Word grilse

spring time

Well-Known Member
we had a discussion on the boat today after a grilse tried eating a anchovy the size he was why do they call a grilse a grilse why not just a baby chinook or coho
 
I grew up on the East Coast and young Atlantic salmon is refer to as grilse, but they are not baby salmon. Grilse are young salmon returning to the river after their first year in the ocean. As a result they were usually a couple of pounds in size. I would think a grilse of Pacific salmon would be younger then a jack and older then a smolt. So to call those small 8" - 10" baby salmon is probably inaccurate.
 
I grew up fishing here, the only terms we used was "shaker" for under 12", then "jacks" for early return fish usually 1-3 pounds. when newbies or people from other parts of the province came fishing with us they would use the term "grilse" I'm thinking east coast terminology.
 
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As a child on the Sunshine Coast and the term was very commonly used where I lived. Mind you in those days most of the folks where I lived were retired Scots and Brits. Makes sense they brought the term with them from the old country.
 
Agree w Daveroo - grisle is an incorrect term for juvie salmon carried-over to the West Coast presumably by those more familar w Atlantic verses Pacific salmon. Pacifics go from egg to yolk-sac fry to fry to smolts (silver-up) and then out to sea as smolts - then subadult then adult then spawners - and the cycle repeats itself...
 
I fished part of every summer Chemainus summer from 1968-76 with my prairie-raised German-Catholic grandparents.
We caught grilse, jacks and rockcod. All the terms were/are wrong, but do connote clear images for me, so I sometimes still use them.
 
Grilse is a Scottish term for Juvenile Atlantic salmon fished on the Scottish rivers and has been in use for many hundreds of years. I ran into the term again growing up in New Brunswick fishing the Mirimachi and Nashwaksis rivers. A grilse has never spawned and won't that year-commonly weigh a LB to a pound and a half. Not to be confused with Slinks- they have spawned in the fall-overwintered under the ice and go to sea again in the spring. They are indeed as the name suggests a sorry sight- not sure of the percentage that survive the spawning but must have been considerable because we fished them april/may on the rivers at ice out. Always released as they were poor table fare. A grilse I would equate to what we call shakers!
 
I grew up fishing in the gulf islands. Mainly Active Pass area. late 60's and up to right now. We always used 'Grilse' but don't hear it as much now. When I do hear it , some say it with a 'grilsss' sound. others with a 'grilze'
 
On the fish boat I called them grilse.The captain wold open the door to the cabin and say FC what did you do with the small one?I would reply ,"Its on the grill" ,open the lid and say "se".My balderdash contibution for the day.
 
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