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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 Chuulut 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. We
paid under $100 per day per person. 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 Ulaanbaatar before leaving for the
countryside. Tetanus, Hepatitis A and Typhoid inoculations are
recommended. Rabies can be a problem so steer clear of the many dogs
in 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.
(This article is contributed by Samar
Magic Tours - Editor. For more interesting travel articles,
please visit InfoHub Specialty
Travel Guide)
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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 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.
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 Chuulut and Suman rivers where
we planned to fish. The Chuulut 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.