Arctic Char
Salvelinus Alpinus
Timothy Kusherets
Every one of these fish can be successfully drift-fished and are highly sought
as game fish. This particular family of fish has a myriad of spots. The Arctic
Char has a light olive background on the sides that continue just past the lateral
line. White spots are fairly uniformed and are found the length of the body
from the gill-plate to the tail. As will all trout the tail is forked with rounded
rays at the top and bottom of the tail. A sea run arctic char can get up to
twenty-five pounds and is an excellent fighter.
These fish can be taken on spinners, spoons, corkies, and jigs. Most of time
they can be found patrolling seams of eddies and tail-outs. When space competition
comes into play with salmon they can found marauding eggs below redds. The best
time to fish these fish is when waters are running clear. This is a particularly
skittish fish, so when fishing any seam getting down closer to the water gives
a decide advantage to any fly fisherman and drift-fisherman. Get close enough
to flip offerings out and let the bait or lure flutter as deep in each hold
for as long as possible. Drifting a fly or spinner are the best ways to garner
fast strikes. Spinners should not be larger than No. 3 with a complimentary
hook. These fish fight hard to the end so don’t expect even the smallest
fish to come in immediately. Like steelhead, if one does come directly in get
ready for an explosion the first time you try to beach, net, or touch it. The
best idea for fish that come straight in is to step backwards and take up the
slack in anticipation of bolting and thrashing that is sure to happen.
© Timothy Kusherets 2004/08
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