My friend Bill let out a whoop and shouted, “Good luck in making it to Mary Lake!” He was referring to the fact that the very cooperative rainbow trout at Tilden Lake were proving to be a major distraction and impediment to our original plan of trekking three miles cross-country to Mary Lake to fish for golden trout. I understood exactly what he meant as a rainbow rose 30 feet away on the lake to devour my dry fly and began stripping out line on my overmatched 3-weight rod.
We were on the fourth day of our twelve-day trek from Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows, a distance of 72 miles, along the Pacific Crest Trail. This remote area of Yosemite National Park was living up to everything I had dreamed it would be in my several decades of contemplating this route: sublime high-Sierra scenery, few other people, and trout-filled lakes and streams. Thanks to last year’s record winter snowfall, even in late August the meadows were blanketed with colorful wildflowers and the streams were filled with rushing water. It was spring in the high country, and most of the other hikers were gone.
There is a reason why one encounters so few other people in this high-Sierra paradise with abundant trout: it takes two to three days of strenuous hiking from any direction to reach the far northern boundary of Yosemite, thus requiring at least a week to complete a round-trip journey and leave sufficient time to explore its plentiful fishing opportunities. In our case, we were allocating almost two weeks to explore the region thoroughly. As Wallace Stegner wrote in Crossing into Eden, “Nothing superlative or enchanting should be easily accessible.” That dictum certainly holds true in this rugged country.
The group I was leading had a distinct advantage in accessing this area: we had hired a pack station to haul our gear on mules, leaving us to walk with light day packs to our daily destinations. Although I had done lots of backpacking in my earlier days, I retired my backpack years ago and have used mule-assisted trips as a way to extend my enjoyment of wilderness areas.
I planned three layover days in our itinerary so that we would have ample time at the most productive lakes: Dorothy, Tilden, and Smedberg. Although these lakes supposedly harbored good fishing, I could find very few recent reports or articles about the fishing in this remote wilderness. The only way to find out would be to go there myself.
Yosemite’s Resilient Trout
Although the opportunity to catch trout is one of the reasons why I and many other anglers visit the high-Sierra backcountry, the fact is that the most common fish we pursue (rainbow, brook, and brown trout) are invasive species. Most of the high-country lakes along the Sierra Crest were completely devoid of fish because of the steep gradient and waterfalls that blocked fish for millennia from migrating into the higher altitudes in the mountains. (The golden trout of the southern Sierra are the best-known exception to this generalization.) The trout that live in these lakes were first introduced by miners and other early European explorers in the decades after the Gold Rush as a food source or for recreation. The stocking of trout in the high lakes of the Sierra was continued with aerial plantings of fingerling trout in the mid to late twentieth century, but that practice was discontinued in Yosemite several decades ago. The trout that remain in Yosemite’s backcountry are thus wild and self-sustaining, and even those remnant populations are sometimes eradicated as part of the national park’s effort to restore the population of yellow-legged frogs.
Our Path
Our journey into northern Yosemite began from Kennedy Meadows along Highway 108, just to the west of Sonora Pass. We passed through the Emigrant Wilderness to reach Yosemite from the north on the first two days, and after steep ascents over multiple passes nearing 10,000 feet, we completed the challenging 19-mile stretch to Dorothy Lake. This large alpine lake lies at 9,600 feet and is tucked into a far northeastern corner of the national park, which borders both the Emigrant and Hoover Wilderness Areas, a region about as secluded and seldom visited as one can find anywhere in the high Sierra. Our only other company at the lake was a very nice female backcountry park ranger who joined us for a campfire chat on our first evening. The views of Tower Peak and other jagged mountains, so beautifully reflected in the calm waters of Dorothy Lake, captivated and mesmerized us during our stay.
