Theres Lenok and Grayling too!
Its easy to forget that there’s much more to fishing in Mongolia than chasing Taimen. For starters Mongolia could be considered a world-class trout-fishing destination just for the abundance and size of its lenok. These are the Siberian equivalent of brown trout; they feed on prolific mayfly hatches and will readily take a dry fly or even a mouse pattern fished for Taimen.
Remember there are five-foot long predators in the water so it’s not uncommon for Taimen to attack a hooked lenok, or to gulp down the grayling you just released.
“Taimen are so powerful and elegant. Their coloration is marvelous. It is truly amazing to think that such a large, aggressive fish inhabits these rivers. Almost as astounding are the Lenok, or should I say the insistent nature of the Lenok. These fish don’t want to take a backseat to anyone. I’ve caught at least a dozen big Lenok that have attacked the mouse imitations intended for the Taimen. I reckon this is a pretty good problem to have.” Dan T. Cook, journal entry June 2007.
“Although our primary target was taimen, what I had not been prepared for was the eager lenok and grayling in the river. These were fantastic sport and I actually would do the trip just for them. The biggest we landed was 8 lbs or so, and they would readily take dry flies and nymphs – Chernobyl ants and stonefly patterns being the most productive. The lenok are dogged fighters and on light tackle will give you quite a fight. The grayling are beautifully marked with yellow bellies and blue fins.“ P.M. UK, Aardvark Mcleod Float Trip, September 2009
Grayling are also plentiful and there are several different species. Trying to catch all of the grayling species would take you on a fly fishing odyssey around Mongolia: from the Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters of the west for Mongolian Grayling; north to the Taiga and home of the Reindeer Herders for the strikingly colored gold-tailed newly classified species of Arctic Grayling; over the mountains to Lake Khovsgol for the endemic Black Grayling and east to the birthplace of Chinggis Khan on the Onon River for Amur Grayling.
