The fishing season in Mongolia officially opens on June 15th. Some companies operate a spring season from mid-May, but this is controversial and we are unable to get official permits until mid-June. Fortunately on the rivers we fish the mid June opening coincides with the post-spawning period when the Taimen begin feeding aggressively.
Over the past five years our ‘spring’ season has given us our most exceptional Taimen fly-fishing. If the water is low and clear Taimen hit hard on the surface, taking anything from stimulators to large mouse patterns, and in these conditions it is often possible to fish to sighted Taimen. There is a higher risk of rain and flooding during this period; one exceptional year out of the last five the river flooded on several occasions through June and July but if conditions are good we can experience the best fly-fishing in Mongolia.
The ‘fall’ season in September is generally considered to be the prime fishing season in Mongolia; the weather is normally sunny, with clear and falling water. This is autumn in Mongolia when the herders are out hay cutting and the larch trees turn golden. It gets progressively colder through the month, with hard frosts at night and the chance of snow by the end of the month; the drop in water temperature seems to make the Taimen more active and triggers aggressive feeding. On some lower altitude rivers the fishing season can extend through to the first two weeks of October.
We normally take a break from fishing from late July through August, as hot weather will make the Taimen less active and there is an increased flood risk. On lowland rivers the fishing can be disappointing during the heat of July and August, but recently we have been fishing some of the upland rivers through this summer season and provided the rivers do not flood we have found excellent fly fishing in the headwaters.
