Fly Fishing a Creek in West Yosemite

A brown adult mayfly.

A mayfly hitches a ride. I picked her up on the drive up following the Merced River. The flows in the Merced were running over 2000 cfs. In early May and with a better than average snowpack, the Merced would be raging well into the start of the summer. Hatches of mayflies and stoneflies would signal time to look for smaller flows in the surrounding creeks along the western slope of the Sierra.

A cascading creek runs down the slope of Yosemite Valley on it's way to the Merced River.

Given the geography around the Merced Canyon, it's common to see waterfalls like this during the Spring. Just keep your eyes open and look up... of course not while driving.

Creek section in West Yosemite Meadow

A section of the creek I fished in West Yosemite. The flows were much easier to drift flies in. That said, the water temps ran in the high 30's to low 40's in the morning.

A wild rainbow fell for a dry fly onthis creek.

The creek holds a fair number of wild rainbows. This guy fell for a orange stimulator. The creek meanders through a meadow here - target the back eddies and soft seams.

A couple of barns dot the landscape in West Yosemite Meadow

Historically, this section of Yosemite supported a small settlement. Some of the structures are still in place, but no active farming or ranching happens there today.

A bobcat spotted in West Yosemite Meadow

Spotted this bobcat off in the distance. He's focused on the base of a dead tree. Early he had chased some prey across the field and ran it up this tree. I was surprised to see this bobcat climb the base of it and then thought better of it.