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Mongolia is one of the best places on earth for fishing activities, and numerous passionate fishermen come to benefit from its vast pollution-free waters, 4000 rivers and 30 lakes, where the population of fish is very healthy. Mongolian species are very similar to those found in Europe, yet more abundant and bigger.

Types of fish

The most commonly species found are siberian whitefishes from the salmonid family, some Baikal/arctic graylings, the lenok trout, the baikal omul, and the perch.

While Mongolia can be considered the best location to catch trout, you can expect to get as much as 30 of them within a day in good rivers. The lenok trout is commonly found all around the country, and you won’t need to go too far from the Capital city to get them (Terelj National Park, Orkhon Valley, Arkhangai, Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve). They have red color sides, and with a down-turn mouth, its body is thicker and golden with black spots. Another trout found in Mongolia is the Amur trout, which is more similar in color to the brown trout. They measure from 45 to 55cm, some of them can be up to 65cm! They both usually have a very aggressive attitude, and it is a joy to take a fly.

For sport-fishing and challenge lovers, the best fish to catch would be the taimen, the biggest of the salmonid family. Its average size range is between 75cm to 1 meter, and approximate weight can be about 5 kilogrammes. If above 1 meter high, your taimen can be effectively considered as a trophy, as the biggest ever found were about 150cm high! To get a taimen is a challenge on its own, that can be addictive. They are considered ferocious predators, powerful and on top of the food chain of its environment. It is always a passionate and challenging fight to catch a taimen, and is regarded as one of the most difficult task that you could face with a freshwater gamefish. The luckiest can hope to have 1 or 2 taimen a day, because of its relative tenacious nature. In every of our fishing sessions, we are committed to ask our clients to catch and release the fish. We use only barbless hooks for flyfishing. The taimen is one of the protected species, which reaches its sexual maturity at the age of 7. The biggest ones can age up to 25 years, for one meter long. It is of upmost importance to respect them, as the population of taimen is not very wide even on the purest waters.

Flyfishing seasons

Flyfishing in Mongolia starts from the 15th of June and ends on November 1st. In June, the season starts after fish lay their eggs. This time of the year represents the best moment as the taimen is more actively hunting and you will be more likely to catch it. Mid-July is a more difficult time for flyfishing as the rivers are swollen. Starting from 20th of August until October, is generally considered the high season for the sport. Climate is at its best favouring the concentration of fish, before they migrate to deeper waters for the freezing period.