Grayling

Quick facts

How to identify it

A slim, silver-grey fish with a small, underslung mouth, large scales and a huge, sail-like dorsal fin marked with rows of red and violet spots — the unmistakable feature. The back is grey-green to bronze, the flanks carry faint dark spots near the front and thin longitudinal lines, and the pelvic fins often show purple streaks. Like all salmonids it has an adipose fin, which separates it from the nase and other cyprinids with a similar mouth. Whitefish share the adipose fin but have a small, ordinary dorsal fin, while trout have a wide mouth and a heavily spotted body. Spawning males darken and their dorsal fin grows taller.

Where it lives

Grayling live in clean, cool, well-oxygenated rivers and streams with gravel or stony bottoms — the 'grayling zone' just below the trout reaches, where the current is steady and the water a little deeper. They hold in the flow itself rather than behind cover: at the tail of pools, along gravel runs, in glides and on the edges of faster riffles, often in shoals of similar-sized fish. They need water below about 18 °C and are very sensitive to pollution and silt, so they vanish quickly from degraded rivers. Some populations live in cold, clear alpine and northern lakes, and they occur in the upper and middle reaches of many Danube-basin rivers.

Season and behaviour

Grayling spawn in spring, from March to May, when the water reaches 6–10 °C — unlike trout, which spawn in autumn — and most European countries protect them with a spring closed season. After spawning they recover through early summer and feed hard on hatching insects; summer evenings can bring hectic surface activity. The classic grayling season runs from late summer through autumn into winter: the fish are in prime condition, gather in larger shoals in deeper glides and keep feeding even at water temperatures close to freezing. They feed mostly during the day, with peaks in mid-morning and late afternoon; in winter the warmest hours around midday are best. Clear, settled water is ideal, while heavy floods push them into slower margins.

Fishing methods

Fly fishing works year-round: dry flies in sizes 14–20 on a light 3–4 weight rod when fish are rising, and weighted nymphs fished under a sight indicator or by European-style tight-line nymphing along the bottom when they are not. Grayling feed on the bottom most of the time, so getting the nymph down quickly and drifting it drag-free at their level is the key. Where bait is allowed, trotting a small bait under a light stick float on a long rod is deadly on deeper glides: run the float through at current speed with the bait just tripping the bottom, holding back slightly so it lifts enticingly. Ultralight spinning with tiny spinners or micro jigs catches grayling too, but takes are gentler than from trout. Use fine tippets and small barbless hooks, handle the fish briefly in the water and release them where the stock is fragile.

Baits and lures

Grayling flies should imitate what is hatching or drifting: small olives, midges, caddis and pale-winged mayflies for dry-fly work, and pink, orange or natural shrimp, pheasant-tail and hare's-ear nymphs with tungsten beads for fishing deep — grayling have a well-known liking for a spot of bright colour. Where natural baits are allowed, maggots, small red worms, caddis larvae and sweetcorn trotted under a float are the standards. Keep everything small: hooks in sizes 14–18 and a light, fine presentation.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Look for grayling in the open current at the tail of pools and along gravel glides — they rarely hide under cover like trout.
2. 02Fish nymphs deep enough to touch bottom occasionally; if you never feel the gravel, add weight.
3. 03A grayling that refuses the fly will often take on the next cast, so keep presenting to a rising fish.
4. 04Trot with the bait just above the bottom and hold the float back every few metres to lift it.
5. 05Use a soft, quick strike — grayling have small, soft mouths and a hard strike tears the hook out.
6. 06In winter fish the warmest hours around midday and slow your presentation right down.
7. 07Wet your hands, keep the fish in the water and release it quickly; grayling are far more fragile than trout.

Where to catch Grayling

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Grayling.

• Hallingdalselve
• Kuka
• Lim
• Majdan
• Grbovica
• Tisa
• Butižnica
• Körös-éri-főcsatorna
• Krivaja
• Krivaja
• Drina

Related species

• Brown trout
  Salmo trutta

  The wary, spotted native of cold rivers and deep lakes.

• European whitefish
  Coregonus lavaretus

  The silver plankton feeder of deep, cold, clear lakes.

• Rainbow trout
  Oncorhynchus mykiss

  The hard-fighting, high-jumping trout of stocked lakes and cool rivers.

• Nase
  Chondrostoma nasus

  The stone-grazing shoal fish of clean, fast-flowing rivers.

Frequently asked questions