What is a trophy grayling?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game established standards for sport fish in Alaska. A grayling must be 18 inches long or weigh 3 pounds. All the grayling in these photos are between 20 and 22 inches.

A guest staying at the camp asked a visiting Alaska Department of Fish and Game grayling biologist, "Where can I catch the largest grayling in Alaska?" The reply was "right here." You will catch the occasional large grayling elsewhere, but if you want to catch a lot of large grayling you can't beat this river system.

All of our guests have caught trophy grayling larger than 18 inches; some say that they have trouble catching one smaller. The state grayling biologist aged an 18½-inch grayling from our area, and determined that it was 30 years old. That makes trophy grayling true senior citizens of the fish world.