About our trips and what to expect
Participant Qualifications
These are trips for enthusiastic and adventurous fly-anglers. This is remote angling at its best; you need to be reasonably fit, active and healthy. More experienced anglers generally catch more fish, likewise effort is usually rewarded by more opportunities for taimen.
We can accommodate less experienced or even novice anglers, but you need to have reasonable expectations of the fishing and your own ability; we suggest you choose a guided trip where you’ll benefit from the instruction of one of our American guides.
There’s no age limit and we have had guests of 80 years old; but if you are over 60 please arrange for us to call you to discuss the trip to ensure that it’s suitable for you.
What to Expect
It’s fair to say that our Mongolia fly-fishing trips are more adventurous than you would expect of other popular international fly-fishing travel destinations. For trips involving overland travel, expect poor road conditions on un-made jeep tracks. Overland travel can be tiring and arduous, even short trips of one or two hours from the landing strip to camp can be uncomfortable for some.
What is hardest to convey is the experience; Mongolia is a rewarding destination to visit and to fish, although not without its challenges of logistics, rugged environment and variable weather. We are able to provide a surprising level of comfort and organization under challenging conditions, but you should still be prepared for an adventure.
The camps are simple and remote: we believe our service and catering to be as good as, or much better than, most other Mongolian camps and lodges; but there are limits to what can be realistically achieved, so don’t expect a luxury lodge. Do expect a well-organized trip and a unique experience.
About Us
Fish Mongolia is a Mongolian-based company and licensed Mongolian tour operator, run by Andy Parkinson, a British conservationist who has been living and working in Mongolia since 2000. In the winter Andy heads up the office team in Ulaanbaatar, while in the summer he relocates to the river as camp manager and head guide. We have agreements for fishing on three river systems in the Khovsgol region of Northern Mongolia, where we work closely with the local communities on conservation and community initiatives.
We have agents in the UK, US and Australia, who will be pleased to help arrange your fly-fishing trip to Mongolia; you can also book direct with us in Mongolia. For specific Taimen fly-fishing related queries please contact us, if you want to chat over the phone Andy Parkinson can schedule to call you from Mongolia.
Private & custom trips
We are able to arrange private or custom trips for small groups. Please contact us to discuss your ideas and requirements.
Private groups may also charter a Russian MI8 Helicopter to reach the most remote and pristine rivers, but bear in mind that helicopter charters cost in the region of $2000 per hour. The only helicopters operate out of Ulaanbaatar, necessitating flight times of 4 to 5 hours to the rivers, so that’s $15,000 to $20,000 per round trip.
Private Cessna Grand Caravan charters are around half the price of helicopters, but limited to certain landing strips and 8 passengers. It’s around $7000 per flight to our camps, so that’s $14,000 to be flown direct to camp from Ulaanbaatar and then collected a week or so later to be flown back to Ulaanbaatar.
How to Book
Please contact us for more details, itineraries, and trip application forms. We’ll be happy to call you to discuss your trip ideas, or can put you in touch with one of our agents for booking.