While fishing Mongolia’s Eg River, Mark releases a Eurasian giant trout, or taimen, the world’s largest salmonid (which includes both trout and salmon). Once found over large areas of Russia, Mongolia, and China, taimen are threatened by overharvesting and habitat destruction. These fish are fierce predators that sometimes chase their prey in packs, a practice that earned them the nickname “river wolves.” They can be enormous, with particularly large specimens reaching two meters in length. This riverine behemoth is revered by many Mongolian Buddhists as the child of an ancient river spirit.
