Fish On!!!

Anyone that has tried to catch a trout in sub-freezing temperatures can attest to how difficult and at times how insanely stupid these piscatorial pursuits can be. Those fly fishermen whom choose to high stick an icy river pocket rather than hitting the ski slopes in January can relate, understand, and envision AEG’s October taimen quest. It was maddening at times!
Most mornings were spent thawing our fishing equipment from the previous day. Our reels froze solid, our flies were blocks of ice, and our waders and boots felt like they’d been soaked in a bath of epoxy. The only way to get into our waders and boots each morning was to soak them in a bath of boiling water.

At times it was hard to find motivation to fish, all you wanted to do was huddle around the fire and sip instant coffee. We were in a constant state of insomnia. Each night we froze and our feet eventually obtained the constant sensation of numbness for weeks on end.

It was depressing to looked at the river each morning, you couldn’t help but notice the huge flats of ice that lined the river banks and the seamlessly never ending flows of ice slush. The question of -How in the hell are we going to catch a taimen today??- continually ran through our minds.
Taimen fishing was tough enough without these adverse weather conditions. In the early stages of our trip we were taking fish off the surface with big gurgler patterns, but now we had to change our game with new techniques and fishing strategies.
In October taimen generally leave their summer feeding waters and concentrate in large, deep, slow moving wintering holes. We found the Taimen to be somewhat lethargic and unwilling to move on our 8” swung lenok patterns.
Luck turned in favor of AEG when we started tying enormous tube flies, some of which exceeding 16” in length!
With our Loop spey rods and SA Skagit heads we were able to overhand cast these giants flies across the river with surprisingly very little effort.
Taimen ferociously hammered our tube flies! Our fly tying supplies and selection of lengthy tying materials was running thin; we needed long feathers and hair to profile our fly patterns desperately! So we did what any desperate taimen fanatic might do, we decided to give a yak a haircut. I would love to tell you all about this experience but you’re going to have to wait for the movie release. I will say however that after removing a few dingle berries we had a handful of big smelly streamers patterns that worked.




In remote Northern Mongolia the luxury of enjoying a beer after a successful day on the river isn’t an option. Regardless, the celebration continued when our Mongolian horse packers journeyed deep into the backwoods each day in search of fermented horse milk vodka.
The Japanese call it the “Silent Killer”, while Brian calls it “Milk Shine”. Whatever this drink is labeled there’s always one guarantee, you won’t remember drinking it. It tastes like water with a spoiled plain yogurt after taste.
It’s hurting me to continue writing on this topic, so I’ll leave you with a picture of Thad vividly displaying his appreciation and liking for this fine Mongolian cocktail. YUK!!