Dorothy Lake
I should say the “mostly calm” waters of Dorothy Lake, because we immediately noticed many dimples on the surface that revealed the presence of hungry trout. We had time to fish for a short while at dusk and easily connected with some robust 10-to-12-inch rainbows. As the only fly fishers in our group, Bill and I had brought extra rods and reels so that we could put on a little fly-fishing clinic for a few people who were interested in learning about our sport. The next morning, we spent about an hour teaching people the basics of casting and then moved to some ponds that form at the outlet of the lake before emptying into Falls Creek. Our new students were able to catch multiple trout on dry flies in the ponds, where smaller rainbows were eager to attack anything that landed on the surface.
Bill and I spent the afternoon exploring the north shore of the lake and soon started catching the larger resident rainbows. We discovered the formula that would prove to work throughout the trip: use a terrestrial imitation such as a grasshopper pattern with a nymph dropper such as a red Copper John and cast out to the deeper water beyond the shallow granite shelf extending 20 to 30 feet from shore. Sometimes a feisty rainbow would strike the dry or the dropper immediately, but quite often, twitching the fly and slowly retrieving it, with occasional pauses, would induce ferocious strikes. We were soon catching colorful rainbows in the 9-to-13-inch range, all the while enjoying having this alpine gem nestled below 11,000-foot peaks to ourselves. The only other fishing competition was an osprey perched on a tree branch across the lake, which obviously didn’t impinge on our success. A few hours of fishing produced many beautiful, hard-fighting trout.
Tilden Lake
We continued to have this area of Yosemite virtually to ourselves as we moved from Dorothy to Tilden Lake, which sits at 8,800 feet and is one of the largest lakes in northern Yosemite. We were the only people camped at this stunning lake and soon found out that descendants of the last aerial planting of fingerlings almost a half-century ago were thriving in its cold and pure waters. With a layover day to explore Tilden and perhaps make the steep, cross-country climb to Mary Lake, which reportedly has golden trout, Bill and I hiked along the northern shoreline and started probing Tilden with casts. I was using my 3-weight rod and soon discovered that the Tilden wild rainbows were larger than those at Dorothy Lake. The trout at Tilden also demonstrated a clear preference for surface flies, usually passing up my nymph and slamming the dry fly. My reel was singing as each trout made long runs and put my 3-weight rod to the test. After long fights, I was able to admire the bright scarlet sides of the rainbows before releasing them. Most of the fish were in the 12-to-14-inch range, with a couple that probably pushed a bit beyond that length. The trout population appeared to be doing quite well, despite the years of drought and the record snowfall of the last winter.
I did have to change flies several times, mostly due to snagging branches in narrowcasting lanes, and was able to prove that the trout would take a variety of top-water flies: several different terrestrials worked (grasshoppers, ants, and beetles), as did a yellow Humpy and an Irresistible. It wasn’t a fish on every cast, but the action was consistent and thrilling when the strikes came.
Smedberg Lake
When we arrived at Smedberg Lake, a light rain was falling — a thunderstorm had passed through the granite canyon. As the rain stopped, though, I noticed that there were still rings appearing on the lake. I started casting from a rock shelf next to the main trail and immediately hooked up with sizeable rainbows. Within half an hour, I had caught at least half a dozen trout. On our layover day at Smedberg, I decided to circumnavigate the lake and fully explore its possibilities. The fishing was consistent during my five to six hours of fishing, with 30 fish caught and released. I caught most of the fish with a combination of a size 12 Parachute Adams and, as a dropper, a size 14 Pheasant Tail Nymph with copper wrap and a flashback, although a size 14 Dark Lord Nymph was the magic fly for a while when the trout seemed to prefer a darker pattern. I also found willing trout in the stream below the lake, which required stealthy approaches and delicately presented flies to wary trout.
The outstanding afternoon’s fishing in a setting of unsurpassed high-country scenery dominated by 10,481-foot Volunteer Peak was the best fishing experience in my many years of doing trips to the high Sierra.
