It’s taken me awhile, but I feel like I’ve come to terms with what I am getting myself into each time I board the flight back to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. After nearly six years I’ve come to understand that the season—which runs generally from June through October—is going to be stressful, exhausting and, for the most part, wildly unpredictable. I often ask myself why I keep going back. 

Flyfishing for taimen is truly a pastime of the privileged—and the foolhardy. They are not a very accessible fish, and there are no guarantees even if you are lucky enough to find yourself floating over the top of them in a drift boat. You could say the same about simply spending time in a place like Mongolia, especially if you’re anything like me and were born in a strange and faraway land like Ohio. I’m lucky and I know it…

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above Khandsuren “Khandaa” Jigmed is not only the Mongolia River Outfitters camp manager but our camp mother. On this early morning she was bringing me charged batteries for my camera. I don’t know how she does it, but also it seems like she can do anything at any time.