Like the vast majority of Colorado anglers, Kent Ingram never had caught a grayling.
The Littleton resident once lived in Alaska for four years, “but never in a zone with grayling.” He later returned to the Alaskan wilds for a hunting adventure that didn’t include a fishing rod. No mystery there.
But what might seem odd is that until last week this avid fly-fisherman never had availed himself of the opportunity to visit one of the several Colorado locations that contain this special fish – including a couple that harbor specimens comparable to the north country.
With its distinctive shape, coloration and lineage, the grayling represents the epitome of the Division of Wildlife’s thrust for diversity in its sport fish lineup. Hold a grayling in your hands and your thoughts naturally soar to some wild place, far off.
Thing is, you can catch this exotic species on a low-budget trip a reasonable distance from home within sight of the place you parked your car. The north country costs a lot extra.
Four places stand out.
Most accessible to residents of the Front Range, Joe Wright Reservoir near Cameron Pass west of Fort Collins offers the best opportunity to catch a grayling. However, these fish are uniformly small, most about 9 inches, with only an occasional catch to 14.
Time was, this 163-acre impoundment above 10,000 feet elevation contained record-sized specimens. When biologist Ken Kehmeier took over the territory in 1987, he netted approximately 20 grayling that would have bettered the state record.
At that time, grayling represented just 5 percent of the Joe Wright biomass. That component now has swelled to 95 percent, with severe size consequences. A combination of prolific reproduction and a poor food supply caused severe stunting. To combat this, Kehmeier recently planted 50 large lake trout, a predator that should thin out the excess population.
Meanwhile, anglers generally find Joe Wright grayling easy to catch, particularly on small flies. It’s a great spot for kids using a fly-and-bubble rig.
Big Creek Lakes along the northwest edge of North Park represent the antithesis of Joe Wright, having surrendered a state record 1-pound, 10-ounce fish measuring 17.25 inches in 2002, with larger specimens still available. Grayling can be found in both the upper and lower lake, spawning in early June in the creek in between. Tiger muskies and lake trout are well established here; Kehmeier expects this phalanx of teeth to keep grayling from overpopulation.
Pearl Lake, north of Steamboat Springs and part of the Colorado State Parks system, also contains large grayling. It has produced the most recent state catch-and-release record, 16.5 inches in 2002. Regulations require kept fish to be 18 inches long.
Pearl grayling are harder to find once spawning is completed and they retreat to deeper water.
Crosho Lake, a 50-acre impoundment in the Yampa River drainage west of Yampa, fills an intermediate niche in the world of Colorado grayling – good numbers of medium-sized fish, generally 12 to 14 inches. The limit is two grayling over 16 inches, tantamount to catch-and-release.
The Division of Wildlife began placing grayling in the early 1970s. Periodic releases have been made in several locations, mostly in smaller high-elevation lakes. Some of these plants succeeded. Many did not.
On Saturday, two anglers trudged through willows toward the inlet to Joe Wright Reservoir, whose eastern reaches still bore a thin cover of ice. Tracks and fresh droppings announced a recent visit by moose; a warbler’s song warmed the chill air.
Framed by a lingering patchwork of snow, this was the time for revival, a stage when marsh marigolds sprouted from a soft earth whose every pore seemed to be oozing water.
When the season’s first grayling came splashing to shore, Ingram cradled the silvery female like a rare jewel.
“I’ve seen pictures, but this is special, just a beautiful fish,” he said.
Seldom can such a small fish inspire such amazement. But it was, after all, a grayling.
Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
