fish this past June on a trip to Fairbanks with my father. We simply rented a car at the airport and made a beeline for the Alaska Fly Shop in Fairbanks, where Howie Van Ness gave us a crash course on local places to search for grayling. There are road-accessible grayling on the Chena, a tributary of the Tanana system, he said, about 50 miles out of Fairbanks on the Chena Hot Springs Road. He also pointed us toward the upper Chatanika River, which is accessible from Steese Highway 20 miles northwest of Fairbanks. The Chatanika's tributaries, Tatalina Creek, Washington, Goldstream and Beaver creeks, are also good for grayling.

"Van Ness stressed to us the importance of finding fish before investing a lot of time in a given stretch of water. `Grayling move up and down in the watershed more than most fish,' he warned. `They could be anywhere. Don't waste your time fishing where there are no fish.'

The grayling we caught averaged 10 to 18 inches long, graceful creatures with small, silvery-bron........(continued)

CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)

Alaska Fly Shop. Fairbanks, AK. Tel. 907-456-3010. Web: www.fairbanksfly.com

Arctic Grayling Guide Service. Tel. 907-479-0479. Web: www.wildernessfishing.com

Pikes Waterfront Lodge. Tel. 907-456-4500. Web: www.pikeslodge.com

Aurora Express Forget Me Not Lodge. Tel. 907-474-0949. Web: www.fairbanksalaskabedandbreakfast.com

Chena Hot Springs. Tel. 907-451-8104. Web: www.chenahotsprings.com