Tenaya Creek Fishing
Yosemite National Park
Tenaya Creek is often overlooked as a fishing destination in Yosemite National Park. Its larger and easier to access neighbor, the Merced River, draws most of the attention, leaving Tenaya Creek to twist its way down the deep canyon between Half Dome and North Dome. Mirror Lake on Tenaya Creek draws many tourists, but a good majority of them never venture much beyond the lake.
Tenaya Creek begins at Tenaya Lake high above near Tuolumne Meadows and cascades down a virtually impassable canyon over Pywiack Cascade into the deep valley below Mount Watkins and then begins a more leisurely flow until finally emptying into the Merced River.
The lower 2½-mile portion of the creek offers a variety of fishing from deep, gushing pools to quiet, shaded runs. Farther up, Tenaya Creek becomes a rocky mountain stream and the quality of fishing rapidly deteriorates. Like the Merced River, Tenaya Creek makes a great early season destination.
Nearby Featured Trips around Yosemite:
- Crane Creek - a good early season stream in Foresta
- Lyell Fork - a fantastic fly fishing river in Tuolumne Meadows
- Merced River - in Yosemite Valley with all its wonders
- Upper Merced River - fish from Little Yosemite Valley up to Merced Lake, a great backpacking fishing adventure
In My Creel
- #18 Blue Winged Olive
- #16 Zug Bug nymph
- #18 Pheasant Tail nymph
- #22 gray Midge
- #18 Adams
- Salmon eggs
- Mepps lure
For Fishing Yosemite on Tenaya Creek I took along mostly nymphs and a few small flies. Salmon eggs and a small Mepps lure were my backup.
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Recommended Books, Lures, and Flies for Fishing Yosemite
- Yosemite Trout Fishing Guide, Charles S. Beck. Steve shows you when, where, and how. For each section of the park covered, you'll learn of its history, hatches, weather, regulations, what fish you can expect and how best to catch them, and much more.
- Panther Martin Best of the Best Kit Three of their most popular colors in two of our most popular lure sizes
- Fly Fishing Trout Flies | Essential Flies for Trout | Hand-Tied Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers 32 of the most proven Trout flies, well-known for their timeless fish-catching effectiveness.
- Mepps Plain Lure Assortment Trouter Kit Spinner blades are silver or gold plated, copper, or polished brass.