FLY-FISHING FOR WOLVES IN MONGOLIA

Mongolia is one of the most beautiful places on earth and believe me; I know about the subject of natural beauty because I work as a fishing guide in Patagonia and the Chilean Fjords, plus I live in Montana and yes, I have been to Glacier National park, twice. If you think this is not enough authority judging natural beauty, let me inform you that my wife has driven me (on the wrong side of the road) all over her native New Zealand.

So, if you are a fly-fishing enthusiast, hiker, visual artist, birdwatcher or just someone who enjoys nature, you should put a trip to Mongolia on the top of your list for next year’s early autumn.

I can say this with, recently acquired authority, because as of last week I was fighting 40 Inch Taimen (Hucho Taimen, the largest Salmonid in the world) and, dry-fly sipping, Lenok and Grayling on the Eg-Uur river in North-Western Mongolia.

The first thing that strikes you as soon as you get to the camp is the shear beauty of the place and its huge scale.  We had 75 miles of a gin-clear pristine river for only three anglers, a real and much appreciated luxury.

In reality the water available to us was even greater because the river has hundreds of smaller braids, some of them several miles long, most of which nobody has ever touched.

Everywhere you look strikes you as, well this is so difficult to describe but, the first thing that came to my mind was, and I am not under the influence of any hallucinogenic substance, living inside a National Geographic magazine. The bright autumn colors under perfect sunny weather, exacerbated the beauty of the surroundings and was beyond the limits of what I thought possible.

Adding to the beauty were the people.  Mongolians are extremely nice, happy and very proud of their country.  The camp’s staff was Mongolian, except for one US guide. They all worked hard to make us feel at home and to make sure the place ran like clockwork. Let me stress this point, we were really impressed by their punctuality and consistency.  Both guides went out of their way to put us into good fish and they managed to keep everyone very happy.

I know what I’m talking about when it comes to service & attention to detail. In Chile I run 4 fly-fishing operations, so my general view always has a rather considerable “behind the scenes” component, if you know what I mean.

To this point, I have not mentioned any details regarding the actual fishing experience, which is the reason many of you are reading this story but not to worry, I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I finish setting up the general context.

The cultural element of the trip is what makes it so special and cannot be overlooked. Consider that we were fishing in one of the most remote corners of Mongolia, but with a history of several thousands years. There were elements that impressed us all, particularly coming from America where anything over 100 years old is considered an archaeological relic worthy to be displayed at the Smithsonian.  

One afternoon we were invited to visit a sacred valley close to camp, located a short 20 min. drive (along what Mongolians call a “road”, but to us would hardly qualify as a trail) where our guide pointed out several burial mounds dated prior to Genghis Kahn’s era, which means anything over 800 years ago. Then he told us to walk along a trail that went slightly upwards towards a rock cliff. Soon we were in front of an enormous granite boulder, at least 30 feet in diameter, with inscriptions in archaic Tibetan carved by a Buddhist monk many years ago which went all around the rock.  It was a mantra or sacred Buddhist sentence carved 10 thousand times into the rock.  Did I mention that the view towards the valley below was also spectacular?

On another day we followed the river upstream for more than an hour, stopping to fish along the way, when the guide said, “Do you want to see the Blue Buda?”  Sure enough, on a large rock overlooking the river, we found an ancient painting of a Buda done in shades of blue, which to Buddhist is a sacred color depicting the heavens or sky. Feeling very spiritual, I immediately prayed to catch a fish right there but, not surprisingly, it was clear the fish had a more direct connection to god. 

We were happy anyway, the trip along the river was a worthy experience in itself, after every turn on the river you encountered the most beautiful natural scene you’ve ever seen, only to be proven wrong during the next 10 seconds. It was an aesthetic overdose.

We also passed several local Nomad camps along the river, at one of which we stopped to say hello, take pictures and to unload my stash of chocolate coins into the open hands of smiling kids who, to this day may be thinking a couple of extraterrestrial beings dressed in space suits from the Simms planet arrived riding the waters on a noisy craft and presented them with heavenly tasting confections. I hope we did not scar them for life or that we are now gods, perhaps even part of a new religion.

Taimen are hunters, the locals, very appropriately, call them “River Wolves”. The only difference would be that these fish don’t hunt in packs, which could be an entirely possible behavior. Anyway, these fish are voracious and it will help you to remember that one of their most common strategies is ambush.

Taimen mostly hunt fish but they will attack birds or mammals stupid enough to venture into slightly deeper waters. I have seen scientific papers with pictures of 5 lb. rodents coming out of Taimen’s stomachs. I also saw the lures locals use to catch them; the most common one is an 8 inch long cork cylinder covered with a ground squirrel’s skin and a couple of obscenely large treble hooks, it is fished dry in case you are taking notes.

To fish for Taimen you aim towards places were these fish could set an ambush, deep pools, drop offs were particularly productive, even ones where the current seemed to be coming in too fast or along steep banks. Seams, where two currents get together, are also productive.

