Taimen.mn » The Taimen Diaries

AEG’s Fish Bum 1 – Mongolia

admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:21:00 +0000

Word is out that editing of AEG’s film Fish Bum I: Mongolia is complete, and the DVD is ready for release. You can order a copy at www.aegmedia.com . AEG put together a preview of the film, which is the result of a two month expedition to Mongolia in 2007 and over 200 hours of footage, for the Fly Fishing Film Tour. I’ve been lucky enough to make it to a few of the shows and it certainly seems that the Mongolia Taimen film is the biggest hit.

Along with Mongolia River Outfitters, Fish Mongolia helped to organize permits, logistics and river access for the Fish Bum crew. Mongolia simply isn’t the kind of place you can turn up and expect to be able to organize permits and local logistics yourself, more on that on my previous post about Mongolia Fishing licences.

Mongolian guide, Auggie, from MRO filming from the saddle.

There’s been a conservation theme to the film tour this year, with several films about the proposed Bristol Bay mine, and its fair to say that Mongolia is faced with many of the same conservation issues as Mongolians are now trying to work out how to develop their rich gold deposits and at the same time protect their pristine rivers. If you like what you see in the film and want to see and Fish Mongolia yourself; supporting responsible outfitters such as Fish Mongolia, Sweetwater Travel or Mongolia River Outfitters will also be supporting the conservation of these amazing taimen fisheries.

Fish Bums, Brian Jill, Thad Robison, Chris Owens, and Auggie, exploring Northern Mongolia’s Taimen rivers with Fish Mongolia

more on AEG’s Mongolia Taimen fly fishing exploration

Mongolia Taimen Fishing Permits

admin — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:35:00 +0000

A word about fishing licenses in Mongolia.

Mongolian Sport Fishing permit (note its the same special hunting permit that you would need to hunt big game).

We are often asked if it’s possible to fish independently in Mongolia, and how to get fishing permits. Well the short answer is that its simply not possible. The long answer is a little more complex: for outfitters to get permits we need to have contracts with the local Soum authorities, which must be approved by the regional Aimag Governor. Then we can go to the Ministry of Nature and Environment to apply for our catch and release Taimen permits. All foreign tourists must have an official permit from the Ministry of Nature and Environment, only residents can get a permit to fish for ‘household’ purposes from the local soum village centres. These regulations apply even if you are fishing for Lenok and Grayling, not just Taimen, the only exception is in a couple of National Parks or Special Protected Areas where you can get a permit from the Park Office.

The procedure seems simple enough, but it effectively excludes independent travelers from fishing legally; and for the outfitters it means an incredible amount of work liaising with local authorities and communities, and dealing with bureaucracy. In addition the most responsible outfitters also invest significantly in local community and conservation projects.

We know this system isn’t ideal, but as a responsible outfitter we have to play it by the book. We urgently need a more effective system to manage and protect the fisheries including catch and release only for Taimen. Sport fishing regulations and laws relating to Taimen conservation in Mongolia are under review and we are expecting revisions to the current regulations in March 2008, we’ll keep you posted here.

Four years of sport fishing permits (note its a group permit, not an individual permit)

There are a few dodges that are taken by less scrupulous tour operators or just plain ignorant independent travelers; namely making arrangements locally with the Soum Governor or ranger, and not bothering with the rest of the licensing procedure or Ministry of Nature and Environment permits. Some do get away with it, but its still illegal, and if you in inadvertently turn up where there is an active conservation project, ranger patrol, or a legitimate outfitter defending their ‘patch’ you could find yourself in a lot of trouble, at the very least you might have spent a lot on money on flights and in-country travel only to get chucked off the river.

So what are we doing?

We are actively involved in conservation on the rivers we fish. To us that means working closely with the local community to support and encourage their own conservation efforts; helping them out with community projects, and exploring ways that they can benefit from our eco-tourism operation. In return they are helping us to protect the fishery. Lets just say they get very annoyed at anglers who just turn up without their approval.

On the regulation side of things we try to participate in all the Ministry of Environment policy consultations and Taimen conservation discussions in Ulaanbaatar; we also submit an annual report to the Ministry on our own fly fishing and conservation activities. We advocate ideas including catch and release only for Taimen, a simpler more inclusive permitting system, zoning of fisheries to include both public access for Mongolians and visitors, and more exclusive zones such as community-based ‘concessions’ where the local community hold the fishing rights and have an incentive to protect the river through partnerships with outfitters.

Our message here is this: if you want to go fishing in Mongolia, you need a permit, and you’ll need to book your trip through a reputable outfitter.

Fly Fishing Film Tour

admin — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:39:00 +0000

AEG’s Fly Fishing Film Tour rolled into Seattle on Thursday, just as I landed stateside from Mongolia. Now adjusting to the culture shock after enduring another brutal Mongolian winter.

Heads up. The AEG Mongolia Taimen Film is looking awesome and is set for release on DVD early March, judging by the clap-o-meter at the show its going to be a big hit.

AEG’s Fish Bum 1: Mongolia, on the silver screen in Seattle

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year

admin — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:59:00 +0000

Happy Holidays!

We just got a nice christmas card from AEG media, and thought we would share it with you. The AEG boys are busy editing the forthcoming Mongolia Taimen film, and the Fly Fishing Film Tour marketing machine is now rolling.

And a little joke at Chris Owens expense…

Fishing with the Trout Bums Part V- Taimen Time Again

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:19:00 +0000

Hey isn’t this supposed to be a fly-fishing film… wheres the fish?

