• Visitors stand on the boardwalk of Grand Prismatic, the park's largest hot spring which is ringed with orange, brown and yellow runoff channels.

    Yellowstone

    National Park ID,MT,WY

Fishing and Fisheries Science

Angler kneeling in Yellowstone Lake and holding cutthroat trout with Absaroka Mountains in the background.

Photo by Joe Facendola

Fishing in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park is managed to protect cultural and natural resources and outstanding scenery, and to provide for visitor use. Fishing has been a major visitor activity for well over a century. Because of this history, fishing continues to be allowed and can complement, and in some cases even enhance, the park's primary purpose to preserve natural environments and native species.

 
Composite image of park biologist listening for a radio-tagged cutthroat trout park biologist holding a large cutthroat trout.
NPS Photos/Koel; Arnold
 

Fisheries Science in Yellowstone

Native cutthroat trout are the most ecologically important fish of the park and the most prized, and highly regarded by visiting anglers. Several factors, mostly related to exotic species introductions, are threatening the persistence of these fish. The Yellowstone Fisheries Program strives to use best available science in addressing these threats, with a focus on direct, aggressive intervention, and welcomed assistance by visiting anglers.

 

Did You Know?

Upper Geyser Basin Hydrothermal Features on a Winter Day.

Yellowstone contains approximately one-half of the world’s hydrothermal features. There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including over 300 geysers, in the park.