Yosemite National Park's pristine mountain lakes and well-stocked reservoirs stay open for fishing year-round, while its fast-moving streams and rivers generally open to anglers from late April through mid-November. California fishing regulations apply in the national park, but special restrictions limit the type of bait allowed in some areas.
Significance
Yosemite National Park's 761,268 acres in east central California represent one of the largest protected stretches of Sierra Nevada Mountain habitat. The World Heritage Site attracts more than three million visitors per year to its cliffs, forests, waterfalls and clear mountain streams.
The park's lakes and 58 streams stretch 770 miles and offer a wide variety of opportunities for sport or fly fishing, especially for rainbow and brown trout.
Types
Six native fish species populate the Merced River, including rainbow trout, California roach, Sacramento pikeminnow, hardhead, Sacramento sucker and riffle sculpin. Only the rainbow trout and sucker live in the higher elevations of Yosemite Valley.
Non-native fish species that have entered park waters, mainly through stocking in the late 19th and 20th centuries, include smallmouth bass, arctic grayling, brook trout, brown trout, golden trout and a rainbow-golden trout hybrid. Two species considered threatened by the federal government---Lahontan cutthroat trout and Paiute cutthroat trout---also populate Yosemite National Park waters.
Seasons
Stream and river fishing season in Yosemite National Park begins on the last Saturday in April and runs through Nov. 15. Frog Creek near Lake Eleanor, however, opens June 15 to protect rainbow trout spawning in the creek in earlier months. Protections in the Frog Creek area also limit fishing in the pool below the waterfall and parts of Lake Eleanor to June 15 through Nov. 15.
Regulations
Yosemite National Park abides by California's statewide fishing regulations, including requiring anglers over the age of 16 to obtain a fishing license. Additional requirements within the park include prohibiting using live or dead minnows or other bait fish, nonpreserved fish eggs or amphibians. The park also prohibits fishing from bridges and docks.
In the Yosemite Valley and El Portal areas, the park limits rainbow trout fishing to catch-and-release. Catching and keeping brown trout is limited to five per day. All anglers in those areas must use artificial lures with barbless hooks.
Recommendations
DNC Parks & Resorts, which operates lodging within Yosemite National Park, recommends the Tuolumne River at Hetch Hetchy for trout fishing. It also suggests the best fishing can be found at the park's lower elevations. The wild and scenic Merced River offers good fishing opportunities throughout the summer and into the winter.
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