Sichuan taimen: why we do not fish it

We never fish the Sichuan taimen. Hucho bleekeri, endemic to the plateau, is critically endangered: it appears on none of our trips and never will. Any accidental encounter ends in immediate release. It must not be confused with the Mongolian taimen (Hucho taimen), a distinct and far more widespread species.

What the Sichuan taimen is

The Sichuan taimen, Hucho bleekeri, is a large cold-water salmonid of the genus Hucho, endemic to the Yangtze basin in China. It holds a handful of high-altitude rivers and ranks among the most endangered freshwater fish in the country.

It is not the fish of the famous taimen trips. That is Hucho taimen, the Mongolian and Siberian species. The two share a genus, not a conservation status.

Why it is critically endangered

Hucho bleekeri has been listed Critically Endangered by the IUCN since 2012. An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 mature individuals remain, after a decline of 50 to 80 percent over the last three generations, and the species has lost close to 98 percent of its historic range since the 1960s.

The causes are documented: hydropower dams that fragment rivers and drown spawning grounds, soil erosion from deforestation, roads and sand mining, and illegal fishing. Since 2021 the Sichuan taimen has been a first-class protected species in China, the only salmonid at that level.

Where it lives

The species is endemic to tributaries of the Yangtze basin. It is found in the Min and Dadu rivers in Sichuan and Qinghai, and in tributaries of the Han River in Shaanxi, including the Taibai. These are cold, high-altitude waters, and its range has contracted to a few of them.

Why we never target it

Targeting a critically endangered species would be indefensible, and in many cases illegal. The Sichuan taimen is therefore never a target: our trips pursue only the species listed on each destination page.

This is an ethical stance as much as a legal safeguard, and a commitment to the anglers who trust us. It is also why an honest answer to taimen fishing Mongolia vs China sends you to Mongolia, not here.

Our no-kill charter

Every trip follows the same rule: systematic release, barbless hooks, fish kept in the water, target species announced in advance. Nothing is retained.

If you want to fish the plateau under those conditions, that is the subject of fly fishing Sichuan, where Schizothorax and white-spotted char, not the taimen, are the fish you pursue.