European grayling (Thymallus thymallus)

Photo by Justin Schoon on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

FishActive now (October)

European grayling

Thymallus thymallus

When
Jun–Feb — January, February, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Earlier where the water warms first.
Where it holds
Cold, clear, fast rivers over clean gravel — shoals hold in steady runs and pool tails; also clear lakes in Scandinavia.
How to know it
A tall, sail-like dorsal fin flecked with purple and red, silver-grey flanks with scattered dark spots, and a small mouth set low.
What to know
The 'lady of the stream'. It gives sport on the fly through autumn and winter, long after the trout season has closed.
The tactic
Small weighted nymphs bumped along the bottom; tiny dry flies on summer evenings.
Caution
Grayling spawn in spring and are protected then — in England and Wales the river season runs 16 June to 14 March. Very sensitive to pollution: handle gently and release quickly.

Seasons, size limits and catch limits change every year and differ by water body. Check the current regulations for the country and the water before you fish.

European grayling facts

Also called
Grayling, common grayling, 'the lady of the stream'; ombre in French, Äsche in German, temolo in Italian, harr in Swedish, harjus in Finnish. The genus name Thymallus refers to a faint smell of thyme said to hang on a fresh fish.
Family
Salmonidae — a member of the salmon and trout family, with the small adipose fin to show it.
Native range
Europe from England, Wales and France (west to the Loire, and the Rhône) east to the Urals: the North Sea, Baltic, White Sea, Black Sea and Caspian basins, and the northern Adriatic basin east to the Soča. Absent from Ireland and the south of Europe.
Introduced to
Scotland and much of southern and central Finland. It was put into Morocco in 1948 but seems not to have become established.
Habitat
Cold, clean, well-oxygenated, fast rivers with gravel or stone bottoms, holding in hollows behind boulders and shaded water. In Scandinavia it also lives in clear lakes and the low-salt northern Baltic.
Water temperature
Cold water; FishBase gives about 6–18°C (43–64°F). It spawns in spring on shallow gravel.
Size
Most adults 25–40 cm (10–16 in); the largest measured about 60 cm (24 in).
Record
IGFA all-tackle world record: 2.18 kg (4 lb 12 oz), Adriano Gargantini, the Drava at Steinfeld, Austria, 2009.
Lifespan
Up to about 14 years.
What it eats
Mostly insects and their nymphs and larvae, plus small worms, crustaceans, snails and zooplankton, some plant matter, and occasionally small fish such as minnows.
Spawning
In spring, on clean gravel in shallow runs about 20–40 cm deep with a moderate current.
Young fish
Fry keep to shallow, slack water at the edges before moving out into the current.
Teeth and mouth
Small and set low on the head, with tiny teeth — built for picking nymphs off the bottom.
Look-alikes
Arctic grayling, of northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia, is very similar; the European grayling has 5–8 spines at the front of the dorsal fin and 3–4 in the anal fin, which the Arctic grayling lacks. Whitefish have a small dorsal fin; trout have a bigger mouth and spots.
Eating
Good when fresh, but grayling stocks are fragile in many rivers and most anglers release them.
Status
IUCN Least Concern overall, but listed on Appendix III of the Bern Convention, declining in many rivers, and critically endangered in the Baltic Sea.

Try it

How big does a european grayling get?

Slide it from an ordinary adult to the biggest one ever measured, next to things you know the size of.

33 cm · 13 inmost adults10203040506070cm369121518212427ina grown-up's hand · 18 cma loaf of bread · 30 cm

Most adults you'll catch: 25–40 cm (10–16 in).

This european grayling: 33 cm. Longer than a loaf of bread, shorter than a four-year-old.

The record

IGFA all-tackle world record: 2.18 kg (4 lb 12 oz), Adriano Gargantini, the Drava at Steinfeld, Austria, 2009.

Questions people ask about european grayling

What is a grayling?

A member of the salmon and trout family with a tall, sail-like dorsal fin, silver-grey flanks and a small mouth. It lives in cold, clean, fast rivers from England and France to the Urals, and in clear Scandinavian lakes, and it feeds mostly on insects — which makes it a favourite fly-fishing fish.

When is the grayling season in England?

On rivers in England and Wales, grayling follow the coarse season: 16 June to 14 March. That makes them the fly angler's winter fish, open long after the trout season closes. In Scotland, where they were introduced, there is no closed season for grayling.

Are there grayling in Ireland?

No. Grayling are native to England and Wales and were introduced to Scotland, but Ireland has none.

How big do grayling get?

Most are 25–40 cm (10–16 in) and under 1 kg; a 1.5 kg (3 lb) grayling is a fish of a lifetime. The IGFA world record is 2.18 kg (4 lb 12 oz), from the Drava in Austria in 2009.

Found in these regions

Checked against these sources ·

Sizes, records and ranges are for the species as a whole; local fish, and local rules, vary. Records change — the record-keeper named above has the current one.

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