Grayling

Grayling. The Original Native Fish Of The AuSable And Manistee Rivers. , This beautiful trout-like fish, with its sailfish-like dorsal fin, was plentiful in our local rivers in the middle and late 1800s. The grayling were easy to catch, fun to catch and tasted too good. , , Wagon loads of grayling were caught and shipped to markets in Chicago and Detroit in the late 1800s and early 1900. Together with the degradation of the rivers at the same time, caused by the lumbering boom, the over-fishing, erosion silting and removal of shade from river banks eliminated all of the grayling in Michigan waters by 1908. , , Several attempts to re-plant grayling in Michigan from 1907 to 1987 were failures. Grayling are sensitive fish requiring cold, clean, clear water and no competition from more aggressive trout species to survive. , , Only small remnant populations of grayling now remain in Montana and Wyoming. They are otherwise extinct in the lower 48 states. Grayling still thrive, however, in Alaska and western Canada. , , Yes - the City of Grayling was named after this historic native fish of the AuSable River.