Headwaters Expedition

We pack the entire camp – boats and all – onto camels.  

Travel deep into the wilderness for six full days of incredible taimen water.

An entirely unique and amazing fly fishing experience.

Fish Mongolia’s “Headwaters Expedition” is a full-on expedition, and one of the world’s most unique angling experiences, combining incredible fly fishing opportunities and a wonderful cultural odyssey into a true adventure of a lifetime. The first part of this trip emphasizes walk and wade fishing while the last two days incorporates specially designed inflatable drift boats. We’ve found this to be a great balance and the best approach to this one-of-a-kind fishery.

The guides call this place “The Temple”. The river here is extremely isolated and strikingly beautiful. Steep, forested walls frame the boulder-filled stream. The high-country river is very well protected and holds ancient taimen that rarely see a fly.

This is a true expedition so the guides will decide your motions for the week day by day, dependent on current weather, river, and fishing conditions. There are miles of excellent river accessible from each and every camp. Typically, during your first morning on the river, we load up the camels and horses to begin our upriver journey. Guests have the option to either hike or ride upstream and pack-stock will carry our gear.

Interacting with traditional Mongolian herders is a very unique part of this angling experience. The few families who live at the gates of the headwaters help us to guard and protect the river. These families provide the camels and horses that support our expedition.

Watching a week’s worth of gear and boats being loaded onto a camel caravan is quite a spectacle.

Once we reach the uppermost camp, we will begin the walk and wade portion of the fishing. We’ll spend the next few days working our way back downstream, staying in comfortable expedition camps along the way. Our equipment will be moved to the next camp each day by our experienced expedition staff so all you have to worry about is the day’s fishing!

Our fleet of NRS inflatable drift boats will be awaiting our return to the basecamp. We fish from the comfort of these boats over the last two days of the journey, covering over twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) of river. It’s a slightly different pace and approach to. the fishing we’ve had on the upper river and just might give you that perfect drift or the chance to get a fly in front of those otherwise hard to reach fish. The last two camps you stay in below basecamp are fully equipped and very comfortable ger camps.

As with all of our trips, anglers can anticipate great meals and the support of a hard working, professional camp staff.

Participants must be in very good physical condition to participate in this expedition.

Anglers must be able to hike or ride horses several miles into the backcountry and should be accustomed to wilderness conditions. Guests must be able to wade-walk along a river with a rocky bottom and strong current. Anglers should be proficient with a two-handed rod (spey or switch) or have a solid double haul to adequately cover the water on the walk and wade portion of the expedition.

We keep angler and trip participant numbers low on this trip. We send two professional fly fishing guides on the trip. There is a limit of four anglers per departure. If booking as a group, we can sometimes accommodate six anglers on a departure.

Guests often combine a Headwaters Expedition with a Classic Canyon drift-boat trip. By linking both journeys, guests are able to fish for nearly two full weeks exploring a new stretch of river almost every day.