Fly & Spin
Our Mongolia taimen fishing trips are mostly promoted as fly-fishing only. However, we recognise that some anglers may like to both fly-fish and spin, or there may be some members of your party who have never fly-fished and would prefer to spin. Whether fly or spin the important thing to note is that we allow single hook, barb-less or de-barbed, lures only and taimen fishing is strictly catch and release. This is not only important for the protection and conservation of the taimen fishery, but also important for our relations with the local communities.
Spinning rods, tackle and lures
• Medium-heavy rod (for casting lures between 15-45g or 35-100g).
• Medium-light rod (for casting lures between 10 and 35g).
• Strong spinning or bait-casting reel with adjustable drag (spool needs to take 150 to 200m of line).
• 20lb to 30lb braided line for Taimen.
• Leader mono, wire traces, swivels.
• Single hook ‘Mepps’ spinners (#1 to #5) – bring a selection of colours but the black with chartreuse spots is a must
• ‘Storm lures’ (single hook 4” to 6” trout and shad patterns) – soft rubber lures with a single hook
A wide range single-hook Mepps are available, and we also recommend soft Rubber baits, such as Storm Lures, with a single hook as a good alternative to Rapalas. Its better to bring single hook lures, but you can also change the hooks on other lures such as Rapalas; it helps to attach the single hooks with a swivel and extra split ring, or a short piece of braid, this results in a better hook up rate. Alternatively try fishing a fly with a ball float on your spinning rod.
The following article sums up our policy.
Treading lightly by John Bailey
From http://www.fishandfly.com/ Mar 7, 2007
Without a shadow of a doubt, my near annual trip to Mongolia is always the highlight of my fishing year. The country remains pristine, the people (outside Ulan Bataar) all but uncorrupted and the fishing (generally for taimen) gloriously unspoilt. But, as ever, there are problems. The taimen is a big, aggressive predator and can be caught on fly, lure and bait. And, as you’d expect, that’s roughly the order of importance. As a result, if an angler has invested heavily in the trip, is struggling and is beginning to feel desperate then the temptation to whack a dead grayling on a couple of big trebles and fish one of the slow pools is enormous. Trouble is, the taimen can open its mouth as wide as a tunnel and swallow such a bait within seconds. As I’ve seen on several sad occasions in the past, a taimen caught on a grayling is frequently a dead taimen.
Now, as it happens, over the past year or two I’ve met up with the absolutely excellent Andy Parkinson who runs an operation out there called Fish Mongolia. Andy has all the right objectives. Yes, he aims to take first world fishermen out to Mongolia but also to teach them the culture and reinforce respect for the people, the landscape and the fish. He’s involved in endless worthwhile projects to benefit Mongolian communities and he sees himself as much more than an angler out to make a dollar or two. He’s absolutely passionate about Mongolia and the good that he is doing out there is tangible. So it was interesting when a couple of British anglers enquired about a possible trip with me and Andy together and whether spinning was allowed. I put the question by email to Andy and, with his permission, here is an only marginally edited reply…
“Glad you asked for this is something we need to discuss.
“Our preference is for fly fishing. Spin and fly is okay if only single hook lures are used. We are very strict on careful catch and release, without handling the fish by its gills, or hauling it out on the bank.
“Absolutely no treble hooks are permitted. I have seen trebles take out the taimen’s eyes, and get snagged in gills. Not only does that upset me, it upsets the local herders who we are trying to work with, and they have complained to us about anglers (not our clients) who they have seen putting back injured fish.
“We did find lower hook up rates when we changed to single hook lures. This can be solved by putting the single hook on a swivel or short piece of braid. Better still use soft rubber baits with a single hook … like Storm lures, or use single hook Mepps. We can supply Mongolian-made mice, rigged with single hooks.
“Personally, I started out by fishing for taimen with a spinning rod and gradually moved over to preferring fly-fishing as I developed my skills and confidence, and developed my own taimen flies.
Impossible to fault. All I can add is that single hooked flies are just as significant as single hooked lures. And ethics in our fishing should always be important, especially in a land as untouched as Mongolia. To wreak havoc out there damages our reputation and our dignity. As far as care of the fish goes, all I would add is that the wilder any fish is, the more imperative it becomes not to take it from the water at all, if conceivably possible. No wild fish likes to be hooked and played but it’s arguably when the fish is removed from the water that the real damage begins. Virtually everyone wades the Mongolian rivers and it should be possible to flip out a single hook when the fish comes beaten into the shallows. Unhooking a fish is just as important as hooking it in the first place!
