“How good lightly salted grayling tastes! Float - under water...” These beautiful poems by Zinur Minaliev are familiar to many fishermen. However, fish is famous not only for its taste. Catching grayling is a song in itself. And the spinning in an arc from the weight of a strong fighter, and the beauty of the “sail” in the spray of water.
I've been lucky in life. I caught my first graylings near the village where I lived. Straight from the shore to the worm. Mostly I took “belek”. I met the “blackie” a little later, when I was learning the art of fishing with a bulldozer. And when I was a biologist student I went on expeditions. But the main bait there was a sponge colored with rhodamine. Eh, there was a time. Sisim, Shadat, taiga, overnight campfires, fishing.
A lot has changed now. Other fishing passions. However, no, no, but I go out with friends to raft on the Angara. Or we go to small taiga rivers to fish for gadflies. However, spring fishing for dace from ice sometimes brings a bonus. A small fish will bite on a jig, or a small grayling will get hooked.
But memories are memories, now there is only one goal. Tell me what I know about grayling. Where it lives, what it eats, how it spawns and what it is caught with.
Appearance
The body shape is elongated. The head is small and narrow. The eyes are bulging and round. The mouth is small. The back is dark gray, with black spots, the sides are silvery, the belly is light gray or, occasionally, yellow.
The color depends on the species, but it is always variegated. The intensity of color depends on the habitat of the fish: in large rivers they are lighter, in small rivers they are darker.
The reproductive cycle is also reflected in appearance: during the spawning period, mature fish become bright, and juvenile grayling acquires the striated color that fry have.
The main distinguishing feature of grayling, thanks to which this fish cannot be confused with any other, is the high and long dorsal fin, decorated with reddish spots and turquoise-violet stripes. When folded, its end reaches the beginning of the tail. Between them is a family sign - a small adipose fin. The color of the caudal fin is similar to the dorsal fin, but its general shade, like that of the anal fin, is red-burgundy.
What does grayling eat?
Red fish are predators. But grayling is quite indiscriminate in food. It collects any insects, mollusks, larvae. He loves to feast on caddisflies, mayflies and stoneflies, but also does not disdain insects that accidentally fall into the water: midges, gadflies or grasshoppers. Larger individuals hunt small fish, fry, or even small animals such as voles. The desired prey for grayling is the caviar of other fish. So his diet is quite varied. This makes catching this fish easy and fun.
Kinds
The taxonomy of grayling is a topic that still attracts researchers. New forms of grayling are periodically discovered, and there is debate as to whether this is a separate species of fish or a subspecies of an existing one. The type species of the genus is European grayling.
European
Found throughout Europe, including the UK. These fish reach a length of 60 cm. The main difference between the European species (pictured) and others is a paler color with fewer spots. It has a small mouth, the corners of which do not reach the front edge of the eyes.
Although the survival rate of the species does not cause concern in the world, in Ukraine, Belarus and Germany it is listed in the Red Book. In some regions of Russia - Yaroslavl, Kirov, Chelyabinsk regions - the species is under protection, and in Karelia both fishing and sport fishing is carried out. It is prohibited to harvest grayling only during the spawning period.
Siberian
The Siberian grayling and its subspecies have red-brown stripes with a purple tint on their pelvic fins, as in the photo, and above them there is a large reddish spot. The caudal and anal fins are reddish-burgundy. The mouth is larger than that of the European grayling, but smaller than that of the Mongolian grayling. It can live with European and other species in the same territory, but does not form crosses.
There are more than 5 rows of red spots on the dorsal fin. On the tail and on the sides, above the ventral fins, there are irregular red-burgundy areas. These traits are mainly present in the subspecies.
West Siberian
Large grayling, reaches 50 cm in length. The teeth, although weak, are clearly visible. The body is silver-gray, the dorsal fin is large, edged with brick-red. The spots on it are also brick-colored. The front part of the body is decorated with black spots. Inhabits the Kara, Ob, and Yenisei basins.
East Siberian
Reaches a weight of 1 kg and a length of 46 cm. The back, sides and dorsal fin are covered with spots of black, red and purple. The dorsal fin is edged with red, very high (in males, when folded, it reaches the caudal fin). Inhabits the entire eastern coast of the Arctic Ocean, from Khatanga to Chukotka.
Alaskan
Small in size, weighing 1.4-1.6 kg, this grayling is found in the Yukon and Klondike river basins. In Russia it is found only in a few rivers in Chukotka. According to the description, it looks similar to the East Siberian one. A popular species for sport fishing.
