Dan Vermillion fighting a 60 inch Taimen on the first pioneering Taimen fly fishing expedition. Photo: www.SweetwaterTravel.com
Sweetwater Travel and the Vermillion brothers can lay claim to being the pioneers of taimen fly fishing operations in Mongolia. This photo of Dan Vermillion fighting a 60 inch taimen on their first exploratory trip is the image that launched both Sweetwater Travel as a fly fishing travel company, and Mongolia as a fly fishing destination. Sweetwater Travel with their Mongolian partners Hovsgol Travel continue to operate high end professional taimen fishing trips and jet-boat camps on Mongolia’s Eg-Uur river, and initiatiated the Eg Uur Watershed Taimen Conservation Project implemented though the Taimen Conservation Fund.
Other companies including Fish Mongolia and Mongolia River Outfitters now also offer equally professional guided fly fishing for taimen on float trips in Mongolia, and are equally commited to their own taimen conservation initiatives. These trips all come with an appropriate price tag, especially considering the logistics that go into them and the outfitters’ commitments to conservation. Several companies now offer cheaper trips but it is worth reading what Sweetwater travel have to say about some of the alternative trips.
Fishing in Mongolia has attracted an increasing amount of attention over the past several years. Today, there are several outfitters that can host you on a Taimen expedition to Mongolia. Unfortunately, most Mongolian outfitters do not practice catch and release and spend most of their time catering to European and American hardware fishermen who, although they may intend to release fish, end up killing large numbers of fish with their treble hooks. If you decide to fish with someone else, do not use outfitters whose website shows fish which are mishandled or are clearly dead.
Taimen.mn now offers a legitimate and more affordable alternative selection of Mongolia fly fishing options, simpler trips with basic services, yet still fully licenced and professionally organised fishing on good waters, using local camps and outfitters who have a strong conservation ethic. See our trip listings on this site for more details.
