Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite High Country)
Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP · near Tuolumne Meadows / Lee Vining · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Only after Tioga Pass opens (late May–early July) through fall; July–Sept the realistic window
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) — national-park waters still require a state license. Access depends entirely on Tioga Pass (Hwy 120), closed by snow ~Nov–late May/June.
What is here
- Features
- Wild trout in a granite postcard · Meandering meadow river · Brookies in high tributaries · Walk-and-wade solitude
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- high-sierra
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Fly · Spin
- Boat
- shore
- Target species
- Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
- Intl tip
- Manage expectations — fish are wild but often small (8–12 in), and the season is brutally short. Approach the clear meadow water low and slow; check Tioga Pass status before committing.
The guide
Above the crowds of the Valley, Tuolumne Meadows offers some of the Sierra's most scenic wild-trout fishing — the Lyell and Dan…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite High Country) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.876, -119.351