The Streams
Although this article has focused on the fishing in the lakes, we found willing trout in nearly all of the streams. Although the fish were generally very small (four to six inches), we occasionally got surprised by a beautiful nine-inch brook or rainbow trout. Streams where we had the most success were Falls Creek above Grace Meadow, Rancheria Creek in Kerrick Canyon, and the Tuolumne River near Glen Aulin.
It is exciting fishing, moving from one plunge pool to the next, and in many instances, several small trout chase your fly as soon as it hits the water. What these trout lack in size, they more than make up for with their vibrant colors and eagerness. The streams themselves provide some of the most beautiful scenery on the journey as they meander through high meadows or plunge through boulders and over numerous waterfalls.
Planning and Equipment Tips
Based on your fitness level, the first decision to make is whether you want to venture by foot or with assistance from horses and mules. If you have the physical conditioning to carry a 45-pound backpack and possess excellent wilderness skills and experience, you can certainly plan a trip on your own. For those who have retired from backpacking, a good option is to hire the services of a pack station. The types of trips run the gamut from expensive “all-inclusive” trips featuring a dedicated camp cook to “drop” trips where the packer hauls your backpacks to a base camp and you fend for yourself after being dropped off. Whatever type of trip fits your conditioning and budget, you’ll need to do thorough research and planning to ensure that your trip is safe and enjoyable.
Fly rods in the range from 3-weights to 5-weight are ideal. A 3-weight is adequate for most situations, but you might need a 4-weight or 5-weight rod for larger trout in some of the lakes. Of course, the rods should have four or more sections (I brought a 4/5-weight seven-piece travel rod) so that they are compact and easy to pack. If you can bring two rods, as I did, I recommend a shorter (7-1/2foot or 8-foot) 3-weight rod for fishing brushy streams, which also will handle most of the lake fishing you do, and a 9-foot 4-weight or 5-weight for longer casts and fishing for bigger trout in some of the lakes. A floating fly line is all you need, but you could throw in a sink-tip line if you want to fish streamers down deep on occasion.
Reflections on the Adventure
While at Smedberg lake, one person discovered a brass memorial plaque on a tree close to our camp that commemorated a person who had spent hap-
py hours at this jewel of the Sierra. Around the campfire that night, as I basked in the glow of both the fire and my glorious day of fishing, I suggested to the group that perhaps one day I should have my own plaque nearby that would read: “Frank Eldredge, caught 30 fish at Smedberg Lake.” One member of the group suggested a slight amendment to “30 fish (more or less),” but I knew that if anything I was rounding down in my count. I hope to return long before any such plaque needs to be engraved, perhaps to catch some golden trout in Mary Lake. I know that I will encounter few other people and have eager trout waiting for me in one of the most stunning areas of the high Sierra.
If You Go…
If you are interested in hiring the services of a pack station, two that offer trips in the northern Yosemite backcountry are Kennedy Meadows Pack Station, http://www.kennedymeadows.com, and Rock Creek Pack Station, http://www.rockcreekpackstation.com.
The primary trailheads for accessing northern Yosemite are Kennedy Meadows, Leavitt Meadows, Twin Lakes, and Tuolumne Meadows. Consult guidebooks and maps to determine the exact routes and mileage.
A topographical map is of course a necessity. Tom Harrison’s Yosemite National Park covers the area on a 1:126,720 scale. You can find it at https://tomharrisonmaps.com/shop/yosemite-national-park.
You will need a wilderness permit, which you can obtain from any Stanislaus National Forest ranger station if you enter through the Emigrant Wilderness. Read more about permits and wilderness regulations at http://tinyurl.com/y8p2xo66. If your trip originates in Yosemite National Park, you can read about permit requirements and regulations at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildregs.htm.
Although its last printing was in 1995, Steve Beck’s Yosemite Trout Fishing Guide is still accurate and has very detailed information about fly fishing the northern area of the park.
The ninth edition of Sierra North, published by Wilderness Press, describes a route almost identical to mine in trip number 40, “Tahoe-Yosemite Trail Section 6: To Tuolumne Meadows.”
— Frank Eldredge
