When Mongolians fish for taimen, a gigantic river fish indigenous to neighboring Siberia, they often forgo regular bait and toss a mouse or ground squirrel in the water instead. "I have a friend who uses his child's teddy bear," says Jeff Liebert, who has run fishing tours in Mongolia since 1994. "He ripped off the arms and legs and covered it with hooks." Not exactly the standard rod-and-reel routine, but then, fishing in Mongolia is anything but routine.

Despite its landlocked status, Mongolia's many deep water lakes and rivers are teeming with fish, particularly during September and October. Besides taimen, a distant relative of the Atlantic salmon, anglers vie for lenok (a type of trout), grayling and pike, among others. Top places to fish include the Selenge river near the Russo-Mongolian border, the Chuluut river and Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur (or Great White Lake) in Arkhangai, the Kharaa river in Darkhan-Uul and the Orkhon river in Overkhangai. Khovsgol offers some of the country's best fishing, especially at Lake Khovsgol, on the Shiishigt, Egiin, Delger Moron and Ureen rivers and at the point where the Chuluut, Selenge, Delger Moron, Bugsei and Ider rivers converge.

Fishing tours can be booked through most Mongolian travel companies or arranged independently. "Afishionados" should take note of catch-and-release rules, particularly for the dwindling taimen population, and be sure to buy fishing permits in the local town before hitting the water.

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