Colorado grayling?

[Trout&Buck]

Has anyone here had much luck fishing for grayling in Colorado? I had no idea they were even around until last summer when my family went on vacation up north of Steamboat and I was flipping through the fishing regs and found that we were ten minutes from one of the lakes that seems to have a healthy population. I fished there two separate evenings and managed to catch my PB brookie (16-17"), but nothing for grayling. has anyone had better luck and be willing to share any tips?

 

[alecvg]

Not sure about CO, but here in Montana, it seems like you need the smallest dry flies or nymphs you can find to hook them. Never have had luck on and spinners or spoons. Very finicky from my limited experience

 

[def90]

Colorado's Arctic Grayling - Colorado Outdoors Online

Video: Each June, Colorado Parks and Wildlife fishery technicians and biologists capture and spawn arctic grayling at Joe Wright Reservoir.

coloradooutdoorsmag.com

ARCTIC GRAYLING IN COLORADO — Ed Engle Fly Fishing

Note : This is my third “delayed” post about a fishing trip I made with some pals from the Michigan Fly Fishing Club to the Steamboat Springs area and the Frying Pan River September 19 - 27. The first Arctic Grayling I ever caught came from Zimmerman Lake which is just east of Cameron Pass in

edengleflyfishing.com

 

[fishslap]

I’ve caught a ton of them in Joe Wright on Cameron Pass, mostly through the ice. I usually ice it once each year. Last year I kept some and smoked them, then made smoked whitefish dip but with the grayling. Joe Wright is your best bet for a CO grayling. They have small mouths but I hammered them on a shad rap one year. Any bead head nymph should work in open water if they’re not hitting dries.

 

[Titan_Bow]

I hit them one afternoon last summer with my fly rod and caught a bunch of them! Fished the inlet and the opposite side of the lake from the road, just before dark, and was slaying them!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Broomd]

We have them in Idaho in remote high mountain lakes....some of them are 18" fish....

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Not sure about CO, but here in Montana, it seems like you need the smallest dry flies or nymphs you can find to hook them. Never have had luck on and spinners or spoons. Very finicky from my limited experience

Strange. Here in AK they seem to bite on damn near anything fly or small spinner. That’s just my experience though. Lots of people come up here thinking they are some “unique” fish then they find that they bite on almost anything and they don’t fight hard either. Cool Fish but in my experience they are easy to catch and don’t put up a good fight.

 

[WCB]

Strange. Here in AK they seem to bite on damn near anything fly or small spinner. That’s just my experience though. Lots of people come up here thinking they are some “unique” fish then they find that they bite on almost anything and they don’t fight hard either. Cool Fish but in my experience they are easy to catch and don’t put up a good fight.

Same experience here. I've caught a bunch in Montana. If you can spot them they hit the fly in my experience. Harder mouth than a trout so my wife had a hard time getting the hook to stick. She threw to one 8 times on a dry fly. 8 strikes no hook up except for about a 2 second fight on the last attempt...waited about 5 minutes and I threw at it and landed it. Easiest fish to catch IMO