Fishing seasons
The fishing season in Mongolia legally opens on June 15th and closes November 1.
The June opener coincides with the post-spawning period. This is when taimen and trouts are begin feeding aggressively. Taimen hit hard on the surface striking anything from stimulators to large mouse patterns.
We normally take a break from taimen fishing in late July and focusing on trouts mainly. Of course, rain can happen anytime. However, mid-summer is historically when the risk of rain and blown out water is highest.
Autumn comes early to this part of Mongolia. Trout Mongolia’s fall season starts in August and runs through September. This is when Mongolia prepares for winter. The herders are busy cutting hay, trees are golden, and the fish are feeding like crazy. This is generally considered to be Mongolia’s prime fishing season. Although perfect weather and water conditions are never guaranteed, the skies are normally bright and sunny with crystal clear water conditions.
By September, nights have hard frosts. You might experience a snow flurry, bright sunny “short sleeve” weather or both in the same day. Regardless, the drop in water temperature certainly seems to activate the taimen. You can see them moving towards the deeper pools. This is when the fish go through their last bout of aggressive feeding before winter. Watching a taimen charge a fly in gin clear water after a stealthy presentation is quite an experience. The weather might be chilly, but Mongolia’s fall colors are beautiful, the ger fires are warm, and the fishing can be epic.
Our Trout Mongolia season wraps up by the end of September. If you want to fish in September and October, head over to eastern Mongolian rivers. This river is located at a lower altitude three hundred miles (500 kilometers) to the east. Over there, the fishing season starts in September and can easily extend through mid-October.
We work hard to select the best times for weather and water. However, these are truly wild and remote rivers susceptible to flow fluctuations. Precipitation can come at any season on these wild rivers and weather has become increasingly difficult to predict.