Species guide
Grayling fishing
Thymallus thymallus
The river fish with a sail on its back, and one of the finest fly targets in Norway.
- Size
- Typically 300-400 grams. Over 1.5 kg is big, and it rarely exceeds that. The largest known from Mjøsa weighed 2.75 kg, while the sport fishing record stands at 1.9 kg.
- Where it lives
- In the south: the Trysil watercourse, Glomma, Gudbrandsdalslågen with Mjøsa, Lesjaskogsvatnet and Rauma. In the north it occurs in several places in Trøndelag, Nordland and Finnmark, having spread in through Swedish and Finnish watercourses.
- Best time
- May to September, often best in the middle of the day when the insects are up.
How to tell it apart
Impossible to mistake: the large, sail-shaped dorsal fin is the grayling’s signature, tallest and most colourful on the male. Silver-grey to violet body with fine dark streaks. A small mouth, which is why it demands small hooks and fine leaders.
Where it holds
A typical river fish, though it also occurs in many lakes. In rivers it holds in even, moderate current over gravel and stone, often in shoals, and usually in calmer water than the trout on the same stretch. Where you find grayling, you usually find several.
The season
May to June
Grayling spawn in this period, and are protected during the spawning season in several watercourses. Check the rules before you go; this is not a period to fish grayling without having read the regulation.
June to July
High season. The hatches come, the grayling rise, and the dry fly is at its best. Often the middle of the day is the best time, unlike with trout.
August to September
Still very good fishing, and the fish are in their best condition. Terrestrials like ants and grasshoppers blow onto the water and give some of the best dry-fly days of the year.
See the season month by month for every species, in the lowlands and in the mountains.
Gear
Class 3-5
Grayling fishing is fly fishing in its purest form. Class 4 is right in the middle. A long, thin leader, down towards 0.12-0.14 mm at the tip, because the grayling holds in clear water and is spooked by a heavy leader.
Fly guideUltralight, 2-8 g
It works, but it is not where grayling are most fun. Ultralight rod, small spinners size 0-2. A bombarda or a lure with a fly as a dropper covers more water than the fly rod where the fish are a long way out.
Lure guideBaits and lures
- Nymph size 14-18
- The bread and butter. Grayling take most of their food below the surface, however much they rise.
- Dry fly size 14-18
- Small, light patterns. Griffith’s Gnat and simple hatch imitations are enough most days.
- Ants and terrestrials
- Late summer. A black ant size 16 on a warm August day is often all you need.
- Small spinner size 0-2
- When it is too windy to present a fly, or you have to cover water.
Spawning and diet
Spawning
May to June. Spawning most often starts once the water temperature has passed 5 degrees. It spawns on gravel in running water, in spring, the opposite of trout and char.
Diet
Young grayling take zooplankton and small insect larvae. Larger grayling live on insects, molluscs and crustaceans, and take much of their food in or just under the surface.
Rules
Applies to all inland fish
- There is no longer a national minimum size for inland fish. Minimum and maximum sizes, daily bag limits and closed seasons are set locally, and two waters in the same municipality can have different rules.
- You need a fishing card from the rights holder wherever one is sold. The card is an agreement with the landowner, not a state fee.
- Children under 16 fish free with rod and hand line from 1 January to 20 August, except in watercourses with anadromous salmonids. This follows from section 18 of the Norwegian salmon and inland fish act.
- The state fishing fee does not apply to inland fish. It covers only salmon, sea trout and sea char.
- Releasing fish or moving live fish between waters is prohibited. Spreading species to new watercourses is one of the biggest threats to Norwegian fish stocks.
Specific to grayling
- Grayling are protected during the spring spawning season in several watercourses, typically in parts of May and June. This is the most important rule to check before a grayling trip.
- Several grayling watercourses have a maximum size, where big grayling must be released. In Gudbrandsdalslågen zone 1, for example, grayling over 30 cm go back.
- The small mouth means grayling are easily hooked deep. Use a barbless hook if you plan to release, and keep the fish in the water.
All of the above is advisory. The rules are set locally and do change, so always confirm with the rights holder or an official source before you fish.
Waters holding grayling
Municipalities
Common questions
When does grayling spawn?
- In spring, and that is exactly why May is a poor month to plan a grayling trip: the closure sits where the other species have barely started. In the mountains they spawn later than in the lowlands, often into June, while the river is still high with snowmelt. If you want grayling in an open season, July and August are the months, and the fishing is at its best then too.The season month by month
Which fly catches grayling?
- Start with a dry fly and a small nymph hung underneath it: that covers both depths the fish feed at, and the dry shows you the take. Fish upstream with a dead drift and let the fly run free without pulling on it. If nothing responds, go down in size before you change pattern. Size and drift usually decide it, not colour.Flies, class and technique
Where do I find grayling in Norway?
- The quickest way in is to search the spot list for grayling, or to look up the municipality page for where you are going: it shows which species are recorded in the waters there. On the river, look for calm, even flow over a gravel bottom, typically just below a rapid where the water eases off. If you get one, there are usually more in the same place.Find a place to fish
Sources