mongolia

Andrew Burr photo

CENTRALASIA – MONGOLIA

Taimen, Trout & Excitement in Mongolia

The steppes of Mongolia host more than great fishing trips. Far more than you can imagine!

MONGOLIA IS THE least densely populated country in the world. It is roughly the size of Alaska, yet outside of the main capitol city of Ulaanbaatar it is a vast wilderness, sparsely populated by nomads who subsist, living off the land tending their herds of cows, sheep, goats, yaks, and camels. There’s no property ownership outside of the capitol city. No fences, very few roads, and those that do exist are dirt. What few people you do encounter once you leave the city will likely be on horseback. This ancient realm is both politically and geographically isolated. Mongolia is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, a precarious political position. But the Altai Mountains to the west and the Gobi Desert to the south have kept Mongolia out of the spotlight and off the beaten path for centuries. Mongolia is a cultural odyssey to a land forgotten by time. It is truly an unforgettable, epic voyage to a mysterious foreign country. To most, it is simply recognized as the fabled homeland of the fierce nomad warrior Genghis Khan. But from the moment you set foot in this incredible place, you realize the people are friendly, proAmerican, and truly wonderful. In Mongolia only the sport fish are fierce. This adventure is beyond any mere fishing trip. Though it’s the spectacular fishing and the sheer majesty of the landscape that often draws people to this unique world, it is usually the smiling faces and the native people that travelers remember most. To the first-time visitor, Mongolia immediately appears to be a wild, unbroken land reminiscent of Montana and the American West before settlement. Northern Mongolia is a place of snowcapped mountains, vast golden forests of birch, aspen, larch and alder, and meadows filled with wildflowers. It is home to some of the world’s largest remaining tracts of true wilderness and is rich with clear, freeflowing rivers that have carved their way through dramatic canyons and wind through majestic valleys. Each day’s float is a wilderness experience that is a step beyond a visit to Yellowstone or Yosemite. And of course there are the taimen, the largest salmonid on Earth.

Pat Pendergast photo Michael Caranci photo

Michael Caranci photo

GETTING THERE takes some time. Westerners arrive by way of Seoul, and usually spend a few days in Mongolia’s interesting and historic capitol, Ulaanbaatar, exploring and decompressing before taking a short, early morning flight to the frontier steppes and a drive to the first of a series of comfortable riverside camps, where each two anglers share spacious, wellfurnished, wood stove-heated gers (traditional yurt). Camps have hot showers, plenty of good food, an unforgettable Mongol staff that moves with the group, and a fly-savvy river team combining educated, English-speaking Mongols with a nucleus of very talented international and native guides. Most fishing is done Montana-style from a raft or drift boat and anglers are usually armed with single-handed eight or nine weight rods with enough muscle to toss large streamers or surface flies to any likely holding water or structure. The same pristine water that harbors monster taimen also has a large population of grayling, exotic Amur trout, toothy pike and lenok, an ancient strain of Siberian trout with golden bodies, bright red bands and black spots. These smaller fish headline the taimen menu and seem, at times, to be everywhere along the shoreline. Fishing for them with lightweight fly rods is an added highlight to this adventure. Taimen are reclusive, but fear nothing. These distinctly colored salmonids have a near-fluorescent orange-red tail that often reveals their location in the clear freestone pocket water. Sight fishing for these magnificent finned predators while

taimen wading the shoreline or floating the river is an experience seldom equalled in fresh water. do feed on These huge fish are ultra-aggressive, and opportunistic. They’ll the surface and lie in ambush behind structure, deep pools or fast current, then act like freshwater barracuda when any potential food source create a violates their territory. Taimen are pure, giant predators, and anything in the water is on their diet. Understandably, the most heart-stopping productive flies are large streamers, but taimen do feed on the explosion when surface and create a heart-stopping explosion when they attack a skated or gurgling surface fly. they attack This fly fishing adventure targets a unique species of fish seldom found elsewhere and takes place in a part of the world most have only read about in books. These are trips that will disconnect you from your normal life and leave you and your companions with a lifetime of memories. mongolia The Mongolian fishing season runs from mid-June through late October. Packages include airport reception, all transfers, 2 hotel nights in Ulaanbaatar, domestic plane flights, 7 or 8 nights in comfortable Mongolian riverside ger camps, and a spectacular 6 or 7 full day fishing float trip through some of the most intriguing water and most beautiful wilderness terrain imaginable. Package prices include a mandatory $500 conservation fee. s All-inclusive packages $6,950 s All-inclusive two-week packages $11,950