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 Fishing in Mongolia
My home town of Juneau, Alaska has
some of the best salmon fishing in the world: We may not get
kings as large as those on the Kenai, but the Spring
as those on the Kenai, but the Spring run
is predictable and there is considerably less pressure than
on the Kenai. But it’s the coho run that Juneau is really known for. The cohos begin
to arrive in numbers around the middle of July and by
September are beginning to clog the many streams around town.
With salmon fishing like this, it might seem crazy
to travel half way around the world to catch another salmon,
but I did just that. And I’m glad I did: Salmon fishing
in Mongolia is an experience not to be missed.
The fish I was looking for was the landlocked taimen (hucho
taimen), the largest salmon in the world. Taimen are found
only a few rivers in Russia, China, and Mongolia. Taimen look
much like a salmon, but they differ from the Pacific salmon .
I am used to catching in a couple significant ways. First,
they do not die when they spawn. This is one reason why they can
grow to monstrous proportions. The world’s record, caught
in a net, weighed over 200 pounds. Second, mice, lemmings
and other small rodents make a significant portion of their
diet. This, coupled with their size, may explain why
they are called "river wolf" by Mongolians.
There are a few U.S.-based outfitters that offer
taimen fishing trips in Mongolia but the price of those trips
was way beyond what I could afford. This meant that if
I was to fish for taimen that I would have to go with a Mongolian
outfitter. Fortunately, finding a Mongolian outfitter was
an easy Internet search. After asking several questions and
checking with references, I chose Samar
Magic Fishing Tours and a  12
day trip which included 6 days of fishing for taimen,
lenok (a trout like fish) and grayling.
In late August my girlfriend Joan and I flew from Juneau to Seattle
to Tokyo to Seoul where we spent two nights eating sushi and
trying to adjust to jet lag. We then had a 3 hour flight to
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
The next day we met the third member of our party, a Polish engineer named
Grezegorz, then climbed aboard a Russian-made 4 wheel drive
van and headed west. It would take us two days to reach the
confluence of the Chuluut and Suman rivers where we planned
to fish. The Chuluut drains into Lake Baikal, the huge lake
in Siberia. Baikal is not only the one place in the world
with fresh water seals; it is also thought to have the largest
taimen in the world.
In the morning, Joan and I woke up before anybody
else, grabbed our rods, and made the steep
15 minute hike down to the river. When we got to the
water’s edge, I realized one thing immediately: The river
was too fast and deep for me to fish with a fly rod.
Fortunately, I had a heavy bait casting outfit and Joan was
using spinning gear. It didn’t take long for action:
I made
my ninth cast across a deep pool, reeled fast to get my lure
down, and got a strike.
The taimen jumped as soon as it felt the hooks. And what a
jump – it was tail walking like a marlin. Then it went deep and
made several runs around the pool. Fortunately, it stayed
away from the rapids and I was able to land it in 10
minutes. I took a photo before releasing it. That first fish
wasn’t big for a taimen –perhaps 45 inches long and 35
pounds – but it gave me more enjoyment than any fish
I have ever caught.
About an hour later, Joan caught a fish. It was, as she still
reminds me, considerably larger than mine. We stayed at the
confluence for three days and four nights. We had luck fishing
two ways. Most of our fish were caught on large wobbling
minnows – Magnum Rapalas and Bomber Long A’s. The key was
to run them deep in the seams between white and dark
water at the edges of deep pools. We also caught fish in the
evening on mice imitations.
This was the most exciting way to fish: Just as the sun
began to set, we’d cast mice imitations
into the deep pools and let them drift slowly on the
surface. The taimen would come out of the water and hit the
mouse on the way down. As often as not, we wouldn’t hook up,
but the strike alone was well worth it. In the three
days we are at the confluence, we caught 11 taimen and lost
at least that many.
The largest was 58 inches long; the smallest was about 35
inches. And, of course, the big one got away: I chased
one fish perhaps a half mile down stream before it jumped
and threw the lure.
That fish was over 6 feet long.
Our next camp was a 4 hour, off road drive to another spot
on Chuluut river. We camped right on the river and were able catch
lenok and grayling from our tents. Once we managed to match
the hatch – size 22 light brown dry flies – we caught fish
on almost every cast. The lenok ran between
2 and 6 pounds while the grayling averaged about 12 inches.
The only problem was that it was too easy. The taimen had spoiled me: After
catching a couple dozen lenok, I put down my 5 weight
, grabbed my bait casting rod, and began working the deeper
pools for taimen. I lost one fish in three days – but
did manage to catch perhaps 50 lenok that should have known
better than to go for lures as large as I was casting. We
kept a few lenok and
a burbot for shore side meals but released all of the taimen.
Our Mongolian guide expected us to keep a head for a
trophy. We explained that all we wanted were some pictures
and the memories. Unfortunately, not all fishermen practice catch and release. Some even bring canning equipment
so that they can their taimen to take home. And while the
locals do not eat fish, restaurants in Ulaanbaatar have
recently begun serving taimen to tourists. This can’t continue.
Taimen are huge fish, and the rivers of Mongolia simply can’t
support very many of them.
 If you go:
With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, travel to and
within Mongolia is easier today than it was just a few years ago but
it is not something to do on your own. Barely 50,000 tourists
visit Mongolia every year and there are few of the amenities
that Westerns expect, even while traveling abroad. There are
only 750 miles of paved roads in a country the size of
Alaska, and no good road maps exist. Fortunately, there
are numerous Mongolian outfitters that charge very reasonable
prices. This included all meals, board, translator, driver
and fishing guide.
When
to travel:
Taimen fishing is open from early May through the end of October.
The best time is typically from mid-August until the end
of September. The weather in Mongolia can be extreme. On our
trip in late August and early September, we were often
hot in the day but quite cold at night. Bring warm clothes
and a warm sleeping bag. There were no bugs while we
were there but they can be a problem earlier in the summer.
Health
issues:
We had no health problems, but travelers are recommended to
bring a medical kit which includes antibiotics and treatment
for dysentery. Drink only bottled water; be sure to buy enough
in Ulaan Baatar before leaving for the countryside.
Fishing tackle:
I never even cast my 9 weight fly rod I because we found taimen
only in deep pools with fast current. Under different conditions,
large streamers and mouse imitations should work. I caught
all of my fish on a medium-heavy seven and a half foot
glass bait casting rod with an Ambassadeur 7000C Synchro reel
loaded with 25 pound monofilament. If anything, I was
undergunned. Joan used an 8 foot spinning rod with 20
pound mono; 40 pound braided line would have been a wiser
choice. All of our fish were caught on baits in
natural colors; the best single lure was a Heavy Duty 6 inch
Bomber Long A in the rainbow trout pattern. We also
caught fish on a Husky Pikie in silver flash, Rapala wobblers
in silver, and mice imitations. For lenok and grayling,
a 3 or 5 weight fly rod with a floating line would be ideal.
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Fishing
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I would like to wish you as well a very successful new year.
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