Taimen are big and powerful, they may not run like a Salmon or Steel Head but they pull relentlessly so if you do not pull back and hard, you are going to be there for a very long time. A 36 inch Taimen took me to the backing twice and, the fight might have not taken that long but, I sure was glad it was over.

We fished with dries imitating semi-dead fish or small rodents, it was important that the fly disturbed the surface of the water creating a “v” shaped wave and a small splash. Wet flies imitated, you guessed it, fish. These were weighted, large and colorful; combinations of red, yellow and electric blue seemed to be good colors. Did I mention these flies were hard to cast? Well they were, so remember to take pauses in order to rest your arm during the day. Luckily this practice introduced me to one of the most interesting aspects of this fishing experience.

After a few of hours of Taimen fishing, when I was about to ask the guide for a well deserved pause, he suggested we fish for Lenok and Grayling using my much beloved 5 weight, medium action Winston rod. Oh how wonderfully familiar and pleasant it was to go back to dry fly-fishing for delicate sipping fish of a more “normal” size, not like atomic subs. It was like switching from big African game to Quail hunting.

Lenok and particularly Grayling, delicately sip insects, they’ve mastered the art of not disturbing the surface of the water while feeding on top. This makes it particularly challenging when fishing for rising fish in faster water but, not to worry, there is plenty of flat water.

A size 12 Adams parachute or the ever-trusty Royal Wulff worked wonderfully with a 4x tippet. Fish were abundant and cooperative. Grayling had an average size of 14 inches and 18 inches for the Lenok. The guide told us Grayling can grow over 20 inches and Lenok up to 30, my best Lenok was 23 inches, 16 for the Grayling.

When you come to Mongolia consider setting aside at least two half days to dry fly-fish for Lenok and Grayling with light tackle. Tell your guide to take you to a small side channel and to set you free to dry-fly fish upstream for an entire afternoon. It is bound to be one of the best dry fly-fishing experiences of your life and will complement so well with the exciting fishing for the ”River Wolf” making your trip a much richer experience. I sincerely belive that if there were no Taimen in the Mongolian rivers, anglers would be traveling there for the dry fly-fishing.

Not counting, the much appreciated Grayling and Lenok, everyone in our group: Mrs. Margaret (Peg) Keller, Mrs. Nancy Jane Reed (below left) & myself caught Taimen over 40 inches plus several in the 30-35 inch range, which are all very good fish but Peg was the undisputed champion with a 48-inch beauty (below).

ULAANBAATAR

The city of Ulaanbaatar, pronounced U·lan Ba·tor and meaning Red Hero, is the capital of Mongolia with approximately 1 million people, roughly 1/3 of the total population, will be your point of arrival and departure from Mongolia.

Here you will usually spend one night on both arrival and departure from camp and you must visit: The Gandan monastery, the oldest Tibetan-style Buddhist monastery in the city where you can participate in the actual ceremonies. It features an 87 ft-high statue of Migjid Janraisig, a Buddhist bodhisattva. Russian troops dismantled the original statue in 1938. After the end of the Soviet era, the statue was rebuilt in 1996, from donations by the Mongolian people. It features 2,286 precious stones and is gilded with gold leaf. This was one of the highlights of our visit to the city. Here you can have a glimpse of the local spiritual life and rich culture with endless photo ops.

One night we also went to a local folkloric dance and song performance, the show is one hour long and highly entertaining. The talented and professional artists, costumes, and typical instruments make this visit really worth the while.  Additionally, visits to the Historical Museum and the local Cashmere factory, where you can also purchase Yak and Camel knitwear, are definitely a must see.

BEIJING CHINA

Our flights to Mongolia stopped in Beijing so we decided it was a good idea to spend a few nights in Beijing visiting the city and some of its historical locations; Tiananmen square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven to name a few.  We booked a very nice hotel in a good central location, hired a local guide and driver who showed us around for three days.

It was wonderful. The scale of the sites was beyond imaginable, particularly the Forbidden City and The Great Wall. We visited a less popular, but non-the less impressive, section of the wall, which is a bit farther from the city. The trip there was also very interesting as we went through the outskirts of the city and then through the countryside and finally into the mountains. The landscape was pretty, with very lush vegetation.

Every day we ate at traditional restaurants where we enjoyed different styles of Chinese regional cuisine. We also visited several sections of the city with quaint markets and small shops, located on winding streets, filled with unique trinkets and art.  This was especially fascinating to me as I felt I was able to experience the “real” China.

We also visited the more tourist oriented, but non the less interesting, pearl market and a Jade jewelry factory. This add-on tour to Beijing is highly recommended.

Contact us to be part of our September 5 - 12, 2011 trip to Mongolia & China. Only 8 spaces available.

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Cristian Dufflocq Has been guiding anglers in Chile for the last 20 years and is also a partner of Andes Journeys, Llc., a travel agency specialized in fly-fishing travel, based in Missoula Montana. www.andesjourneys.com