The introduction of game fish into the waters of Yosemite National Park
began in 1878, 12 years before the area now confined within the park
boundaries had been set aside as a national reservation, when plants of
rainbow trout were made in some of the lakes in what is now the
northwestern corner of the park. In the following year plants of eastern
brook trout were made in the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River, and in
1880 plants of rainbow trout were repeated in the Lake Eleanor country.
Nothing more seems to have been done in the way of stocking any of the
waters that are now within the park until 1890, the year that the park
was created, when a general stocking of the streams and lakes was begun.
This was continued, at first intermittently, but from 1911 to 1925
plants of from 100,000 to 400,000 young fry were made annually. The
State hatchery was completed at Happy Isles in 1926 and from that year
from 500,000 to over 1,000,000 fry have been planted annually by the
rangers, with the result that today all of the principal lakes and
streams of the park contain one or more well-known species of game fish.
[Illustration: Landing a big one from Elizabeth Lake near Tuolumne
Meadows.]
It is in the northern canyons, however, that the greatest of all fishing
grounds in the entire park are found. Many of the waters of that great
area of 500 square miles or more north of the Tuolumne River were
stocked years ago with rainbow and eastern brook. Conditions for
continued propagation seem to have been exceedingly favorable, with the
result that practically all of the lakes and streams now teem with fish
life, and the fisherman who seeks fishing de luxe amid surroundings of
the most fascinating grandeur of high-mountain scenery will find here a
fulfillment of his most ambitious dreams and will be more than repaid
for having taken time to penetrate this portion of the park.
In Yosemite National Park few anglers, even the most inexperienced, use
bait during the summer or autumn. Of the various artificial flies the
California Royal Coachman almost always proves the best lure; gray and
brown hackles are also very good. Copper-nickel spinners of the sizes 0
to 2 are often taken in the lakes and sometimes in the streams when the
trout are not rising to flies.
The nine species of trout in the waters of the park, about in the order
of their relative abundance, are: Eastern brook trout, rainbow trout,
brown trout, Lock Leven trout, cutthroat or black-spotted trout, Tahoe
trout, steelhead trout, golden trout.
Information on the best lakes and streams for fishing may be obtained at
any ranger station or at park headquarters in the New Village. See
posted weekly bulletins.
Persons desiring to fish in the waters of Yosemite National Park must
secure a sporting fishing license, as required by the laws of
California. These laws provide that every person over the age of 18
years who obtains fish without first taking out a license is guilty of a
misdemeanor. The license fee for residents is $2; for nonresidents, $3;
and for aliens, $5. These licenses may be obtained from any county
clerk, from the State Board of Fish and Game Commissioners, Wawona, Carl
Inn, and Tuolumne Meadows, or at the general store in Yosemite Village.
All fishing must be done in conformity with the State laws regarding
open season, size of fish, and limit of catch.
[Illustration: This spacious museum houses park exhibits.]