About Mongolia River Outfitters

Mongolia River Outfitters provides guided fly-fishing adventures for Taimen, Amur trout, and lenok from our private camps located in the Mongolian wilderness.  Our access agreements allow us to offer a few guests each autumn nearly two hundred miles of blue ribbon fly-fishing water.  We have run extraordinary Mongolia adventures since 1993 and fly-fishing adventures since 1999.  Our highly experienced guides and camp staff are some of the best in the business.

With phenomenal numbers of large Amur trout and Mongolian lenok, this may be some of the planet’s best trout fishing.  But in this fly-fishing sanctuary, a sunny afternoon drifting hoppers to dozens of twenty-inch trout is only a bonus.  The object of desire for most anglers is the exotic taimen.  Watching these massive salmonids explode the surface of a wild Mongolian river to hammer a well-presented fly is unquestionably one of the world's most incredible angling experiences.

Remarkably, the fishing improves every year. Anglers commonly net more than thirty large trout in a single day, all on a hopper. We usually catch and release several hundred taimen each season. On a typical week, most taimen will measure in the thirty inch range and several will come in over forty inches (1m). Taimen in the fifty to sixty inch bracket (1.5 m) are the river’s largest and most elusive.

Diligent stewardship helps keep the taimen and trout fishing this good.  We’ve worked for over a decade to conserve these streams and formed a conservation partnership with six county governments and WWF to designate the entire river system as the world’s first Taimen Sanctuary.   Protected specifically for taimen, these waters are the only in Mongolia designated “catch and release“ for all anglers and “fly-fishing only“ for all international anglers. Within the two hundred mile sanctuary, the use of treble hooks, motorboats, construction of permanent tourism infrastructure, introduction of hatchery fish, commercial forestry and mining are each prohibited.

We run trips only during early autumn.  Mongolia’s fishing season officially opens June 15 and the rainy season is July – August.  By late August the rivers are clearing and the fishing is peaking.  By the end of October, Mongolia is starting to get too cold for fishing. 

Every year we establish a string of well-appointed camps along the river. On upper river trips, guests are accommodated in ger (yurt) camps with vehicle support.  On the more remote lower river float trips, guests are accommodated in very comfortable tent camps.  The camps are each dismantled at the end of the season, leaving no trace.

The taimen and trout fishing is a combination of drift and wade, much like spending a day on the Yellowstone. Each day on the river, anglers and guides float directly from camp to fish fresh water.  Upon arrival at the next downstream camp, the staff has your bags waiting, the bed made, the fire lit and dinner prepared.  This “no drive” schedule maximizes fishing time, allows guests to explore a variety of water without shuttling, and keeps the river fresh. Every section of river is usually fished only a few days each per year.

We have a departure limit of six - eight anglers and generally offer fewer than six trips per year. Seasonal angler numbers are kept low to maintain the river, the fish and the experience. Many guests return each year to fish with us. 

If you're interested, please contact us. We're more than happy to send additional information and/or set up a time to call you and talk about the trips.