World Class Graylings

Once were old Sami man sitting next to campfire slurping coffee. He whispered a secret. There is a virgin lake in tundra where really huge graylings are swimming, ...

Preface: Middle of August 2011 we saw that lake. Everyone of our group get there new grayling records. Some of graylings where really fat and huge indeed.

 

 

I feel that i´m floating on the sky. I have reach clear sky. I sit up of light swinging. Above me is three wings of helicopter. There is tundra scenery that far I can see.

Our pilot very professional, he definitely knows what he is doing. Next to him sit our guide Aki Huhtanen. Aki shows some place to pilot and then he checks the map and landing starts to nearest lake. I wondering how Aki and pilot find the right place of all these lakes.

 

Our group is sitting in the back seat. I, my wife and mother in law and of cource our two dogs. We all are crazy about fishing and outdoor life. That´s way we almost drown our equipments.

Helicopter take off and flyes away. We won´t see that of few days. At first Aki makes coffee by campfire for us. After that we set up our lavvus and camp next to the lake. It´s quit windy wheather i think. But Aki says that isn´t the worst weather when he were setting up the lavvu.

 

I will go to the cape cam and start fishing graylings with mini streamers. Back wind is hard but I managed throw some kind of backcasts. I wade little bit further, dark and deep edge stops me. Then suddenly first fish eat the fly. Fourth class flyfishing rod bend wierdly. It bend more now than whole past summer. Our trip the first grayling is catched . I put it on the net and get it up. It´s 48 cm long and it´s quite huge. I get two graylings more and then comes silence.

Next place all graylings are bigger. In lake there is over halv meter long. The biggest grayling was 58 cm, that was my wife catch. Her fly was born in Finnmark.

Later in afternoon I changed the rod and tied huge dryfly, lemming. The dryfly works and I get 45 cm, two of 48 cm, one 51 cm graylings. My day record was 53,5 cm long roly-poly grayling!

 

It is evening 15th of August. We watch the most beautiful sunset. The all colors shows glowing all kind of red and orange. In the middle of night is quite twilight. Aki whispers to us –It is Magic night, ...

 

In the morning our breakfast is reindeer sandwitches and more than one cup black pot coffee.
After breakfast I go to fishing and get graylings of 50cm and 54cm long. That day record fish was 56,6 cm long, FLYING GRAYLING!

 

Later that day My mother in law goes with Aki. They goes by canoe. She gets the biggest grayling 48 cm long in her life.

My wife had never be in tundra with fishing rod. She sead that she wants new experience and she get bags of those in up in tundra!

Fly fishing for big whitefish

Whitefish fishing with fly considered hard and it´s partially true. But it isn´t the whole true. You have to be in right place and you have to got right equipments then it´s turn to party.

The most Whitefishes prosper low sandy bottom backwaters and lakes. 

For flyfisherman backwaters are exellent places to fish whitefishes.

Whitefish is shoals fish. Even bigger whitefishes swim in groups. When it´s calm wheather and huge whitefishes got the mealtime the vision is amazing. One another big sails flash on the water.

If you plan to fish you shouldn´t gaze the show at long time. Because in tundra wheather don´t stay long calm. When the wind breaks the water surface the sails disappear immediately.

Aki Huhtanen and wetfly whitefish 2350g

 

Whtiefish choose its food more specifically than some other species. That´s why its reputation is difficult to catch.

That isn´t enough ,for example, that a fly is only brown, its have to be just right brown. When you find the right fly. Cathching turn to notably easier. Usually whitefishes take insects away from shore so you have to wade  closer to catch them.

But you shoudn´t wade after them because whitefishes escape according to the you approach them.

Better is to wade some way. Stay and wait that fishes comes again to casting distance. Whitefishes used to swim actively when they are eating and soon or later they will swim casting distance. You just have to wait.

Ari Savikko and low floating fly whitefish 2350g

Dryflyfishing for whitefish is the most interesting and usually the best way to caught them . I got the best record to fish whitefish with low floating dryfly. Also dryfly gives many great moments but the most effective is low floating dryfly,  named AS- whitefish fly. Simple but  whitefish like the colours. I think that the colour and size is the most important thing of whitefish flies. Only  after that comes to shape.

Fishing technique is also decisive thing. To fish with low floating fly: strpping, stop, strip a litlle bit again and stop....

Usually whitefish take the fly when you are stripping in. That is the reason why its hooked better than fish with dryfly.

Fish with the dryfly the problem comes to do back lash. Reflexes are set up to fishing for trouts and graylings and that wont´t work with whitefish. Useing that method whitefish had time to spit the fly away and thre is no catch. It is better that fish do that decive itself. It is easier say than make. Anyway it have to make decive a little bit late, because whitefish have time to swallow the fly.

Ari Savikko and dryfly whitefish 2730g

When you are find the right place and fly. It can be too easy. It hava to remember fairness. Whitefish isn´t the the best catch and relase fishes, because it fag itself out of game. Whitefish have so tine mouth that fingers don´t goes in. You shoudn´t forget the aid equipments if you want to fish catch and realese.

Catching whitefish is after all just having fun. Once you have get the big whitefish you will come back again and again. In the Graylingland there is also other fishes than the lady of the stream itself.

Kari Kujala and dryfly whitefish 2140g

Our guest Gary Huges (President of Sandvik Mining)

Gary´s dryfly whitefish 2240g

Here is brown adult sedge imitation, europa 12 (graylingland adaption)

- Fly get´s little bit hit when 2730g whitefish catch it.

Here is one of my favorite when whitefish don´t eat surface of the water. Brown Graylingland larva. With this fly I have get two over 2 kilos whitefish.

AS-whitefish fly.

For whitefish over two kilos can make a toast. :)

Ice Fishing For Huge Grayling

  

Our trip starts when March turn to April. Our group consist of Russian experienced fishermen. Our goal are make the new records of graylings for everyone. Guests were fish graylings all over the world, Alaska, Siberian wilderness etc...

The record what they have are 1,55kg (Siberia) and now it have to be bigger. That isn´t easiest job but it is still possible.

We go to the lake wich is located Enontekiö ”arm of Finland”. In the lake there are swimming  many huge graylings. Over 1,5kg weight, even 2.3kg!

Balance of lake is so good. that´s way graylings grows little bit faster than normally in that area. Graylings get lot´s of good food. Last but not least the lake haven´t any kind of fishing pressure. I´ve never meet there other fisherman.

Now to the point...

The fish are passive but we see lot´s of big graylings ( about 1,6-1,8kg) anyway. That give hope to the fishermen and they continue presistenting icefishing. That pay dividens and we get few graylings over one kilos. The records fishes  exchanges to the next day. Now it is time to go our basecamp warm up sauna and eat the real fish soup.

The next day is the day! I saw the magnificent sail fin then I shout to the Igor that he should come here to fish

It won´t goes long when under the ice rise up very huge grayling. It is 1870g. Record go into new in one stroke!

Then, rock`n roll!!!!

Graylings 56cm and 57 cm

 

Trip goes well and every guests break their personal old records!

We will also visited in reindeer herding area and we saw hundreds and hundreds of reindees on their own environment.

Icefishing sauna :)

For farewell dinner we eat reindeer rips, fried grayling, beaked bread chees with cloudberries and black pot coffee with vodka,  YAM!

Icefishing flies deceived huge graylings. The biggest graylings we get with olive copperhead nymph.

Ps, we saw more than once really big grayling (over two kilos) but that fish didn´t like our icefishing  jigs. Maybe that real giant graps dryfly in the next summer??? :D