Fishing restrictions lifted in Yosemite National Park. Here’s what’s changed

Yosemite National Park seems to be on a run of expanding access to the scope of its recreational opportunities.

That now includes fishing.

The National Park Service announced Tuesday a year-round fishing schedule in the Yosemite Valley and Hetch Hetchy areas.

Traditionally, the fishing season for Yosemite’s streams and rivers ran from late April to mid-November, with only its lakes and reservoirs open year-round. The change removes those seasonal closures to “expand opportunity for anglers and align with California fishing rules,” the park service said in a news release.

“Visitors can now enjoy fishing throughout the year, including in areas like Hetch Hetchy, with regulations that are easier to understand and more consistent with state guidelines,” Yosemite National Park Superintendent Ray McPadden said.

“These updates expand recreational opportunities while maintaining our responsibility to protect Yosemite’s natural resources.”

That means, protections for native fish species (catch-and-release requirements for rainbow trout in Yosemite Valley and south fork Merced River) remain, as well as some area-specific regulations on equipment (artificial lures with barbless hooks only in all tributary streams in Yosemite Valley and south fork Merced and the Tuolumne rivers).

A full list of the park’s current fishing regulations is available the Superintendent’s Compendium online. California’s fishing regulations are available from the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.