I'm planning a backpacking/Fishing trip

[Mcsweet18]

I'm Planning a backpacking trip that is in the 5 to 6 day range. My buddies and me are huge fisherman and thought it would be really cool to try our luck at a lake. Our goal is a week of solitude and experiencing the wild. I am not worried if we see people every now and then but would like to keep it to a minimum. I was thinking about a loop from cathedral lakes down to Merced lake with a day or two extra stay and back up to the meadows, but I’ve heard that this is a highly traveled trip and will see many other backpackers camping around the lake. So if you have any input on a 5 to 6 day trip with minimal traffic and fishing it would be greatly appreciated. The trip is planned for the 3rd week of august.

[balzaccom]

HI McSweet

I don't think the fishing in the LYV is very good, frankly. Much better fishing options would be either Illilouette Canyon and Ottoway Lakes...or The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. Just my take on things, but I have been fishing Yosemite for many years, and Merced Lake and Canyon are just not that good.

To ba fair, Yosemite doesn't have great fishing in many places. You might be better off doing some scenic backpacking in Yosemite, then take a few days and do some fishing/backpacking in Emigrant Wilderness. I think the fishing these is consistenly better than Yosemite, and its the next highway north...

Or head North into the Boundary area of Yosemite, so that you can dip over into some of Emigrants Lakes on the same trip...

[Mcsweet18]

Thanks for the ideas, what are the trails like to these lakes?

[balzaccom]

Ottoway Lakes is in the CLark Range...trailhead is Mono Meadow or Glacier Point, up the Illilouette Canyon about 15 miles. Beautiful trip.

In Emigrant, I would start at Crabtree Cabin and head to Deer Lake, Woods Lake...Lower Buck's Lake

[honsing]

Last summer I took my kids fishing/backpacking from Tuolomne meadow up to Vogelsang, where the fishing was marginal but the place incredibly beautiful (at the lake, not the camp). I heard fishing was better at the smaller lakes around Vogelsang. We took Vogelsang Pass over to a drop-dead gorgeous canyon and dropped flies in all the way down to Merced Lake. The native trout were small but plentiful and biting. Merced Lake was not great, but the river above and it's tributaries again had dozens of small native trout. We hiked up to the next lake three mi upriver from Merced Lake (sorry, I need a map and a better memory) and caught a few native trout in that lake too. From Merced Lake down to the Yosemite Valley, we caught absolutely nothing and saw very little in the way of fish. It was early August. Total trip length: 27 miles. Yosemite Falls dry, Vernal/Nevada Falls less than 50% capacity.

[bill-e-g]

When I used to fish...
Fletcher was crappy. Townsley ok. Ireland good.
Caught cut-throat in Hanging Basket.
The lake above Merced is Washburn. I caught maybe 8 inchers in there.
... nothing at Merced Lake.
I've been told there is decent fishing at Edna but that is one lake I
haven't been at. Nothing but frogs at Red Devil.
Lower Ottoway has really good fishing...
Most of the high lakes just have puny fish. After awhile I would
just get bored and eventually decided to just leave the pole at home
and just enjoy the place and climb mountains instead.
Vernon and Laurel have decent fishing. Branigans suck for fishing.
Many of the lakes along Jack Main Canyon don't have fish at all anymore.

oops... what was the question?
I'll stop there.