The Best River Fishing in Mongolia

An exotic destination offers exotic species. Trout and Salmon are familiar to most anglers. Mongolia has its own species, including the mighty Taimen - the world's largest Salmonid of them all. Let's look at some of the species available before considering when is he best time for the adventurous angler to visit.

Let's start with the biggest and most exciting.Hucho taimen is the Salmonid species with the largest known fish - an amazing 2m and 100Kg.

Known as the 'Wolf of the River', mature Taimen feed on pretty much anything, including rodents and birds. They have even been known to snatch these from the shore.

They are an angler's delight, especially a fly fisher's delight, as they take lures on the surface in spectacular style.

Unlike most salmon, Taimen spend their entire life in rivers and lakes - perhaps because they choose to live in the fast-flowing upper-reaches of some of the longest rivers outside of the tropics. That is, they inhabit the river systems that exit Siberia into the Arctic and around until the Amur River.

Mongolian rivers such as the Shishgid, Selenge and Onon drain into these rivers and, since the local inhabitants have never been keen fisherfolk, the largest fish can often be found on these sections.

Brachymystax lenok are another game fish worthy of the adventurous angler's attention.They are found in significant numbers in many of Mongolia's rivers and Lakes, most notably in the crystal clear Lake Khovsgol up near the Russian border.

Lenok grow to a maximum length of about one metre. Anglers will more frequently catch fish of half that length, but even these put up a good fight.

Lenok feed mostly on larval and adult insects and are therefore best fished for with wet or dry flies. A 9 foot, 5 weight rod makes for a good balance between sport and control.

The last game species to be mentioned here is Thymallus arcticus, otherwise known as the Arctic Grayling.

There are, in fact, three species of Grayling found in Mongolia. The Arctic Grayling is the largest and therefore the one most sought by anglers.

The most distinguishing feature for this species is the over-sized dorsal fin. This extends well beyond the norm for a freshwater fish in the wild.

Grayling are a shoaling fish and are often caught in large numbers. 

Mongolia is also a great palce to fish for Pike. There are two species found locally - Northern Pike (the same as found throughout northern Europe) and Amur Pike.

You can also find Common, Crucian and Grass Carp as well as Perch, Roach and Tench.

Amongst the exotic species you will find Sharpbelly, Ide and Burbot.

Perhaps I will do a bit more research and write about these another day. 

The crucial factor then is to consider when is the best time to get to Mongolia to catch some of these fish. The decision is to be based on spawning and upon the probable weather.

Most game fish, including Taimen, spawn in May. The fishing season therefore normally does not start until mid-June.

The latter half of July and August are the most likely time for rains. Rain not only causes the rivers to rise, disrupting the fishing, but also makes travel in the wilderness areas that are the best spots almost impossible.

By October the winter begins to close in, with temperatures dropping to below freezing on most nights. 

This leaves September as the best month for fishing.

That said, any angler going to Mongolia should prepare for extremes of weather. In Mongolia this can change suddenly, and you will be a long way from the nearest gear shop.