Getting There

We drove through Yosemite via Highway 120 to the east side - went out of the park at Tioga Pass and went down to Ellery Lake Campground. It is not inside the park boundary so technically you are not in Yosemite National Park. The Ellery Lake Campground is the only campground at the lake and is not large so expect capacity in peak months. In late September we were among one other group there.

Looking east over Ellery Lake

The Hike

If you stay at the Ellery Lake Campground you can find your way down to the water easily by walking through the campground and down to the inlet at the northwest side of the Lake. From there you can traverse the shoreline to the left - northward. This area is very shallow with a channel winding through it. It didn't look promising to begin with so we drove over to the east side where the deeper water was. The bank is easily traversable over there.

Using Peakvisor to figure out the topography

Fishing the inlet of Lee Vining Creek into Ellery Lake

The Fishing

We started fishing the lake by the Lee Vining Creek inlet on the west side. We chucked lures into the channel but didn't get any action. I didn't see any jumps, rises or any signs of life out in the lake. It should be stated that Lee Vining Creek holds wild Rainbow, hatchery Rainbow, wild Brown and I would assume Brook Trout from the fisheries (Spuller, Fantail, Shell Lakes) upstream that feed into it. Interesting history of the aforementioned watershed can be found here - Sierra News Online. Aside from the wild populations in Lee Vining Creek, the lake receives regular plants of catchable hatchery Rainbows from DFW in the summer months.

Relaxing with the kids on the east side of Ellery Lake

A great fire pit deserves a great fire

Base camp at the Ellery Lake Campground

The west side of Ellery Lake is very shallow

We fished here on the east side

Lee Vining Creek pouring in in late September

Little ones poking around the shore