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Delger River

Want to target the world’s largest salmonids?

Drift-boat fishing for taimen is a spectacular experience, and the Mongolian guiding agency Fish Mongolia are among the premier guides and taimen conservation vanguards specializing in this type of fishing. They offer fishing licenses and travel packages to the far-flung and desolate Hövsgöl region with a week’s worth of drift-boat fishing, where a new stretch of river, embedded into the most pristine and grand wilderness surroundings imaginable, is explored each day for seven days.

US outfitter, Fish Mongolia, has fly-fished in Mongolia for over three decades. They offer outstanding services, wonderful fishing, and conservation leadership. Their adventures are promoted and trusted by the world’s most respected fly-fishing agencies.  And they are Asia’s first and only Orvis-Endorsed Outfitter. Travel+Leisure recently honored Fish Mongolia with a Global Vision Award for level of service and commitment to communities and conservation.

Species

Most anglers arrive seeking taimen, but quickly realize that Mongolia also boasts exceptional fly fishing for trout and grayling. 

Lenok (Brachymystax lenok)
Lenok are found throughout Mongolia. They are a wonderful and ancient trout with silvery bodies, bright red bands, and black spots. Most fly caught Mongolian trout come in between 14 – 20 inches, but fish well over 20 inches are landed each season.

Grayling (Thymallus)
Mongolia has four species of grayling. The Amur grayling found in this river are typically small (less than 10 inches). They’re found in pockets of fast water with schools actively feeding on tiny hatches. If you specifically want large grayling, the Fish Mongolia operation is your spot. 

Asp (Pseudaspius leptocephalus) 
Asp are sometimes called freshwater tarpon due to their bright silver bodies. Asp typically hang out in back eddies where they feed on smaller fish. They are fun to catch and beautiful to see. Asp have thick bodies and often measure between 18 – 25 inches.

Taimen (Hucho Taimen)
Most taimen to the fly on the Delger River measure between 30 – 40 inches (.75 – 1 meter).  Many taimen over 40 inches (1m) are caught and released every season. Some exceeding 50 and sixty inches (1.25 – 1.5 m) are also caught every year.  A fish this big could be as much as fifty years old. 

The Gear

For taimen, you’ll want to bring a 9′ 10-weight paired with a solidly-braking fly reel spooled with a floating line. Also bring along a sinking line in case you’ll need to dig deeper for the fish. For lenok and grayling a 9′ 5 or 6-weight will do the trick. As for flies, you’ll need 15 – 30 centimeter baitfish imitations, a few surface flies that imitate mice, as well as some miscellaneous nymphs, dry flies and streamers. 

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