Kamchatsky
Endemic to Kamchatka. It lives in the northeast of the Far Eastern region, mainly in short rivers where migratory salmon come to spawn - Kamchatka, Anadyr, Bolshaya, Kava, etc. It has a hard time withstanding competition with char, and is practically not found in the rivers where this fish lives.
Thymallus yaluensis
A species found on the border between China and North Korea. The smallest of all graylings, its adult size is no more than 20 cm. For some time it was considered an endemic species, but then there were reports that fish similar in description were spotted in the rivers of Siberia and North America, and then genetic analysis confirmed the match of mitochondrial DNA Korean find with a Siberian appearance. Now scientists are clarifying exactly what type of grayling the Korean one belongs to.
Amursky
Over the past decades of study, the single Amur species has split into five. Four of them are listed below, the fifth, Lena grayling, is under discussion.
Verkhneamursky
Up to 30 cm long. The body is silvery in color, with copper-pink spots on the sides, in the area of the ventral fins. The dorsal fin is shorter than other species, with a dark red border and spots. Inhabits the rivers of the Upper and Middle Amur.
Nizhneamursky
Lives in the rivers of Sakhalin, Okhotsk and Primorye. In the Lower Amur basin it is a leader among other salmon-like fish. It differs from other species in having a longer base of the dorsal fin and a large number of branched rays in it. It has a greater distance from the snout to the base of the dorsal fin (antedorsal) and a larger eye. There are narrow intermittent orange stripes on the sides, and a black spot is located at the beginning of the lateral line. The dorsal fin is edged with red, approximately 10 mm in females and 20 mm in males. Under the border there are spots of the same color. In the natural environment they live for 4-6 years, reaching a length of 20 cm, at which fishing is possible, by 3-5 years. By this age, the weight of the fish is 85-130 g.
Yellow-spotted
Up to 40 cm long, there are intermittent orange stripes on the sides of the silvery body. The dorsal fin is longer than that of the Upper Amur, the belly is yellow. The dorsal fin, like that of many graylings, is edged in red, with a yellow spot at the back of it, which is where the name of the species comes from. Inhabits the rivers of the Lower Amur, as well as tributaries of the Ussuri and other rivers flowing into the Sea of Japan.
Bureinsky
The largest form living in the Amur basin: it reaches 48 cm in length. Outwardly it looks almost like the Lower Amur, but the stripes on the sides are not orange, but brownish-brown. There is no red border on the dorsal fin, but there are thin red stripes located parallel to the rays and small spots at the base.
Verkhneobsky
Like the Mongolian, the color of the body lacks yellow and red colors and their shades, but in the Upper Ob grayling the exception is the dorsal fin, which has red spots. The articulation of the upper and lower jaws is located slightly less deeply than in the Mongolian species - in front of the posterior edge of the eye. There are no teeth on the handle of the vomer and on the palate. Red spots on the dorsal fin are arranged in 5 rows.
The sex of the dorsal fin cannot be determined: in both males and females its height from the nasal to the caudal end does not change or decreases.
Upper Niseisky, or Svetovidov's grayling
Differences in appearance from both Siberian and Baikal grayling made scientists suspect the discovery of a new species. Soon the arguments were supported by the results of genetic studies: the mitochondrial DNA of the Svetovidov grayling differs sharply from both the Siberian and Baikal species and is closer to the Upper Ob and Mongolian, although here the differences are fundamental.
The head and upper back of this species are almost black, the underbelly is white, and on the sides the color smoothly changes from dark to light. The caudal fin has yellow-orange areas. Symmetrical brown-orange lines run from the throat to the ventral fins. The dorsal fin is dark, with a red border, tapering from the middle to the edges. The posterior edge of the dorsal fin rises noticeably towards the caudal part. There may be black spots on the body and fins. The anal fin is yellow at the base and red at the edge.
Baikal black
It lives in the south and north of Baikal, in the Angara, as well as in the rivers flowing into the lake: Selenga, Snezhnaya, Barguzin and others. According to new scientific data, it is precisely these graylings that are most abundant in the upper reaches of the Yenisei.
The bottom likes rocky. Weight 1.4-1.6 kg, length up to 40 cm. The color of the scales is usually dark olive, although blue individuals are also found. The fins are colored red, or red is present along with other colors. There are spots of red, purple or green on the body. On the dorsal fin the spots are located in 3 or 4 incomplete rows.
Black Baikal is one of the least fatty subspecies of grayling.
Baikal white
The habitat is strictly limited to Lake Baikal; it does not enter rivers outside of spawning, although it can approach them. Prefers deep water and sandy bottom. Spawns mainly in the Selenga and its tributaries, on shallows.
