Trout

Mongolia is a world-class trout fishing destination!

The same pristine water that holds monster taimen also produces huge numbers of Siberian trout and grayling.  The trout fishing can be a great diversion from casting big flies for big taimen. It’s very common for guests to catch two dozen or more trout on a leisurely afternoon of hopper fishing.  Fly fishing for these native trout is as good or better than any trout fishery in the American West. Period.

Siberian trout (usually referred to as “lenok”) are a beautiful fish.  Lenok have golden bodies, bright red bands and black spots.  Throughout the fishing season, these native trout feed aggressively on the surface.  They wait along the banks and beneath willows to slurp the abundant grasshopper, mayfly and stonefly hatches. A large lenok will happily destroy a mouse pattern skated across a shallow run or behind a rock. They will smash bead-head nymphs dropped beneath riffles. Their behavior reminds many anglers of cutthroat trout, charging up from the depths of crystal clear water to slam petite flies. 

This river also holds astounding numbers of grayling.  Grayling are the main food source for taimen in this watershed, and taimen will often come from nowhere and attack the grayling on the end of your line.  While wading, we often watch dozens of grayling casually sipping small hatches within a few feet of us.  The plentiful grayling are wonderful fun on a light rod.  Amazingly, even the grayling will nail small mouse patterns!