• I am pretty sure that I will be away from internet access for this Mongolia trip, so unless you hear any more here, all of you have a good couple of weeks. I fly out to Mongolia tomorrow (Sunday), and if all goes to plan we should be on the river sometime on Tuesday. I can not wait to see this country and its people, and every single fisherman I know who has been there raves about it. The fish (taimen, an ancient salmon species, plus the local trout "lennok", grayling etc.), the locations, the rivers, the people, the culture etc.
  • I am really hoping that I get a bit of a chance to photograph some stuff around the actual fishing, just like in Bolivia the other day. What I would also kill to see are some huge blue skies framing a pristine wilderness and a stunning river, and the fact that it is going to look so different to the intimate nature of the rivers in Bolivia makes it all the more appealing. I love to get the chance to push my photography down different avenues.
  • I am all packed and ready to go - never had to take a sleeping bag along on a fishing/photo trip before, and that damned thing takes up half my bag !! Still, if the nights get really cold, I bet I am going to love the fact it's so warm. Also packed are some felt-soled wading boots and breathable waders. I am more and more impressed with the Hardy EWS MK2 felt wading boots (see here), indeed they did me seriously proud over some brutal terrain out in Bolivia when we were wet wading all the time. Felt soles are the only option for this kind of work. Now they are going to get another beasting in Mongolia, together with the new Hardy EWS MK2 breathable waders (see here) - it will take a lot for me to like a pair of waders more than my current favourites, the Greys Platinum ones that have been doing really for a long time now. We shall see.......but I still reckon the cheap Greys G-Series breathable waders represent about the best overall value for money you are going to find at the moment - and especially for the tough work we put them through when mobile shore fishing for bass. Any further findings when I get back, plus a bunch of photos of course.
  • All you bass anglers out there - please smash a few fish for me while I am away, and then when I get back there should be a bit of time for me to get out and do a bit of damage myself. As always, I have a few different lures here to go and try out, and I need an excuse to "see if they work" !! More plans to head back over to Ireland as well.
  • In the meantime, here are a couple of links to some short videos that have been shot out in Bolivia on the rivers we were on the other day - they will give you more of an idea of how insane the fly fishing is. Check here for the first clip, and then here for the second one. And then if you can do this fishing, talk to Aardvark McLeod about booking a trip. Those few days we spent on those clear jungle rivers will live with me forever. A bunch of my photos from that trip are on the Fishing Pictures page of this website, down the bottom.