Weight 1-2 kg, length up to 48 cm. Larger and fatter than the black form.
The color of the scales is light, silver or yellow. The back and dorsal parts are dark, purple, with transverse red stripes. The dorsal fin is dark, brown or gray. During the spawning period, males become darker in color and the spots become brighter.
Khuvsgulsky, or Kosogolsky
It occurs in two forms - black and white, and resembles the Baikal subspecies. It is possible that these fish are related to each other, because Lake Khubsugul is not without reason called the younger brother of Baikal: the composition of the water and many other conditions of these two reservoirs are similar. In addition, there is a direct connection between them: from Kosogol (the second name of Khubsugol) flows the Eigin Gol, a river that then flows into the Selenga, where both black and white Baikal grayling spawn.
Mongolian
The owner of the maximum mouth length among all graylings: the ends of the jaws extend beyond the rear edge of the eye. It has the most developed teeth among all species, but the color has neither yellow nor red shades. The species is closer than others to typical representatives of the salmon family and is more primitive than other grayling species. Its habitat is limited to northwestern Mongolia.
Scientists suggest that it is the Mongolian grayling that is the ancestor of other fish of this genus.
Spawning period
Depending on the ecotype, grayling can reach sexual maturity in both the second and fourth years of life. The most early ripening are stream forms. River varieties have a longer life cycle, and therefore mature later.
Spawning of grayling in the Middle Urals begins around mid-May - usually after the flood reaches its peak, and lasts approximately 2-3 weeks - until June. By this time, fish occupy potential spawning grounds, which are pebble shallows with a quiet (no more than half a meter per second) current. To do this, they do not hesitate to climb into rather small tributaries - at a very decent distance from their habitats.
The largest individuals spawn first, then the medium-sized ones, and the spawning is “closed” by the small ones that have barely reached sexual maturity. The actual process of spawning looks like this: a pair appears in a school of fish, which separates and takes the right place, after which the male presses against the female from the side and covers her with his upper fin. For about a minute the fish stand like this and rub against each other, then they begin to tremble and abruptly throw out sexual products. After the eggs are spawned, the fish return to the school.
What’s interesting is that, unlike many other fish, grayling has almost no recovery period after spawning1. Therefore, you can catch it already at the beginning of June.
The fry from fertilized eggs hatch in two to three weeks.
Meat white or red
Like all salmon, the meat of grayling is light, dense, well divided into segments after heat treatment, and has excellent taste. But you shouldn’t expect a bright, rich color from this fish, like sockeye salmon. It has a barely noticeable delicate gray-pink tint. There is no specific smell like whitefish; cut grayling smells like fresh fish. If the meat smells strongly of fish, this is a sign of insufficient freshness - you won’t get poisoned, but the taste will not be the same.
The taste of grayling resembles a representative of a related family of freshwater salmon - trout. The fish contains almost no small bones, and all of them are easily removed.
Where does it live in Russia?
Russia is the champion in the number of grayling varieties. This fish prefers large, cold rivers with a pebble bottom. Most species live in the Amur basin. Scientists attribute this to the fact that this region was previously divided into two basins. When geological processes led to the merger of the two basins, their fauna also merged.
Grayling is found in almost all domestic rivers, as well as in lakes of Karelia. The wide species diversity determines the presence of this fish both in the upper and lower reaches of large rivers. Although there is no industrial fishing, the fish is an object of sport and recreational fishing.
Where is the grayling fish found?
This predator loves cold freshwater waters. Therefore, it is most common in the northern waters of Eurasia and America. The grayling fish loves fast rocky rivers with a winding bed and many rapids and holes. It is very demanding on the purity of water and its oxygen saturation, but can adapt to life in lakes and warmer climates - it is found even in Mongolia. But grayling is most common in the rivers of Siberia, the Urals, Lake Baikal and Karelia. Its habitat is so large that scientists distinguish several of its varieties: Siberian grayling, European, Baikal and others.
What is the price
Grayling caviar in Moscow can be bought at a price of 2,250 rubles per kilogram. Small (up to 200 g) fresh frozen fish will retail from 700 rubles, large (200-700 g) – 950-1690 rubles, and salted-frozen fish – 850 rubles.
Lightly salted Yenisei grayling costs 800 rubles for 500 g or 840 rubles for 400 g, dried or cold smoked – 1000 rubles for 400 or 1100 for 500 g.
Prices for this delicious fish are constantly rising, and the temptation to buy it cheap usually ends in disappointment: outside specialized stores, fakes are often sold that do not even remotely resemble the delicacy in taste.
