On Topic: Flyfishing for Taimen in Mongolia

Thought I'd give this a new thread, as a discussion is starting to
begin elsewhere.

You may remember that two summers ago, I worked with an outfitter in
Ulaanbaatar, Andy Parkinson of Fish Mongolia, to help start to develop
a remote stretch of water on the Delger Muron in NW Mongolia for
sustainable tourism. He already runs small rafts down much of this
stretch for guided taimen fishing, and we were working to develop
canoe trips on that same stretch. We imported a fleet of top-quality
tripping canoes, pfds, canoe gear and paddles, and ran the first
descent of the river in canoes in mid June.

Turns out that its *wonderful* canoeing water, and even more wonderful
taimen and lennok fishing, so this year we hope to run the same
stretch again, but with more of a focus on the fishing than before.
Probably do a few shorter days, with more stops at the best fishing
holes, etc.

The advantage of doing the trip in canoes instead of rafts is
primarily financial; each raft carries one or two fishermen and a
guide, so the high number of guides means the trips are fairly
expensive. But the canoe trips tend to have only 1 guide and an
assistant for 5-8 people, and the costs come down considerably. The
guides still do all the 'camp work'...choosing sites, cooking meals,
setting up the tents, etc. And they carry all the duffel on the guide
raft, so the canoes run almost empty, which is extemely nice. The
fishing success of such a trip will rely on the fishermen not needing
to be individually guided all day, but more interested in striking out
on their own and exploring holes, tributaries, etc.

The fishing is world-class. Taimen are a type of gargantuan trout
(average ones are in tne 40-50 inch range and weigh 20-40 pounds. The
largest ones get over 7 feet in length, and weigh upwards of 200
pounds!) The river also holds lennok (a type of trout) and greyling in
abundance; in fact, you often will catch 5 pound lennok while you are
casting for taimen, as they are so abundant. Sometimes a monster
taimen will take a lennok that is strugging at the end of your line.

If anyone is interested in going canoeing and fishing in Outer
Mongolia this year, let's start talking. We have a lot of freedom to
adjust dates and to fine tune the trip, but the conversation needs to
begin before christmas. I'm thinking of an 8-10 day trip in early
July. Costs will depend on the number of participants, but two summers
ago the trip was $1750 per person, all inclusive from Ulaanbaatar.

Check out Andy's website www.fishmongilia.com (especially the pictures
of the taimen), and you can see pics from our first trip he
http://tinyurl.com/32gps9

--riverman

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:19 -0700 (PDT), riverman
wrote:

I'm thinking of an 8-10 day trip in early
July.

I've noticed that most, if not all, the outfitters in Mongolia rafting
the rivers for Taiman fishing do it in September. It seems that the
water is at a better level, cooler, and clearer.

Any thoughts on this?

BTW, Boston to UlanBasomethingorother takes about 30 hours and
$4000.oo.

Dave

riverman typed:
snip
Check out Andy's website www.fishmongilia.com (especially the pictures
of the taimen),

http://www.fishmongolia.com/

Moron. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On Oct 28, 7:11*pm, Dave LaCourse wrote:
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:19 -0700 (PDT), riverman

wrote:
I'm thinking of an 8-10 day trip in early
July.

I've noticed that most, if not all, the outfitters in Mongolia rafting
the rivers for Taiman fishing do it in September. *It seems that the
water is at a better level, cooler, and clearer. *

Any thoughts on this?

BTW, Boston to UlanBasomethingorother takes about 30 hours and
$4000.oo.

Dave

Hi Dave:
Northern Mongolia has a short rainy season midsummer, usually in late
July or August. The rivers can flood during that time, and I think
many outfitters ensure that they are beyond the rains by booking their
trips considerably later, for statistical assurance. The bulk of the
fishing outfitters I know of run trips on the Selenge and its
tributaries, which is known for flooding tremedously high, with the
floods lasting for weeks. The DelgerMuron is a smaller headwater
river, so it tends to flood spectacularly for only a few days, and if
we are on the river, we can just layover until it clears.

When we did our canoe trip two summer ago (late June), the water was
low and gin clear, but we had a couple of days at the start that were
bitterly cold (the jet stream brought down some siberian air). Andy
had his most productive fishing trip the week after we left, which was
early July, so I think most outfitters tend to book September trips to
avoid the cold as much as to ensure that the water is down and flushed
clear. I'm good with scheduling our trip for early in the summer
rather than later, but that means we have to be prepared for temps
from 34F to 85F. The good news is that we are assured to have the
region to ourselves.

For airfares; check the flights from Boston to Seoul, then a separate
flight from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar on KAL. It should come down to around
half of what you found.

--riverman

On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:03:07 -0700 (PDT), riverman
wrote:

For airfares; check the flights from Boston to Seoul, then a separate
flight from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar on KAL. It should come down to around
half of what you found.

Hmmmmm. Costs even more that way. d;o(

Just a cursory look. Will look even further.

Dave

On Oct 28, 7:11*pm, Dave LaCourse wrote:
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:19 -0700 (PDT), riverman

wrote:
I'm thinking of an 8-10 day trip in early
July.

I've noticed that most, if not all, the outfitters in Mongolia rafting
the rivers for Taiman fishing do it in September. *It seems that the
water is at a better level, cooler, and clearer. *

Any thoughts on this?

BTW, Boston to UlanBasomethingorother takes about 30 hours and
$4000.oo.

Dave

I use www.zuji.com, and just found the following: (ICN = Seoul, ULN =
Ulaanbaatar)

United; June 17 BOS-ICN (0630 dep- 1845 June 18 arr)
KAL: June 18 ICN-ULN (1950 dep- 2250 arr)

KAL: June 30 ULN-ICN (0020 dep- 0420 arr)
Singapore Airlines: June 30 (1750 dep- 0656 Jult 1 arr)

The price (taxes and surcharges and Siji fee) is $2526.
I can't help with the travel time, though. :-)

--riverman

On Oct 28, 10:10*pm, "Tim J."
wrote:
riverman typed:
snip

Check out Andy's websitewww.fishmongilia.com(especially the pictures
of the taimen),

http://www.fishmongolia.com/

Moron. *;-)
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Rats, you caught that. The clever ruse was designed especially to keep
YOU from deciphering my secret message, and opening the door for me to
take over the WORLD!! Ahh ha ha ha ha ha ha !

Curses, foiled again!

--riverman

On Oct 29, 9:23*am, riverman wrote:
and Siji fee) is $2526.


d'oH! I meant 'zuji fee'. Wow, I gotta stop multitasking here...

--riverman