Well, theres a 50 incher sitting right there

Finally the ice thaws and trout bums start catching some beefy taimen

Even Thad gets one, but you’ll have to wait for the film to see more

Special thanks to Brunton for powering my daily espresso kick start

Fishing with the Trout Bums Part IV- Finding Thad

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:06:00 +0000

Thawing out Patagonia wading boots. Too cold to fish, I’m off to find Thad

No sign of Thad, but I find a local friend stirring a barrel of fermented yak’s milk

Are you trying to tell me this is a Yak milk vodka still?

Yak’s milk vodka… the boys are going to love this round the campfire

A refreshing milk drink for anyone?

And at last we find Thad

4 of 5 click here for the final post on Trout Bums in Mongolia

Fishing with the Trout Bums Part III – The Big Freeze

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:54:00 +0000

First blizzards of the winter – Wrangler Megma is undeterred

The Fish Mongolia Cavalry braves the weather, while Trout Bums take shelter in a cow shed

A snowy dawn

And a freezing river

Brian inspects his frozen taimen flies

Did we loose Thad in the blizzard?

3 of 5 click here for the next instalment

Fishing with the Trout Bums Part II – The Adventure Begins

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:30:00 +0000

The ‘Loop Army‘ truck gets some stickers

The adventure begins – this camel got sponorship from loop

Justin gets friendly with his horse

Fly Fishing commences; Justin gets spey casting

Purev spots a pack of taimen

Filming commences

A sign of things to come – the foam starts to freeze

But where’s Thad?

2 of 5 Click here for the next Trout Bum Taimen story

Fishing with the Trout Bums Part I – Taimen Time

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:03:00 +0000

The end of our Taimen fly fishing season, saw the arrival of the Angling Exploration Group at our camp in Northern Mongolia. AEG are the revolutionary fly-fishing film makers who produced the Trout Bum Diaries series – part one: Patagonia, and part two: New Zealand. Now time for part three – Mongolian Taimen, aka River Wolf.

We assisted the crew in organizing the ultimate taimen fly-fishing adventure; camels, horses, blizzards, frozen rivers, big trucks, yak milk products, and of course big taimen. Here’s a few photos of their recent adventures.

Chris Owens – Fish Bum with a camera

Brian Jill - Trout Bum Photographer – wins best beard award

Justin Crump – lost a bit of weight since Trout Bum Diaries New Zealand

Auggie – Mongolian fly-fishing guide and crew member – saves the team on several occasions.

Oops, where’s Thad?

1 of 5 click here for the next story on the Trout Bum Diaries in Mongolia

A Record Taimen Season

admin — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 04:19:00 +0000

It’s been an outstanding season for records at Fish Mongolia this year. Our previous record Taimen on the fly was caught right in front of camp in September 2006 by Sam Wakerley on his second Taimen fly-fishing trip with us; this Taimen was estimated at around 54 inches (137cm).

Sam Wakerley with 54 inch Taimen, September 2006. Photo: Oliver Hearsey

The first week of September 2007 saw perfect water conditions, and exceptional Taimen fishing. James Schaefer joined a group of five anglers from Hong Kong with Tom Gorman on a fly-in float trip. The first day of the trip saw James land five Taimen up to 45 inches; an incredible day and sign of things to come. The week continued with Taimen on the bite. Mid-week we floated over the ‘drop pool’ and the other Jim on the trip hooked and lost a monster. Next morning James hiked back up from our overnight camp and persistently surfed a gurgler down that same rapid. Result; a 55 incher (140cm) hooked landed and released. Unfortunately James didn’t manage to get a photo, but we do believe him .

James Schaefer with a 20 lb taimen. Photo: Chinzorig

But believe it or not James’ record lasted only a week. The following week saw a group from Planet Fly-fishing in France, and including Japanese artist Yoshi. This was Yoshi’s fourth Taimen fishing trip; he had already been to Mongolia twice, too other camps, and once to Russia in search of big Taimen. Unfortunately his efforts had been frustrated, and while he had caught Taimen, the big ones had eluded him. Yoshi was desperate to catch a monster Taimen.

Yoshi hooks a big taimen. Photo: Andy Parkinson

We thought we got off to a good start. Yoshi hooked a very respectable taimen of around 50 inches and played it to the bank. The next thing we knew, Yoshi was sat on the bank crying, with only a lenok on his line. What had happened? Well it seems that Lenok was the one that took Yoshi’s fly, only to be immediately swallowed by the big Taimen. And that big taimen not wanting to give up his meal, fought like he was hooked; only when he was in the shallows did he regurgitate the lenok and swim off. Yoshi was left with a very unhappy lenok, still covered in Taimen digestive juices.

Yoshi with an unhappy Lenok, straight from the belly of the beast. Photo: Andy Parkinson

Not one to give up easily, the next evening after a tough days fishing, Yoshi walked up to the home pool at camp for an extra hour fishing at dusk; prime time for big fish. This time the God’s smiled upon him. He hooked, played and landed the biggest Taimen in the river: and he did this solo. The Taimen measured 150.5cm against his rod, that’s just under 60 inches, nearly as tall as Yoshi himself.

150 cm Taimen, Rod; G. Loomis GLX 15ft 10/11 wt. Photo: Yoshi

Photo: Andy Parkinson

On the subject of records, we can only guess at the weights of these Taimen, as we don’t net or weigh them, and we certainly don’t kill any; all our Taimen fishing is strictly catch and release, and we take great care in handling the fish. You won’t see any of these Taimen being submitted for IGFA tippet class records; although we are sure some would qualify. We’ll leave IGFA records to be subject of another blog post.

Yoshi returns the Taimen to the river. Mission accomplished. Photo: Yoshi.