Officially, the maximum weight recorded in the world for a hiryuz was 2.18 kg. The river fish was caught in Austria in 2009. It was a representative of the European grayling species. But Siberian fish are much larger, and lake fish gain more weight. Therefore, information about a grayling 61 cm long and weighing 4.2 kg, caught in the waters of Ladoga, on the island of Valaam, in 1991, does not seem fantastic.
Grayling lifestyle
This is a very agile and lively fish. Its high speed of movement allows it to successfully hunt flying insects and small fish. But usually grayling is a homebody. He can stand all day in one place where there is a fast current - this makes it easier for him to look out for prey. It can jump high out of the water and grab flying insects. During the day, grayling fish choose deeper places, hiding in the grass and behind stones. It winters in deep holes, and already in April it rises upstream or enters small tributaries. The further upstream, the larger the individuals, because smaller ones cannot get as far. Grayling lays its eggs in shallow water, in places with a clean sandy or rocky bottom. After laying eggs, the grayling goes home. And it no longer travels long distances until the next spawning. Large grayling individuals like to stay alone, while small young animals hunt in small schools.
How is KBZHU useful?
The calorie content of 100 g of raw grayling is only 88 kcal. This volume contains 17.5 g of protein, 2 g of fat, and no carbohydrates. To find out the calorie content of ready-made dishes with grayling, you need to add to this base data for each of the ingredients, taking into account what and how much you took.
You can salt fish using salt and spices, which will only have a significant impact on the content of sodium and chlorine in the finished product (this is harmful to the body of hypertensive patients), or you can add sugar. Then carbohydrates will appear in the finished dish. When frying, you can use vegetable oil in different quantities. This will change the calorie content. Therefore, if you cook grayling at home, you need to calculate the KBJU yourself. In good cafes, this information is usually indicated on the menu.
The most high-calorie grayling is salted. This is due to the ability of salt to draw out liquid, so the meat becomes more concentrated. For the same reason, smoked fish has a relatively high calorie content (on average 138 kcal per 100 g).
The main beneficial property of this fish is its high content of unsaturated fatty acids. They help fight atherosclerosis, a common cause of severe cardiovascular diseases. Low calorie content combined with high protein content makes delicious fish healthy for the body and an acceptable delicacy not only for adherents of a healthy lifestyle, but also during strict diets.
If you are going to eat lightly salted grayling, the fish must undergo strict veterinary control. There are parasitic diseases that are transmitted to humans, and only long-term deep freezing or heat treatment can protect against them.
100 g of grayling caviar contains 200 kcal, protein content 28 g, fat 9 g, the product does not contain carbohydrates.
Fishing methods and techniques
Grayling is caught as an object of sport fishing. But residents of the shores of the reservoirs where it lives value it as a tasty and healthy product. The fish meat is light, pinkish in color, with a pleasant taste characteristic of salmon, fatty and nutritious. Everyone has only positive things to say about grayling. It is suitable for different types of dishes; it is also used for future use (pickling, smoking). Grayling caviar is considered valuable.
Only poaching methods of fishing are prohibited. It is recommended to obtain a license to catch grayling, as catch restrictions apply in most areas. Fishing is allowed using float tackle and spinning rods with a spoon.
Read: Nuances of catching grayling in autumn
Read: Master winter fishing for grayling
Tackle
For fly fishing, wooden floats (booms) are used, which can lift up to 100 g of weight. The tackle is secured to the end of the fishing line and allowed to float with the flow; leashes with hooks and bait are attached to the main part of the fishing line, which is pulled by the float.
Sport fishing is carried out using similar float gear: bombard and Tyrolean stick. In them, the leash is attached to the main line after installing a large float that floats with the flow. The bait is found in the bottom layers of water, where fish prey on it.
On the current, other types of equipment (boat, sleigh) are also used. The principle of operation is similar to the previous methods: the leash is delivered to the fishing spot using a floating object.
Long casts can be made using a spinning rod with an inertial reel. Fish are often caught using simple float rods, if it is possible to sail a boat into the deep parts of reservoirs in the summer.
Lures and baits
Objects that grayling prey on are used as bait. These can be lures in the form of insects and flies, to which a lurking predator will react. The best bait is considered to be an earthworm. In the summer, when grayling begins to hunt insects at night, fishing with surface baits and tackle (flies and chub baits) will also be successful. For winter fishing, methods with high-capacity floats are used.
Read: Choosing a spinner for grayling
Read: How to choose a jig for grayling
