Peter and Lou star in “The Search for the Holy
Grayling”, Part III. For those of you who haven’t seen the parts one
and two, a brief recap. Peter and Lou, grayling
fanatics, have been on a
quest to either prove the records wrong, or to set one of their own. Year
one (06), Peter catches an unprecedented 3lb 14oz grayling. This fish is
nearly a pound under the Alaska state record of 4lb 13oz, but nonetheless
is the largest grayling caught by Peter during his 12-year quest for the
large version of this fish. He has fished all the record locations, but
nothing but small fish exist.
Part II, Peter and Lou return in August 07 and are
extremely excited to see several specimens topping the 4lb mark. Peter
sets two IGFA line class records.
Part III – Is there a reason to keep watching? Yes.
Peter and Lou return late August 08 to find perfect weather on the Seward
Peninsula. Temperatures run about 70F everyday and 35F at night. 4lb
fish are released left and right the entire week. Finally, on day five,
Peter hooked into another average fish. But the scales said differently,
as you can see. The 22 and 5/8 inch fish weighed in at 5lb, 1oz. It’s
girth at the widest spot was 13”. Holy Mackerel! No, it's a
Grayling. After brief photos and measurements, the fish was released
healthily back into the stream. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game
has accepted the data, and the new record Arctic Grayling in Alaska
belongs to Peter Cockwill, breaking the 26 year old record by 4 ounces.
Congratulations Peter.
