Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman: Grayling

Monday, June 27, 2011

Grand Slams...of the Fishing Sorts

So there are a lot of different "Grand Slams" out there when it comes to fishing. I figured, hey, why not educate a bit and drop some knowledge for all of you out there wondering what a fishing grand slam is and how its done. So here we go... A grand slam is usually when you catch 3 out of 4 fish in grand slam category in a 24 hour period. There are many types of grand slams depending on the region your in and some vary by having 5 fish in a category in which only 3 still need to be caught. The most popular is the Caribbean Grand Slam also known as the Southeastern Grand Slam (see below). For fly fisherman the Caribbean Grand Slam slightly varies, theres only 3 fish to be caught, according to some. A "Super Grand Slam is when you catch all 4 fish in the category (or 4 out of the 5 for some). They're all crazy no matter what you say and the first two below are absolutely on my bucketlist. Here's all the grand slams I could think of/find online...

Southeastern Grand Slam: Tarpon, Permit, Bonefish, Snook (3 bold fish are the fly fishing ones).

Northeastern Grand Slam: Striped Bass, Bluefish, False Albacore, Bonito.

Alaskan Grand Slam: Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Coho (Silver) Salmon, Arctic Grayling.

Costa Rican (Billfish) Grand Slam: Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Striped Marlin, Sailfish, Swordfish.

Midwest Grand Slam: Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Walleye, Arctic Grayling.

Reef Grand Slam: Coral Trout, Smallmouth Nannygai, Largemouth Nannygai, Red Emporer.

Trout Grand Slam: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Golden (Palomino) Rainbow, Tiger Trout, Hybrid (Brook/Brown) Trout.

I'm sure there's plenty more out there but this is all I could remember/find. Check it out for yourself on a Google search or simply make up your own based on what you have in your region (I made the "Trout" one up on my own based on the Breeches and the Gunpowder). My wife and I are headed to the Keys now for our summer vacation so lookout Southeastern Grand Slam, I got my eyes on you...

P.s. Check out the new poll on the Right-Hand side and vote for what Grand Slam would mean most to you!