Seven days floating through a very beautiful and remote stretch of the world’s first taimen Sanctuary. Cast for taimen, lenok, Amur trout and Amur Pike on a fresh stretch of river every day.
The Lower River is the most remote fishery in this already remote region, making vehicle access nearly impossible along much of the stretch. On Lower River trips, guests are accommodated in fully kitted ger camps for only the first and last evening. The remainder of the trip we have rustic camps outfitted with large, comfortable North-Face manufactured tents complete with cots. Each guest is provided with their own tent unless they prefer to share. The gear is transported in separate boats so that when we float into camp, the stoves are lit, dinner is served, and our bags and beds are waiting in a completely new location. All of the camps have simple shower facilities located in specially designed tents…same with the toilets. Both facilities are quite comfortable and private.
You will explore a new stream section every day without having to shuttle between camps. In the morning, you float with your guide directly from camp to fish fresh water and in the evening you arrive at the next downstream camp.
The pace is relaxed and you’ll have plenty of time to get out and wade interesting stretches with your guide. We’ve found it’s best to cover an average of twelve kilometers (eight – ten miles) of river each day. A hearty lunch is served stream-side each day and there are plenty of drinks and snacks on the boats.
With the “no drive” schedule, we spend our fishing time on the river rather than shuttling in a vehicle or motoring in a boat from a single camp to reach new water. Most clients – and guides – like to fish hard all day. If you want to quit early, it’s easy to float on into camp.
The river is wide and gentle. There are no rapids, but the flow is steady with loads of interesting features, including plenty of riffles and pools. We fish only the prime season when the water is generally very clear. However, gin clear water is not guaranteed. Wild taimen only survive in true wilderness. There are no dams and river flow may fluctuate substantially with the weather.
When the water is clear, we frequently spot cast for big fish, much like chasing tarpon on the flats. Over the period of the week, we generally hook progressively more and larger fish as everyone learns the secrets of taimen.
Besides the incredible fishing (of course) the healthy riparian habitat is good for wildlife. There are roe deer along the banks and moose, elk and bear on the upper and lower stretches. We occasionally see mink, sable and beaver. It’s very common to hear wolves in the evenings and just about every year someone spots one of these shy animals sometimes actually crossing the river. Birds are generally the highlight, including numerous raptors, swans and Baikal teal spotted along the forested river bottom.
Along the river journey, we will certainly encounter the unique Mongolian nomads. It’s a marvelous event, getting to see and interact with these amazing people and their ancient ways. Watching the nomads dressed in their traditional costumes while they gallop across the wide open spaces to their brilliant white gers sometimes feels like we have had an chance to step back in time.
At your request, we will make an impromptu visit to private Mongolian homes and in the evenings we might be lucky enough to have a few of the locals show up for a session of traditional singing and dancing.
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